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IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

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Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#211

Post by joshstrange »

whatsmyusername wrote: post #193
aidenn0 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, The GOP control of the senate is clearly not due to gerrymandering, or at least not any gerrymandering that happened in the past 100 years. I think gerrymandering is an issue, but it's only a fraction of the reason why representation is not particularly proportional.

No, it's due to large portions of the electorate being low information, single issue, or evangelical voters. You know, morons.

I don't disagree with the first line but the second line is a huge problem IMHO. Things will only continue to degrade when we paint these people as "morons", it will only push them further into the arms of the party that espouses to be fighting for them all while working against their best interests.

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#212

Post by stagger87 »

jjeaff wrote: post #11

There is no reason the IRS shouldn't have a simple, online fillable 1099EZ that makes the calculations and validations for you. And while their at it, match the SSN to the w2 info that they have on file. This would take care of 80% of the population. Just don't outsource it. I'm sure USDS could have it ready in less than a year.

They pretty much have what you want through the free fillable online forms. Everything is digital, you simply enter the numbers from your documents and calculations are made for you. It does not do any SSN verification though.

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#213

Post by [deleted] »

gtirloni wrote: post #3

> a years-old prohibition on the IRS creating its own online filing system has been scrapped What kind of insanity leads to this? The government is prohibited from creating software that helps its citizens? There's a lot wrong with Brazil but here I just download the government-provided software (that runs on Windows/Linux/Mac) and fill my taxes in 10-15 minutes. Every year they release a new version that is easier t…

[deleted]

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#214

Post by jacurtis »

jxramos wrote: post #168
komali2 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty disgusting. Summed up in one of my favorite tweets, which went something like > Gov: you owe us money. It's called taxes > Ctzn: oh ok, how much do I owe you? > Gov: you have to figure it out > Ctzn: oh well, then I owe you 0 > Gov: no, no, we know how much you owe, you have to figure it out, and by the way if you get it wrong you go to jail

The thing people misunderstand with the government not being able to figure it out is because there's a huge variety of complexity that is truly individual based. Did you make a contribution to a tax deductible IRA? Did you make a retroactive payment to that account in the following tax calendar year? There's a ton of variables going on here, where the government doesn't have this all-seeing system where everything g…

I do agree, that ultimately there are several deductions that can reduce the taxes you owe in a given year. But most americans don't have enough of these deductions to make a significant difference.

So the ideal solution would be that the IRS sends you a letter in January that basically says "You made $XX,XXX this year, you are in YYY tax bracket, and thus you owe $ZZ,ZZZ money".

So if they sent that in January, then Americans could have until April 15th to either send a check for the amount owed or to send back an approval for the refund.

For most people, the amount the IRS sends us will be accurate. But if you do want to submit additional deductions then there could be a deduction form you fill out that takes the IRS' total and submits deductions against it.

Again, most Americans would not need to do anything. Self-employed individuals or individuals with many investments or donations might need submit additional information. But this would be the minority. Most people honestly could just agree with the IRS' determined amount due.

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#215

Post by zchrykng »

whatsmyusername wrote: post #193
aidenn0 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, The GOP control of the senate is clearly not due to gerrymandering, or at least not any gerrymandering that happened in the past 100 years. I think gerrymandering is an issue, but it's only a fraction of the reason why representation is not particularly proportional.

No, it's due to large portions of the electorate being low information, single issue, or evangelical voters. You know, morons.

[flagged]

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#216

Post by pm90 »

mumblemumble wrote: post #198
danschumann wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think are more steelman'ed version of the GOP argument is: when government does things badly, they can go VERY VERY badly. It's a risk viewpoint. Whereas the progressive viewpoint letting government do more and more things. The other risk is bloat. Once a government program exists, it is very very hard to stop it and get the funds back ( from a political perspective ). It's unpopular to fire people. When government…

Sure, but that argument just doesn't track. Both parties are similarly aggressive about big government programs and spending. The real variables are what they want to spend money on (health care or national security or schools or the Farm Bill or whatever) and where they think the money should come from (tax the beneficiaries of these programs or tax their children and grandchildren unto the tenth gener-- er, finance…

People are irrational and complex. Its not surprising.

Whats really disturbing is the amount of "my team is the best" thinking that is out of control, which I believe is learned from the various sports franchises? Regardless, when applied to politics, it can lead to a very unhealthy outcome. The worst that can happen if your team loses in sports is: they lose in sports. The worst that can happen in political battles is that you're economy is hamstrung, your community doesn't get the support it needs etc.

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#217

Post by kmonsen »

jxramos wrote: post #168
komali2 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty disgusting. Summed up in one of my favorite tweets, which went something like > Gov: you owe us money. It's called taxes > Ctzn: oh ok, how much do I owe you? > Gov: you have to figure it out > Ctzn: oh well, then I owe you 0 > Gov: no, no, we know how much you owe, you have to figure it out, and by the way if you get it wrong you go to jail

The thing people misunderstand with the government not being able to figure it out is because there's a huge variety of complexity that is truly individual based. Did you make a contribution to a tax deductible IRA? Did you make a retroactive payment to that account in the following tax calendar year? There's a ton of variables going on here, where the government doesn't have this all-seeing system where everything g…

Flat taxes would not help at all, because the government still needs to know all your data. After that it is just computations which computers are pretty good at.

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#218

Post by nkrisc »

briandear wrote: post #155
jorblumesea wrote: post #122

The both parties argument is so stale at this point. While the Dems might not be perfect, they aren't actively sabotaging our democracy. The Republicans just passed a huge tax bill and what did it do? Oh, huge handouts to the wealthy. Nice!

Sabotaging democracy? You mean like attempting to overturn a presidential election?

Like they did to Clinton? Agree with it or not, I wouldn't use impeachment as weapon if I were either side.

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#219

Post by kmonsen »

nightski wrote: post #133
komali2 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty disgusting. Summed up in one of my favorite tweets, which went something like > Gov: you owe us money. It's called taxes > Ctzn: oh ok, how much do I owe you? > Gov: you have to figure it out > Ctzn: oh well, then I owe you 0 > Gov: no, no, we know how much you owe, you have to figure it out, and by the way if you get it wrong you go to jail

You don't go to jail for filing a wrong number accidentally. Only if you are intentionally lying/hiding income. I know people who didn't pay tax FOR THEIR BUSINESS for several years and they settled the debt for much less than they owed and definitely did not go to jail. This is just misinformation.

This is true, but you can be asked to pay gigantic fines. IRS wanted me to pay more than 50k in fine (luckily they were wrong and accepted that right away). So maybe jail is hyperbole, but it can get pretty serious.

Re: IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete with TurboTax

#220

Post by danieltillett »

xrd wrote: post #172

It's so insane to me that Grover Norquist somehow lobbied against free tax filing provided by the IRS. It escapes all logic that he didn't pay attention to what other countries do. It escapes all logic that he didn't think for a moment about what the cost would be to citizens in (more or less direct payments to Intuit) and that's not considering the incalculable cost of just gathering up all this documentation and pu…

It is not insane, just not obvious what Grover’s aim is. He is anti-tax for a large number of reasons. By making paying tax painful for the majority of people he is trying to increase the percentage of the population that hate the IRS and taxes. All very sane if your aim is to lower taxes.
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