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TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
201–210 of 277 posts
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
You only go to prison if you willfully and purposely try to defraud the government. It’s more of a, “Pay what you believe you owe based on your best guess and the laws as you best understand them, and if we disagree we may ask you to pay more.”
> willfully and purposely try to defraud the government. whats the standard for willfully vs a mistake?
“File a false amended return, including a false tax refund claim of over $4 million for the year 1996, and a false amended return, including a false tax refund claim of over US$7.3 million for the year 1997.”
That’s from the Wikipedia page about Wesley Snipes. That’s what it takes to get the IRS to really go after you. Not only do you have to do it intentionally, but when you get caught you need to hold the line and say that you refuse to pay.
If you make a “mistake” and claim more deductions than is reasonable or just outright fail it file once or twice nothing really happens. They just try to correct the “mistake.” They try to settle or put you on a payment plan or maybe try to garnish your wages if you don’t respond.
When the IRS goes after tax fraud they are looking for someone trying to claim a multimillion dollar 2nd home in the Hamptons as a business expense, not someone who says they bought more office supplies than they really did. Or when someone with no kids tries to get multiple child tax credits.
When you get audited (by the IRS or anyone, really), they will ask you for a bunch of documents and then come up with their own calculation based on what they believe you owe. You can pay it and be done with it or dispute it. If you dispute it, then it may become contentious. Only then does it even really become an issue.
At the end of the day the “standard” is whatever a judge decides is reasonable, should it even rise to that level. But it almost never makes it that far because someone settles. Generally speaking, the only people who go to prison over tax fraud are those who CAN pay but refuse to.
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
> willfully and purposely try to defraud the government. whats the standard for willfully vs a mistake?
“File a false amended return, including a false tax refund claim of over $4 million for the year 1996, and a false amended return, including a false tax refund claim of over US$7.3 million for the year 1997.” That’s from the Wikipedia page about Wesley Snipes. That’s what it takes to get the IRS to really go after you. Not only do you have to do it intentionally, but when you get caught you need to hold the line and…
> At the end of the day the “standard” is whatever a judge decides is reasonable.
Because fraud is criminal, in practice the standard is whatever a jury would find willful beyond a reasonable doubt (or, perhaps more to the point, whatever the US Attorney can convince you and your attorney that a jury would be unacceptably likely to see that way.)
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
Am I correct in understanding that interest paid to deposits at a credit union get you a 1099-DIV? And wouldn't that mean virtually everyone who banks at a credit union would get that form? Also, anyone who owns savings bonds or CDs. Those are out of fashion these days, but many people still get them. Your point stands that these are still not the majority of the population, I just wanted to add some more pathways a…
>Am I correct in understanding that interest paid to deposits at a credit union get you a 1099-DIV? No, income from interest paid on deposit accounts is reported on form 1099-INT, not 1099-DIV. 1099-DIV is for dividend income. 1099-INT for interest income. They are are reported different places on your tax form. Nowadays most people don't get 1099-INTs from their banks or credit unions because interest rates are so l…
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Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
Am I correct in understanding that interest paid to deposits at a credit union get you a 1099-DIV? And wouldn't that mean virtually everyone who banks at a credit union would get that form? Also, anyone who owns savings bonds or CDs. Those are out of fashion these days, but many people still get them. Your point stands that these are still not the majority of the population, I just wanted to add some more pathways a…
>Am I correct in understanding that interest paid to deposits at a credit union get you a 1099-DIV? No, income from interest paid on deposit accounts is reported on form 1099-INT, not 1099-DIV. 1099-DIV is for dividend income. 1099-INT for interest income. They are are reported different places on your tax form. Nowadays most people don't get 1099-INTs from their banks or credit unions because interest rates are so l…
Ok, the confusing bit for me is that credit union deposits are called shares and the earnings are called dividends. However, you still get a 1099-INT, I believe because these shares are not considered securities.
https://budgeting.thenest.com/report-dividends-credit-union-...
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
> willfully and purposely try to defraud the government. whats the standard for willfully vs a mistake?
“File a false amended return, including a false tax refund claim of over $4 million for the year 1996, and a false amended return, including a false tax refund claim of over US$7.3 million for the year 1997.” That’s from the Wikipedia page about Wesley Snipes. That’s what it takes to get the IRS to really go after you. Not only do you have to do it intentionally, but when you get caught you need to hold the line and…
My mother worked for the IRS (ducks thrown shoes). And then worked as a personal and small business tax accountant.
From her experience from working both sides. Criminal prosecution happens when people repeatedly challenge the IRS's authority with intent to defraud[1]. Like if they catch you actively[2] illegally hiding income, they fine you. And then find you're right back at it. Otherwise penalties and interest are simply mechanical and based on the amount not squared up for the fiscal year.
[1] You can bitch about the IRS all you want and they don't care as long as your taxes are in order.
[2] Meaning you are doing things to hide assets and income that proves intent to defraud the government. Merely not reporting or failing to record income tends not to count.
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course, I'm not arguing its difficult or there are any barriers, I know its easy. However, I literally can't convince a single person beyond my sister to open up a high interest savings account. People just don't want to be bothered. Me? I currently have fifteen (15) bank accounts. Chasing those sign up bonuses.
> However, I literally can't convince a single person beyond my sister to open up a high interest savings account. People just don't want to be bothered. High-interest savings account are crappy as investments, and I'd you have to go to a different institution (or use a CD, or both) lack the frictionless (and instant) connection to primary checking that is generally the reason to use a savings account vs. a decent in…
I can't recommend online banking enough. Fidelity and Schwab both have excellent offerings. At least through Fidelity I can buy high interest CDs for multiple banks without having to deal with the hassle you're referring to. Free checking with refunds for any ATM fees anywhere. Easily move money from checking to investment accounts and back. Open new account online within minutes. I have a car account where I set aside money for my next car, an emergency fund, a college savings fund (529), an IRA, and others. Ten accounts in all, all under one convenient interface. They even slurp in the data from my workplace 401k at a different bank so I can track that in the same place.
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
So basically the same as the US.
In Australia, like in Europe and most countries, when you log in to do your taxes, your forms are pre-filled with everything the government already has on record for you. You can add to it or modify it as you see fit, but the vast majority of people just accept the default values and they're done. Most people spend more time finding their login info than verifying their taxes. With the amount people complain about th…
That's definitely better than what we have in the US, but the majority of people in the US don't need more than the standard form 1040 [0], which isn't too hard to fill out. Tax software vendors and accountants want people to believe its more complicated than it really is, when in reality most people only have a single source of income, and maybe a child tax credit and mortgage interest credit. For these people, doing taxes "by hand" shouldn't take more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#209Meanwhile, California makes it pretty easy to file your state taxes for free, with no intermediary https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/calfile/index.asp
Unfortunately it's useless to almost all software developers/engineers in the state because they don't include capital gains.
There's a pretty huge list of disqualifying things actually, though capital gains (even $1) is probably the biggest restriction. I wonder why they can't handle this - its not that obscure.
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/calfile/qualifications2018.sht...
Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines
#210Yeah they do, of course they do. They are in business to make money, after all. The real story is the absolute travesty of government corruption that TurboTax and HR Block have perpetrated by making it illegal for the government to make tax filing as easy as it should be. It's one of the things I would immediately correct if I was king for a day.
> of course they do. They are in business to make money, after all.
Companies can fulfill their obligations without resorting to trickery. They clearly aren't meeting the spirit of their obligation/commitment and therefore should be punished. So, the government should punish these companies by implementing your second point. If it wasn't clear previously then the industry behavior has now made it obvious they act in bad faith, and are a detriment to both consumers and society in general.