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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)

#391

Post by chongli »

rahkiin wrote: post #361
krashidov wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What if you share your breakfast with your spouse who also happens to be an employee? Then breakfast is actually a meeting!

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

#392

Post by chongli »

spectrum1234 wrote: post #274
ptc wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh boy, I really want to hear how you think the "Free Market" solves this problem. Remember kids: If it's broken, apply Free Market liberally to the affected areas.

Uh..get rid of the government involved in all these tax laws. Obviously? Are you suggesting complicated taxes isn't the government's fault?

Sorry, you're never going to have a society where the government is a 100% neutral referee and everybody else is a part of the 'free market'. As long as there is an incentive to rig the game, people are gonna rig it.

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

#393

Post by pjc50 »

irrational wrote: post #221
Twirrim wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK has a similarly simple tax system as New Zealand. Taxes are taken out of pay every month, and that's it. Every individual gets assigned a tax code, and that tax code defines how much is taken from your pay. That tax code takes in to account how many kids you have etc. etc. The UK tends to approach tax deductions in a different way, preferring to subsidise stuff up front instead, so you never have to remember t…

Do you get any kind of deduction for giving to non-profits/charities? I give about 12-15% of my gross income to non-profits/charities every year and get a generous tax deduction for doing so. The other thing that tends to be complicated with my taxes is selling stocks. How does the UK handle things like that?

In the UK people tend not to own stocks directly but through one of the various investment "wrappers" such as the ISA (individual savings account), which are tax-free for up to £15k/year investment paid in.

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

#394

Post by ptaipale »

nickez wrote: post #388
Hermel wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what country are you paying taxes? And is your tax rate above or below 30%? Based on anecdotal evidence, I think that people paying more than 30% rarely ever "love" paying taxes. Below that, it seems to feel much more ok (I'm also below 30% and - while I'm not enthusiastic about paying taxes - it feels like a fair deal).

I'm from Sweden, way above 30%, still love to pay taxes. Countries where they avoid to pay taxes at all cost like Greece is usually a reminder of why it is important that the government really enforces tax paying and that the taxes are high.

Actually, Greece doesn't remind us about why high taxes are good. Their taxes are high. The problem is corruption; the money is squandered, and the economy is choked by taxes, favouritism, corruption and nepotism.

Thus, Greece is an example of why we need to remember to keep our politicians at check.

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

#395

Post by happosai »

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?

Not really happy paying high taxes, but I think the alternatives are worse. The definition of "first world country" should include "takes care of the less fortunate ones". Which, when I look at countries with less taxes than mine, doesn't seem to happen.

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

#396

Post by ptaipale »

wingerlang wrote: post #350
jsmit wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it was serious, the post was referring to Trump's campaign speech.

Oh, I see.

Yeah, it's like http://www.sydsvenskan.se/story/skjutningar-i-malmo-2017 (Swedish)

Southern Sweden seems to have a "last night" problem pretty much every night except when Trump spoke about it.

(Swedish crime rate is still low, at least in homicides it's much lower than the U.S., but Sweden is unlike most Western countries in that the murder rate has stopped going down and has turned upwards, and the politicians sem to be in denial. The police are laying down unsolved murder investigations simply because there are so many newer cases.)

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

#397

Post by nathan_f77 »

tuna-piano wrote: post #270

I haven't read a legitimate argument against the IRS calculating taxes automatically, but here it is. The more invisible taxes are to the individual person, the less they think about that money (and the higher taxes can go without them complaining too much). Rent feels expensive because every month you write a check for rent. However, for many people, taxes are a much bigger expense than rent. But taxes don't feel as…

> Rent feels expensive because every month you write a check for rent

Even when I was living in San Francisco, my rent payments were automatic, and I didn't think about them too much. My rent still felt very, very expensive.

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

#398

Post by DanielBMarkham »

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…

Hidden transactions are a problem in any somewhat free economy, whether it's insurance, club dues, auto payments to service providers, or taxes. The usual sales point is that "But you don't have to think about them!" and the problem is that you never think about them -- when you should.

That's not saying taxes should be onerous or deliberately painful -- any more than paying your bank's monthly fees should be onerous or painful. But none of those should be invisible, either. Transactions that are never consciously reviewed are never scrutinized for value. That's no long-term good to either participant in the transaction.

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

#399

Post by arethuza »

simonh wrote: post #380
SpaceRaccoon wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, funding a $600 billion military industrial complex [0]. Just think, your complete yearly taxes were probably almost enough for a single JDAM [1] which was then dropped on Iraq, in a war where 13% of all civilians were killed directly by US-led forces [2], and many more in the chaos that ensued from the invasion. But you love it. [0] - https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spendi... [1] - https://…

The problem with that isn't taxation, it's voting in people who approve that spending. UK tax payer here, so the specifics are different, but I have no problem paying my taxes. We have decent free health care, a capable and I think 'right sized' armed forces for our needs, competent policing and security services and my children get free education. If any of those things were not true I wouldn't necessarily want my t…

"I think 'right sized' armed forces for our needs"

The UK armed forces do seem a bit top-heavy and our record when it comes to procurement is, by most accounts, appalling.

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

#400

Post by kalleboo »

hackuser wrote: post #94

A tangential issue: It seems almost impossible to me that the systems of tax preparation services, whether cloud-based, local software, or offline, are secure. The standard of security is, make the target more expensive to breach than it's worth to the attacker. How much would it be worth to have access to the tax returns of large swaths of the population? I don't know the answer, but I'm guessing it's easily worth b…

In Sweden, as government documents, tax returns are public information. Every year after tax season the tabloids print long lists of "The richest people in YOUR neighborhood! Is your neighbor on there?". You can look up anyone you want.
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