IRS will look into setting up a free e-filing system

Electronic tax filing could soon be as simple as a few clicks on a government website — free of charge.

The Internal Revenue Service will spend $15 million studying a free, government-backed tax filing system under a provision in the sweeping climate and health-care law Congress passed this summer. It’s a landmark step toward overhauling the way most Americans file their taxes and ending years of domination of tax prep by private corporations.

Democrats have long lamented that millions of American pay for the privilege of filing taxes, and that...