There's a great Reply All episode (#144) about this exact article and the background, and eventual impact of it. From what I remember, the IRS had an idea to ma

There's a great Reply All episode (#144) about this exact article and the background, and eventual impact of it. From what I remember, the IRS had an idea to make a free filing online system but determined that the cost would be too great so they divvied up the different groups of people that qualify (people under some level of income, veterans, etc.) amongst the different companies (TurboTax being one of them) with the agreement that they would not build a competing system. I think they mention a bill that was shot down that would've maintained that agreement forever.