Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

propublica.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

271–280 of 319 posts

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#271

Post by jjeaff »

criddell wrote: post #268
ivalm wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all your taxes are just wages then you just fill out a two page form (1040). Literally just copy a couple of numbers from your w2 and you’re good. The problem is if you have non-salary sources of income (eg stock, non-employee compensation, etc) then things can rapidly become very complicated.

You're right, but I think cycomanic has a point. Why do you even have to fill out the 1040? Why isn't there a default option where you can review tax forms that have already been filled out with the the information the IRS has already received?

That has been proposed. But has been shot down by powerful lobbying groups. One being the tax prep software companies, but another being a conservative group that objects to making paying tax easier because then it will become too easy for the government to just keep raising taxes. The idea is that if you have to file your taxes every year, you have to acknowledge how much you are paying.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#272

Post by jxramos »

dizzant wrote: post #182
lotsofpulp wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not use the official IRS free file forms?

I tried Free File Fillable Forms last year on principal, but I ran into issues in two areas: 1. reporting scholarship income (goes on the line beside box 1 and nowhere else), and 2. state taxes are not supported, and my state does not have an equivalent service.

It's really frustrating that states have not adopted an equivalent service. I actually filed paper forms for mine because their free service is a simplified approximation of the full form and leaves out certain workflows that limit its scope of complexity.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#273

Post by jxramos »

astura wrote: post #255
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your tax situation doesn't change from year to year you don't need to scour the instructions. Just work through the forms using last year's return as a guide.

They changed form 1040 drastically a year or two ago. Plus tax law changes from year to year.

They did, but the line instruction verbiage is easy enough to trace where it went in the end if you search certain keywords and phrases you can hook into the right places more or less.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#274

Post by Bedon292 »

mywittyname wrote: post #49
klmadfejno wrote: post #21

I used to say turbo tax wasn't that bad, and that free filing was easy if you just ignored their promises to save you money if you upgraded. Last year however I got all the way to the end of the process where they revealed I made too much and had to pay. That felt extremely unethical, as the information required to come to that conclusion was available far earlier in the process. And yet what am I going to do but use…

Credit Karma is free. Works great, and has no discernable dark patterns. They even have import features from major payroll companies like ADP. I had to quit turbotax because one year I was a 1099 worker and every year since, it pushes me to go with their "small business edition." Each year it got harder to avoid "upgrading." Seriously, just do it. Quitting TT is so much easier than quitting anything else.

Isn't Credit Carma owned by Intuit who also owns Turbotax? This is very odd to me that they do this, where one side is free and the other is not?

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#275

Post by dastx »

aorth wrote: post #262
DavidPeiffer wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And yet what am I going to do but use turbo tax again. The perceived risk and effort of using a non-automated system to fill them out doesn't seem worth the cost. I'd suggest FreeTaxUSA.com as an alternative. Federal is always free, and state taxes are ~12/state. I don't have anything obscure about my taxes, and their forms indicate they can handle much more complicated situations than I have. I've used them for 3 y…

> I'd suggest FreeTaxUSA.com as an alternative. LOL I just tried to sign up and they rejected me because my personal email is on a .ch domain: The Email Address can't be a foreign email address ending with .ch. Wowwwwww.

Certainly is a weird requirement. Could this possibly a governmental requirement? I certainly know governments have some silly requirements.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#276

Post by mynameisvlad »

simonh wrote: post #270
aorth wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd suggest FreeTaxUSA.com as an alternative. LOL I just tried to sign up and they rejected me because my personal email is on a .ch domain: The Email Address can't be a foreign email address ending with .ch. Wowwwwww.

And yet US citizens resident abroad still have to file US taxes, even if they are dual citizens and have never lived in the US.

But they have to file a 1040NR, which most of the tax software won't touch with a ten foot pole.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#277

Post by deeeeplearning »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #125
deeeeplearning wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how is lobbying different from bribery? Oh, that's easy. Lobbying is legal, bribery isn't.

You seem to be mistaken. In the US, trading law for campaign cash is very legal.

Yes, it's called Lobbying. That was the point of my comment.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#278

Post by teclordphrack2 »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #252
kristopolous wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you say that? You know they are intentionally difficult in the US? For instance, there's been legislation where the IRS would simply tell you how much you owe and you pay it or dispute it. The IRS already know this amount, because this is what eventually happens. Turbotax successfully lobbied for its defeat. It explicitly spends large amounts of money to complicate and convolute the system and structure it…

One of the major challenges with the US system is that the central authorities do not have much of the individual tax information all submitted and processed in advance of the individual taxes. The individual then has to to incorporate this information and file it. Sometimes individuals get amended taxTax information from their income sources and then have to re-file. The central authorities cross check on the backen…

This is incorrect. Your employer is paying in and reporting your taxed income to the feds on a quarterly basis.

There are some exceptions to this depending on business size i think but the vast majority of the data is in the feds hands.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#279

Post by breck »

93po wrote: post #256
breck wrote: post #159

I’m thinking about disrupting this whole industry: http://copypastetaxes.com/

Why do you need $50k to work on this? It sounds like you're a developer and you rewards say it'll be ready in April which is only a couple months of work.

This is not something I want to work on. But someone's gotta do it.

I don't want to do it alone. If enough people gather together, put some skin in the game, and form a community to make it happen, we can pull it off.

I know the math works and how to build the tech. But building the community is the hard part.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#280

Post by teclordphrack2 »

Bedon292 wrote: post #274
mywittyname wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Credit Karma is free. Works great, and has no discernable dark patterns. They even have import features from major payroll companies like ADP. I had to quit turbotax because one year I was a 1099 worker and every year since, it pushes me to go with their "small business edition." Each year it got harder to avoid "upgrading." Seriously, just do it. Quitting TT is so much easier than quitting anything else.

Isn't Credit Carma owned by Intuit who also owns Turbotax? This is very odd to me that they do this, where one side is free and the other is not?

It the appearance of capitalism.
Post reply on HN