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Oh man, I've had government provided automatic filings for ages now (Finland). US is really odd how it emphasizes the benefit of the middleman over the benefit of the individual citizen (it seems). Or have I completely misunderstood what's going on here?
Oh man, I've had government provided automatic filings for ages now (Finland). US is really odd how it emphasizes the benefit of the middleman over the benefit of the individual citizen (it seems). Or have I completely misunderstood what's going on here?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>sneak in stealth tax changes I don't think we exist in a world where this is possible.
> I don't think we exist in a world where this is possible. The majority of people are pretty ignorant. Look at all the news articles from early in 2019 talking about the size of tax refunds, and people thinking they didn’t get a tax cut because their refund this year was smaller than the one they got last year. In reality, almost everyone got a tax cut (>90% of taxpayers) but that doesn’t necessarily mean a larger r…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>sneak in stealth tax changes I don't think we exist in a world where this is possible.
I can imagine it happening. The US tax code is so complicated that most tax payers don't really understand it. Heck, most tax payers don't understand how marginal tax rates work or why having a large refund isn't actually a good thing. I can absolutely believe that a majority of people would accept a negative change to the tax code due to an inability to understand it, choosing to just accept whatever they're being t…
This is deeply frustrating. I can not tell you how many people I see paying $200-300 for some random "tax preparer" set up in a corner mall or the front of a WalMart simply because they do not understand there are a number of free resources that would prepare their 1040EZ for them at their income/complexity level. These same people get back a $1500 "return" so they think they are getting a good deal. Its pure greed a…
EDIT: Keep it coming! Every downvote proves I'm right.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think freefillableforms.com -- maintained by the Free File Alliance -- is an example of what the article complains about: > The Free File Alliance, a private industry group, says 70% of American taxpayers are eligible to file for free. Those taxpayers, who must make less than $66,000, have access to free tax software provided by the companies. But just 3% of eligible U.S. taxpayers actually use the free program eac…
Free File Fillable Forms are pretty easy to use for anyone, regardless of income. It doesn't hold your hand and walk you through it, but assuming you can read English at a 4th grade level, I feel like you should be able to do it. Not that I think it should be even this complicated to do taxes, but it's not a terrible option. https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-f...
I just filed my taxes in 10 seconds using the tax authority's smartphone app. It had pre-filled all my deductions such as interest using info reported from my employer and banks. Apart from bribes from those who make tax software (which should be pretty easy to expose) I can't understand why congress wouldn't want to make paying taxes simple and efficient?