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TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

propublica.org

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Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#131

Post by NoGravitas »

throwaway_law wrote: post #112
dangus wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with this simply because the idea that competition exists or could exist is not an excuse for the system to function the way it does. There are new players in the space, like CreditKarma. Many competitors offer more features for free than Intuit as well. But that doesn’t mean we should have to rely on private companies (who are data hoarding) to file our taxes. That doesn’t mean that free fillable forms ne…

> That doesn’t mean that free fillable forms need to be unnecessarily more difficult to use than commercial solutions. They aren't. The IRS form is the exact for completed by TurboTax or any other accountant/service provider. The IRS only accepts their own forms. >For most people the IRS could send a tax form already filed out to read, verify, and return. Thats what is really being asked...the Government to do tax re…

Well, the government was clearly interested in providing free online filing, back around 2002. But they were lobbied out of the idea by Intuit and a few other companies in the tax prep space.

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#132

Post by samsari »

giovannibonetti wrote: post #51
jib wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Sweden, the government does the work for most normal cases. They send you a suggestion of “this is all we know about” and you just say “yeah, seems right” via SMS. In Ireland you don’t do anything in the usual case, unless you think it’s wrong, everything is taxed at source by the employers/banks. Both cases different if you’re a company ofc.

It seems a bit naive of the government to reveal to you your income sources they know about. If you have any hidden ones you can confidently not report them and pay less taxes than you would otherwise.

Until you're selected for a random audit and quickly get charged with tax fraud.

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#133

Post by delfinom »

fedups wrote: post #117

I like propublica's reporting on this but geez, this needs an award for one of the top HN obsessions. Within the past 7 months: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free; 211 points -- 54 minutes ago TurboTax to charge more lower-income customers; 144 points -- 3 months ago Congress Scraps Provision to Restrict IRS from Competing with TurboTax; 82 points -- 4 months ago Listen to TurboTax…

So what? Fuck TurboTax trying to rent seek mine and anyone's ability to pay taxes. What's next? Feudalism?

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#134

Post by Shivetya »

HeWhoLurksLate wrote: post #20

Maybe I'm totally wrong here, but I don't see much of a difference between extorsionist tax filing software and scam callers warning me about the IRS suing me. Can the government please make something that's easy to use? Filing taxes isn't something that requires a separate company to help with, and I see no reason why these products have a right to exist (and especially not be canonized), especially with how exploit…

How many pages of the supposed eight thousand plus pages of tax law apply to the majority of those who file taxes? The IRS certainly can tell me when I am wrong but they won't do it except when the result is in their favor; in my case I was improperly not filing HSA expenditures which would have resulted in me getting more back.

It comes down to this and I do not blame Turbo Tax or any other company in this area. The Federal and State Tax codes are weaponized by politicians and until that stops the system will be too complex for many to do the the filing on their own and some of that is because there is always that "did I forget something" feeling.

At least the changes made recently helped the lower and middle classes out a lot, that doubling of the personal deduction was a god send in reducing the work needed as many will never need to itemize again

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#135

Post by _bfhp »

fedups wrote: post #117

I like propublica's reporting on this but geez, this needs an award for one of the top HN obsessions. Within the past 7 months: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free; 211 points -- 54 minutes ago TurboTax to charge more lower-income customers; 144 points -- 3 months ago Congress Scraps Provision to Restrict IRS from Competing with TurboTax; 82 points -- 4 months ago Listen to TurboTax…

It's an issue that affects almost every American, why not obsess? I've seen two stories in the past day about Google Nest which affects maybe 10%? What a bizarre obsession.

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#137

Post by JibJabDab »

Accujack wrote: post #106
candyman wrote: post #50

I guess this is why some voters are eager for someone like Elizabeth Warren to get in office and stop some of this anti-competitive behavior. It's odd to me because TurboTax is good software (at least when I used it) and it saves time. So to me it's worth the money. But to force someone who as a job and no real deductions to not simply file a 1040 EZ online is just a rent seeker making sure they get paid.

>Elizabeth Warren to get in office and stop some of this anti-competitive behavior. Warren is a run of the mill middle of the pack Democrat. She only looks good because at present the GOP looks so bad. The government needs to be reformed, electing one party or another President isn't going to change much, unless you set the bar really low (Trump)

Well, that run-of-the-mill democrat helped make CFPB a reality and that's pertinent to what OP was trying to say. She's much more vocal about these anti-competitive practices than most other politicians.

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#138

Post by entropicdrifter »

wffurr wrote: post #76
jedimastert wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can the government please make something that's easy to use? To be frank, the government has issues making things usable, and "usable" is a pretty small target when you're talking about the entire US workforce.

18F has really changed the game in government IT and software. https://18f.gsa.gov/ They brought in a bunch of dedicated experienced software pros who among other things rescued the federal health insurance exchange site. I think they could do a fine job with tax software.

Thanks Obama

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#139

Post by nameless912 »

cloverich wrote: post #118
_jal wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. It is a special combination of sadistic and stupid, an American classic.

I'm skeptical. I think more likely its an intentional diversion to create and protect sophisticated loopholes for high income earners and companies. Its a reasonable strategy that obviously works and clearly explains their otherwise contradictory position.

Porqúe no los dos? One thing I've learned about American politics is that if there's a sadistic answer that screws the poor and a greedy answer that advantages the rich, often _both_ are correct.

Re: TurboTax’s 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans from Filing Taxes for Free

#140

Post by magashna »

sneeze-slayer wrote: post #111
magashna wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if you make under $70k or so you can do it online as well, there's a few sites that officially help you on behalf of the IRS.

Like TurboTax?

Turbotax appears to have one of the lower limits, and also are supposedly very difficult about doing the free option.

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/jsp/index.jsp

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