Previous discussion on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5443203
How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
61–70 of 454 posts
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably that your proposed rule is so vague that it would be impossible to be enforced .
That's rarely stopped US lawmakers, prosecutors, and judges before.
Sorry I was vague in my comment . You will have it on the books and the lawmakers can point to it when they get elected . Other than that the behavior that you want won't be prevented . At best you will have some long drawn out court case that will strike down the law .
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#63slightly off topic, but... you can file for free using any number of tax prep software if you make less than ~64k a year: https://www.irs.gov/uac/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-...
Or use Credit Karma Tax. Completely free software assistance at any income level. ( https://www.creditkarma.com/tax ) Disclaimer: I work there.
I've looked at Credit Karma tax free, but I'm a bit nervous as I own a California LLC (100% sole owner), and also have capital gains, dividends, write-offs.
Is Credit Karma a good choice for more complicated returns? Last year I paid H&R $650 for literally one hour of time which infuriated me.
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that every individual provision is popular with one group or another. But we could move to a system like the UK has where taxes are calculated for you and if you don't have contractor income you don't even need to file. But this would need changes to things like the Married Filing Jointly status.
Married filing jointly is one of the more sexist things codified in US law. It basically says women make no money and the man has to provide for everyone with a big salary so deductions and credits for the big earner. Or it says that if you're a dual income bunch of shmucks, that your wife must make 80% of what you do. Think about when these laws were written and look at it through a historical context. Once you do,…
> It basically says women make no money
Could you explain this? I don't see where MFJ assumes women make no money.
> if you're a dual income bunch of shmucks, that your wife must make 80%
Also don't see how it means that. Could you explain your argument in a bit more detail?
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Simplify the tax code so anyone can do theirs on an index card. Aim higher. In the UK, your employer informs the government about your wages and HMRC figures out how much you paid and whether it's the correct amount. And if you want you can check the numbers. In other countries it's basically the same but you have to log into the e-government portal to click 'yes, the values you have are correct'. Obviously if your…
Yes, of course. Obviously if the IRS knows your income, knows you mortgage interest, interest on savings and dividends and it is all electronically recorded, there what is the point of filing. Only to keep accountants and tax software companies in business. I can guarantee you that if you file a return and copy the numbers in wrong from your W4 you will get a computer generated letter. I did that by accident once I t…
Even on mortgages, the IRS doesn't have all the information.
I refinanced my mortgage and paid points for the refi. Those points have to be amortized over the life of the loan (which the IRS knows the law, but doesn't know that I paid points on the loan).
I just refinanced that mortgage again, meaning next year that I'll write off the rest of the points for the previous loan as a 2017 expense.
There's plenty that the IRS doesn't know until you tell them.
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#66slightly off topic, but... you can file for free using any number of tax prep software if you make less than ~64k a year: https://www.irs.gov/uac/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-...
Or use Credit Karma Tax. Completely free software assistance at any income level. ( https://www.creditkarma.com/tax ) Disclaimer: I work there.
No data obviously, but several people in my group have mentioned that they ran into (software) bugs with your tax filing software. You might want to look into that. I love your service, so I hope the tax service takes off as well!
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same old same old: show me a doctor who doesn't want you to be sick. Show me a lawyer who doesn't want you to get in trouble with law. Show me a priest who doesn't want you to sin. It just blows my mind up to what degree TurboTax will go with this!
Doctors want you to be sick? - no. HMOs? - maybe. Lawyers want you in trouble with the law? - no. Prison Corporations? - definitely. People are generally good, corporations are evil by design.
Coporations need to make a profit. I don't think this necessarily makes them evil. The ones that you mention make a profit at the expense of people's wellbeing and happiness, so their profit motive definitely puts them in conflict with the better good of people.
I would say corporations are generally amoral, not evil. This is why regulations for corporations are so important; they guarantee an appropriate way to make profit without say polluting all the drinking water in the country.
In the case of the prisons and medical insurance, the profit motive is directly in conflict with the actual positive desired outcome. In cases like this it's clear that the government should be the service provider, where the desire is to reduce costs, not see them increase for profit.
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#68I have a better idea. Simplify the tax code so anyone can do theirs on an index card. There is absolutely no reason for the gargantuan tax code in a free society.
That's what the 1040EZ is. Seriously, take a look at it, it's a single page, only half of which is calculations: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040ez--2016.pdf If you object that this isn't sufficient for you or someone else, I'll be happy to argue that whatever behavior would make you 1040EZ-ineligible should either not be permitted in a free society (because it's a tax-avoidance scheme for certain types of ric…
One thing that is not 1040EZ is charity donations. I mean we could kill all charity deductions but not sure NGOs would be happy about it.
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#69slightly off topic, but... you can file for free using any number of tax prep software if you make less than ~64k a year: https://www.irs.gov/uac/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-...
You forgot to mention the waterfall of caveats and trip hazards associated with any of those supposed free offerings.
Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not that I believe you think it is, but this isn't exactly a startling new idea. The same forces described in the article are also responsible for lobbying against simplicity in general. There is a whole giant industry that would go away in a puff of smoke (or at least be drastically reduced) if individual taxes weren't unnecessarily complex.
Also, everyone wants a simpler tax code except for the parts that benefit them. Few economists think the mortgage interest deduction is a good idea, but try telling that to homeowners.
I'd exchange MI deduction for equivalent reduction in income tax. But the government wants to keep power to induce people into doing what it thinks is better, taxes and deductions are a major tool in this. Without explicitly giving up that power, nothing would change, so homeowners are not the main thing to blame it, they just do what the government wants them to do and makes profitable for them to do.