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Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

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21–30 of 38 posts

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#21
post #6

i'm not from the US, but i did work on forms related to government workflows. it bugged me for a long time why a person can't store facts about themselves and let some software figure out which of those facts are needed for filling out any form, which needs the usual personal facts. then one can review the required facts and decide which ones are they willing to share. in fact governments could even standardize the k…

Taxes work on "self assessment" basis meaning you, the taxpayer have the burden to declare all facts relevant to assessment of your tax and you pay the tax. Then, sometimes your case is picked for audit and then they check if what you declared is correct as per applicable laws or not. See, here is a small mom and pop shop... who owns that? Is the premises on rent? How much ? Is the rent deed valid and proper? Maybe y…

It’s my understanding that they have expected ranges certain things should be within that’s considered normal and anything outside of that puts a higher risk of an audit or simple manual review/adjustment.

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#22

For what it is worth, the Big Beautiful Bill contains this gem... As soon as practicable, and not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure that the Internal Revenue Service Direct File program has been terminated. (This is the text of the bill on the website as of the time I posted this, it can change or be wrong now. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119t…

Not that I needed any more proof of how disgustingly anti-human the government has become. So depressing.

[flagged]

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#23
post #7

never understood exactly what is the code they released. is it just the from filler that only works for people with a single w2 and no stocks etc?

the code they released was everything that is necessary to run Direct File in development, but they removed code relating to MeF (the IRS's online submission API) and SADI (the IRS's auth system which is integrated with ID.me). most of the code is the backend, Fact Graph (which is a very complex rules engine), the client app (both the form and the screener when you go to directfile.irs.gov), and the state tax API

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#25
post #6

i'm not from the US, but i did work on forms related to government workflows. it bugged me for a long time why a person can't store facts about themselves and let some software figure out which of those facts are needed for filling out any form, which needs the usual personal facts. then one can review the required facts and decide which ones are they willing to share. in fact governments could even standardize the k…

Taxes work on "self assessment" basis meaning you, the taxpayer have the burden to declare all facts relevant to assessment of your tax and you pay the tax. Then, sometimes your case is picked for audit and then they check if what you declared is correct as per applicable laws or not. See, here is a small mom and pop shop... who owns that? Is the premises on rent? How much ? Is the rent deed valid and proper? Maybe y…

You're moving the goalposts; the purpose would be reducing toil (and possibly other costs) for the people who are currently tasked with filling out these types of forms.

There's nothing in the comment you're responding to that suggests that it's instead meant to be a solution to the problem of the government (or any other org) being unable to trust the inputs to its systems or ameliorate the costs of bad actors at all.

A person entering lies in their personal fact database tomorrow can submit the same lies on their personal income tax return today.

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#26
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that I needed any more proof of how disgustingly anti-human the government has become. So depressing.

[flagged]

It's gotten outright infuriating that people keep blaming government for bad initiatives that are solely the fault of Republicans.

Getting real tired of people blaming "both sides" for everything bad the government does as if it's some sort of morally or intellectually superior viewpoint. It's a thought-ending cliche.

Sure, both sides are drone-striking warmongers. Both sides are basically owned by corporations.

But only one side is welcoming literal flag-waving Nazis into their midst and working to deport legal citizens and immigrants. Only one side is fighting to take food away from children in schools. Only one side is trying to take healthcare away from senior citizens. Only one side is trying to create a Christian white ethno-state.

People try to accuse the left of trying to stifle freedom-of-speech, yet Trump is the one spreading rhetoric about wanting to jail journalists for daring to speak up against him.

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#28
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that I needed any more proof of how disgustingly anti-human the government has become. So depressing.

[flagged]

It's a distinction without a difference. The Republican party is the government now. It's what Americans voted for.

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#29
post #7

never understood exactly what is the code they released. is it just the from filler that only works for people with a single w2 and no stocks etc?

the code they released was everything that is necessary to run Direct File in development, but they removed code relating to MeF (the IRS's online submission API) and SADI (the IRS's auth system which is integrated with ID.me). most of the code is the backend, Fact Graph (which is a very complex rules engine), the client app (both the form and the screener when you go to directfile.irs.gov), and the state tax API

so it is the mostly useless system that only works for a single w2 :(

99.999% of people here would never be able to use it anyway.

Re: Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

#30

For what it is worth, the Big Beautiful Bill contains this gem... As soon as practicable, and not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure that the Internal Revenue Service Direct File program has been terminated. (This is the text of the bill on the website as of the time I posted this, it can change or be wrong now. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119t…

That section was just removed.
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