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Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

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Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#21

Post by ac29 »

llarsson wrote: post #19
vages wrote: post #15

Related fun (and sad) fact: In Norway, the tax submission forms are online and so user friendly that you don't need a tax filing program like this. Edit: Here is a link to an explanation for the form, in English, which was revamped in 2020: https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/tax-return/tax-r... The submission form is essentially a wizard that asks you questions related to your situation and your past year. D…

In Sweden, the employers are responsible for reporting your income and banks your profits on sales of stocks, funds, and real estate. So "doing your taxes" is, for most people, just logging in and saying "yes" to the computed value. You can even just send a text to do so.

> In Sweden, the employers are responsible for reporting your income and banks your profits on sales of stocks, funds, and real estate.

This is true in the US as well, but the tax authority (IRS) gives you nothing but blank forms to fill out yourself.

Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#22

Post by baby »

suyash wrote: post #11

Ok how do you do state taxes in this? I don't see California option. Also no privacy policy on the hosted one, you really think people will trust giving their sensitive information like that?

Doesn't California have a free of charge webapp for doing your taxes?

Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#24

Post by bemmu »

llarsson wrote: post #19
vages wrote: post #15

Related fun (and sad) fact: In Norway, the tax submission forms are online and so user friendly that you don't need a tax filing program like this. Edit: Here is a link to an explanation for the form, in English, which was revamped in 2020: https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/tax-return/tax-r... The submission form is essentially a wizard that asks you questions related to your situation and your past year. D…

In Sweden, the employers are responsible for reporting your income and banks your profits on sales of stocks, funds, and real estate. So "doing your taxes" is, for most people, just logging in and saying "yes" to the computed value. You can even just send a text to do so.

In Finland it's "we think you owe X amount of taxes, if you agree, do nothing".

Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#25

Post by stanislavb »

llarsson wrote: post #19
vages wrote: post #15

Related fun (and sad) fact: In Norway, the tax submission forms are online and so user friendly that you don't need a tax filing program like this. Edit: Here is a link to an explanation for the form, in English, which was revamped in 2020: https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/tax-return/tax-r... The submission form is essentially a wizard that asks you questions related to your situation and your past year. D…

In Sweden, the employers are responsible for reporting your income and banks your profits on sales of stocks, funds, and real estate. So "doing your taxes" is, for most people, just logging in and saying "yes" to the computed value. You can even just send a text to do so.

That’s the case in Australia, too.

Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#27

Post by eralps »

This is a cool project. As a user entering information in a pdf file with hundreds of input boxes stresses me. Hiding the document until after I enter all the information makes it easier to file tax.

But it would not be feasible to use this for most of the people. Tax is often vastly complex and it ignores all those parts. I don't have any capital gain, any properties or any uncommon income such as from rent but even for me this would not work because I get 1099-INT forms from bank (for 1.25$) and there is only W2 option under income.

I am also a nonresident so I need to use 1040NR another block there but I am not even talking about that.

Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#28

Post by aidangrimshaw »

jfim wrote: post #18
aidangrimshaw wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, at some point I may try to factor out the tax calculation portion and add it as an external npm package or similar. The only similar thing I could find was https://www.npmjs.com/package/taxee-tax-statistics but that package has some security vulnerabilities and does not seem to be actively maintained.

You could just reuse the code from opentaxsolver and run it through emscripten. Here's an old version I made a few years ago: https://github.com/jfim/1040.js

Thanks! I'll check it out

Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#29

Post by senux »

m463 wrote: post #17
vages wrote: post #15

Related fun (and sad) fact: In Norway, the tax submission forms are online and so user friendly that you don't need a tax filing program like this. Edit: Here is a link to an explanation for the form, in English, which was revamped in 2020: https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/tax-return/tax-r... The submission form is essentially a wizard that asks you questions related to your situation and your past year. D…

the good reason: some people are philosophically opposed to easy taxes - people should be painfully aware of the money they are giving to the government. (sort of like folks who have VAT complain about advertised US retail prices which don't include tax) The bad reason: Lobbying by intuit and parties to prevent easy tax preparation. Their ROI on regulatory capture is very very good.

The "good reason" you provided, even if it were an actually thought out consequence of the US system, isn't really delivered.

In reality, people are painfully aware of how annoying filing taxes is and hopeful that they will get some money back later. The system is so convoluted, most people pay someone else to take care of it for them. Not to mention, most people barely understand what's happening when they are filing their taxes.

Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp

#30

Post by petethepig »

I once tried to model tax forms as code and one thing I learned is that using observable / computable model (as in mobX / knockout.js) works pretty well for computing tax.

For example:

  this.totalDeductions = this.computed(() => {
    return this.isItemizing() ? this.itemizedDeductionsAdjusted() : this.standardDeduction();
  }).form("f1040-131"); // 131 is reference to a field on the tax form

  this.afterDeductions = this.computed(() => {
    return this.adjustedGrossIncome() - this.totalDeductions();
  }).form("f1040-133")
The other thing I learned is that taxes are ridiculously complex.
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