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How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

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Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#361

Post by rahkiin »

krashidov wrote: post #299
YokoZar wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if you incorporated your ebay business, it would likely pay very little in taxes too. But then you'd take the same income as wages and pay the same income taxes you did before you had a legal title on your business.

But couldn't you keep that money in a bank account and spend it on 'business expenses' without paying yourself a wage?

At least in the Netherlands, that is not allowed. With an LLC you have to give yourself a living wage. Also, if you mark them as profit (not pay them to your employee (yourself)) you have to pay corporate tax. You also can't just deduct your breakfast.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#362

Post by VMG »

rayiner wrote: post #215
xupybd wrote: post #97

I live in New Zealand. I don't have to file taxes if my income is a standard wage my tax payments are automatic. My employer deducts them from my wage and they are sent to the IRD (Our government tax dept). My student loan and super payments are also automatic. If there is anything wrong then at the end of the tax year I can file to correct things. I also get donations rebates, this is a one page form that lists all…

> Why would anyone oppose a simple system like this? Because you want to make people angry and upset at least once a year at the government? Because you want to remind people that taxes are something the government takes, instead of letting them think of taxes as money they never earned to begin with. I love paying my taxes, but if you think taxes are bad (and lots of people do), then the current U.S. system makes to…

> I love paying my taxes,

How would you like paying somebody else's taxes as well?

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#363

Post by MarkMc »

hackuser wrote: post #315
MarkMc wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a developer of accounting software and this is exactly the problem I faced when developing the cloud-based version of my accounting software. My solution was to keep all financial data on the server encrypted. The server is unable to decrypt any financial data because the crypto key is either (a) derived from the user's password; or (b) located on an offline device to allow customer support staff to reset passwo…

I wouldn't use it without end-to-end encryption, and I probably wouldn't trust your implementation of encryption (no offense, but probably you can't be a wizard at both financial software and encryption software) unless you used some proven third-party solution. And even then ... I would just keep the data local and encrypted. Why do I need to put it in the cloud? However, I'm a tiny market of 1, and I and the HN cro…

Thanks for your feedback. I guess the benefits of putting your financial data in the cloud are the same as for any online system: Access your data from any computer, automatic backups, and easily share your data with other people (especially your accountant or co-workers).

The problem is more about marketing - every online system claims to have strong security, and users have no way to test those claims. Users regularly hear reports of data breaches so they become cynical about security do not trust any online system.

Curiously, the efforts by the EU to ban end-to-end encryption [0] may lead to an easier marketing pitch in the US: "Security So Strong It's Banned In Europe!"

You make a good point about liability. Any data breach has a big impact on the reputation of online system, but particularly so with a company that claims to be stronger than the rest. There may also be extra litigation in such cases.

[0] https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/24/encryption-under-fire-in-e...

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#364

Post by usrusr »

baddox wrote: post #120
cmurf wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in other words, the free market has produced a pile of jobs that we don't really need? Lobbyists get paid money to get politicians to supply a deduction as a line item on some obscure form, which increases red tape, which requires a need for a free market service, the revenue from that service in turn goes to feed more lobbying for more red tape. This is basically collusion, using the worst aspects of the free mar…

For most definitions of "free market," government subsidy of an industry doesn't qualify.

It might be helpful to think of "free market" as a scale instead of an absolute definition. Level one free market: socialism, where people were still using money from a salary to buy everyday goods from people-owned "enterprises". Level ten free market: you buy protection at market rates or someone takes away your sandwich, if the protection takes the sandwich don't buy from the same vendor again.

I imagine discussing relative merits within the range of roughly level four to level eight would be far more fruitful than the usual "my free market is tougher than your free market" posturing.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#365

Post by legulere »

krisroadruck wrote: post #218
rayiner wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would anyone oppose a simple system like this? Because you want to make people angry and upset at least once a year at the government? Because you want to remind people that taxes are something the government takes, instead of letting them think of taxes as money they never earned to begin with. I love paying my taxes, but if you think taxes are bad (and lots of people do), then the current U.S. system makes to…

You... love paying taxes?

Paying taxes is the reason you have money. Having to pay your taxes with money is what makes it worth something in the first place.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#366

Post by Ntrails »

rayiner wrote: post #215
xupybd wrote: post #97

I live in New Zealand. I don't have to file taxes if my income is a standard wage my tax payments are automatic. My employer deducts them from my wage and they are sent to the IRD (Our government tax dept). My student loan and super payments are also automatic. If there is anything wrong then at the end of the tax year I can file to correct things. I also get donations rebates, this is a one page form that lists all…

> Why would anyone oppose a simple system like this? Because you want to make people angry and upset at least once a year at the government? Because you want to remind people that taxes are something the government takes, instead of letting them think of taxes as money they never earned to begin with. I love paying my taxes, but if you think taxes are bad (and lots of people do), then the current U.S. system makes to…

> I love paying my taxes

I'm sort of with you on this. I am proud to know, for example, that my taxes help pay for healthcare for everyone and schools and roads and so on. I like to believe I'll pay in more than I'll get out and that's brilliant.

However. Come bonus time I really struggle with the bit where they say "we're going to give you £x" and then I actually get a bit over half that in the bank. Somehow I internalise the number x and it feels like the tax has been 'taken' in a way I never would for my monthly salary.

It's an interesting if purely psychological difference in my response to taxation.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#367

Post by rospaya »

xupybd wrote: post #97

I live in New Zealand. I don't have to file taxes if my income is a standard wage my tax payments are automatic. My employer deducts them from my wage and they are sent to the IRD (Our government tax dept). My student loan and super payments are also automatic. If there is anything wrong then at the end of the tax year I can file to correct things. I also get donations rebates, this is a one page form that lists all…

I've been reading this thread and it's insane. In technology impaired Croatia since this tax season I don't even have to report any tax returns, everything is completely automatic.

"Paying taxes" is a number on my paycheck that says how much money went to healthcare, tax authority etc.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#368

Post by isolli »

VMG wrote: post #362
rayiner wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would anyone oppose a simple system like this? Because you want to make people angry and upset at least once a year at the government? Because you want to remind people that taxes are something the government takes, instead of letting them think of taxes as money they never earned to begin with. I love paying my taxes, but if you think taxes are bad (and lots of people do), then the current U.S. system makes to…

> I love paying my taxes, How would you like paying somebody else's taxes as well?

Why would he do that?

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#369

Post by grexe »

In Austria, since I think 2016, you also get automatic tax returns as an employee, but these are calculated based on a minimum standard wage and parameters, so you want to do the math on your own anyway, but it's very simple and straight forward, at least once you validated your account, which is a very official procedure but ok for security reasons. There's a simple online form where you basically only have to put 4 sums for each tax category and that's it, the rest is already sent by your employer. Always a nice and welcome surprise and a rewarding experience

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing (2013)

#370

Post by grexe »

In Austria, since I think 2016, you also get automatic tax returns as an employee, but these are calculated based on a minimum standard wage and parameters, so you want to do the math on your own anyway, but it's very simple and straight forward, at least once you validated your account, which is a very official procedure but ok for security reasons. There's a simple online form where you basically only have to put 4 sums for each tax category and that's it, the rest is already sent by your employer. Always a nice and welcome surprise and a rewarding experience
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