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FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

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Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#111

Post by noir_lord »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #105
OJFord wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just taxing at source for the common things, so that 'filling taxes' isn't something most people have to do.

I'm pretty sure payroll taxes are things taxed at the source: I'm not sure there is a less painful way to tax for, say, social security or military spending. I'd honestly be happy changing some things into payroll taxes, honestly: Gasoline taxes, for example, aren't going to fund roads as much in the future (and efficient cars are already causing issues). Folks that work use roads in most cases, though, even if they…

In the UK if you are an employee of one company you get PAYE (Pay as You Earn) which is dealt with by your employer.

I'm 40 and have never had to do a tax return, I get a summary at the end of the year and a breakdown on each pay slip and that's pretty much it.

It's one of those silent services that government does so well it pretty much disappears into the background.

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#112

Post by mkskm »

wffurr wrote: post #61

What's the least scammy alternative to TurboTax? I keep paying for it every year because it's what I'm used to, and I have capital gains and all that junk so I can't free file.

I've been using Taxfyle recently. It can be a little more expensive but saves time since all you have to do is upload forms for a CPA to fill out. There's also TaxAct if you want to do it yourself. I refuse to give money to Intuit.

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#113

Post by mkskm »

Kalium wrote: post #63
wffurr wrote: post #61

What's the least scammy alternative to TurboTax? I keep paying for it every year because it's what I'm used to, and I have capital gains and all that junk so I can't free file.

CreditKarma lets you file capital gains and so on for free.

Make sure to opt out of personal info sharing before doing this. There's a subtle disclosure permitting selling info to affiliates before enrolling in their tax program that can be declined (it looks required at first glance but isn't).

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#114

Post by jaywalk »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #58
jaywalk wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ridiculous thing to say. I am a small government person, and I believe taxation is theft. However, I am a realist and so I recognize that taxes are part of our reality. I am 100% in favor of the IRS making it as easy as possible for people to do their taxes, because they already have 99% of the info needed.

> I believe taxation is theft Then please stop using the things we fund with them. Roads, GPS, etc.

I'm funding them too, so no.

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#115

Post by oconnor663 »

noir_lord wrote: post #111
Broken_Hippo wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure payroll taxes are things taxed at the source: I'm not sure there is a less painful way to tax for, say, social security or military spending. I'd honestly be happy changing some things into payroll taxes, honestly: Gasoline taxes, for example, aren't going to fund roads as much in the future (and efficient cars are already causing issues). Folks that work use roads in most cases, though, even if they…

In the UK if you are an employee of one company you get PAYE (Pay as You Earn) which is dealt with by your employer. I'm 40 and have never had to do a tax return, I get a summary at the end of the year and a breakdown on each pay slip and that's pretty much it. It's one of those silent services that government does so well it pretty much disappears into the background.

Maybe this is already clear, but in the US "tax witholding" done by your employer is mandatory for most people. So all the paperwork we do at filing time is just to compute the difference between what was withheld and what you owe.

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#116

Post by jeffbee »

scott_s wrote: post #106
jeffbee wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For people with simple tax returns, aren't they already using the 1040 EZ? Doesn't seem like you'd use TurboTax unless you were itemizing or had a Sched. D to fill out.

For many years, I filled out a 1040 EZ, and I used TurboTax to do it. For me, it wasn't about ease of filling out my taxes , as they were trivial. It was about ease of filing my taxes , as it was all online and I didn't have to physically mail anything. So, yes, such people are already using the simplest possible form, but ease of filing is a big deal, and I suspect many people are like me and use online filing softw…

I guess I'm so old that my personal recollection of the 1040EZ was that you got it in the mail, filled it out, and mailed it back. There was a time wen TurboTax existed and e-File did not yet exist, so filing wasn't one of the benefits of it.

I also only just realized that the IRS no longer just mails everybody a form 1040 and instruction book.

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#117

Post by amir734jj »

mindslight wrote: post #87
wffurr wrote: post #61

What's the least scammy alternative to TurboTax? I keep paying for it every year because it's what I'm used to, and I have capital gains and all that junk so I can't free file.

Torrent turbotax, run it in a VM without net access, and physically mail your tax return in. Or if your figures are relatively simple, just fill out the forms yourself. It helps to know how the formulas work out for tax avoidance purposes, anyway.

Man, that was savage!

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#118

Post by beckler »

wffurr wrote: post #61

What's the least scammy alternative to TurboTax? I keep paying for it every year because it's what I'm used to, and I have capital gains and all that junk so I can't free file.

Don't know how this isn't mentioned already, but I've used FreeTaxUSA for the last two years, and I've really enjoyed it. It does not hold your hand as much as TurboTax, but they'll walk you through every step. I still pretty easy to use, plus it's rather affordable.

https://www.freetaxusa.com/

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#119

Post by tomjakubowski »

zie wrote: post #69
wffurr wrote: post #61

What's the least scammy alternative to TurboTax? I keep paying for it every year because it's what I'm used to, and I have capital gains and all that junk so I can't free file.

You can pay a tax professional for about the $100 that turbo tax apparently charges. There is an OSS tax solver here: https://opentaxsolver.sourceforge.net/ Only does IRS, not state, works fine for me so far.

The link needs http:// to work. In 2020 Sourceforge doesn't host project webpages on https.

http://opentaxsolver.sourceforge.net/

Re: FTC Is Investigating Intuit over TurboTax Practices

#120

Post by ciarannolan »

areyousure wrote: post #93
ciarannolan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought just the individual mandate was struck down by the SCOTUS. What other pieces make up most of the new taxes and mandates that were repealed or ignored?

The individual mandate was upheld by the SCOTUS in 2012: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Federation_of_Indepen... Rather, the individual mandate was zeroed out in 2017: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_of_2017 The Cadillac tax has been delayed, seemingly indefinitely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_insurance_plan The employer mandate was delayed. The Independent Payment Advisory Boar…

Oh man, I was way off. Thanks for this.
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