Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Is there any good reason this isn't the case in America yet?
Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
81–90 of 224 posts
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
> just logging in and saying "yes" to the computed value Holy crap, so if a h4x0r breaks into that website they can see the income and assets of every citizen of your country? That's nuts. The IRS sucks, but believe it or not they're smart about keeping data secure. The massive mainframe into which all that employer-related data gets loaded is not web-connected. In fact, not even IRS employees can access the data in…
My understanding is income tax and income is public in many of these countries.
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there any good reason this isn't the case in America yet?
Broadly, a couple reasons: - Tax prep companies like Intuit have a vested interest in keeping tax prep difficult. - Grover Norquist (Americans for Tax Reform) believes that making filing taxes easier will make people more okay with paying taxes, and as a result, many conservative policymakers won't bite. (It's slightly more complicated than this, but I believe this assessment to be accurate.) Here's a Planet Money po…
Is it the same in Canada? We have complex forms as well and software to help fill out forms.
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#84Related 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.
In Singapore income taxes aren’t taken off your paycheck. You’re expected to save enough to pay your taxes the following year.
They do allow installments the following year, so you can replicate the monthly deductions, but it’s plainly apparent how much you’re paying since you need to pay it separately each month.
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#85imagine submitting your social security number and sensitive PII to a website that was created during covid 2020-05-10T08:44:50Z which doesn't have a contact us page even if it is all in browser. is this a business? do they have insurance?
Haha, I am fully convinced now that lots of HNers actually don't know how to use Github. Are you guys not software engineers? Use the source code, my dude. Read it if you want. Run the program if you want. It doesn't even take that long. And like, if you're even halfway competent you know how to run the program without Internet access.
not everyone is a genius like yourself. you will understand when you are older.
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#86Related 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…
You'd be hard-pressed to find any other developed country than the US where it's not similar to that.
Canada.
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
In France for example, when it's time to declare your income you receive an email (or a letter if you prefer). You log in with your fiscal number and password, and get an online form where you can declare any type of income. For most people, the numbers are pre-filled (communicated by the employer). You can modify them, check your bank account IBAN for paying/refunds, and validate. In Spain it's the same, except unfo…
Good on you! That sounds surprisingly modern compared to what I've heard about for example online banking in France from people who were exchange students there. From what I've heard, you have to show up physically for most bank stuff. Is that true? Disclaimer: I was told this by people who were exchange students there at least two years ago. Things may have changed and/or be different (i.e. harder) for foreigners.
It depends on the bank, but most allow to do everything online or by phone. Personally I haven't visited a bank office in the last 15ish years; before it was fully online I could do the rest by phone/email.
Actually more and more people use online-only banks now, without any physical office. I couldn't visit my banks even if I wanted to.
Probably exchange students don't know the market and go to the nearest branch, so it might not be the most technologically advanced option.
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#88Why not print dollars (with expiry date) instead of taxes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_in_circulation#Total_...
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#89In Germany the official application to submit your taxes as a private person to the state has been a windows application for years. Using the app was a 1:1 copy of the official paper forms. Disregarding the complexity of the german tax law, you had a reference to the papers. So it was kind of easy to use the digital counterpart one was accustomed to.
It was disimproved by hauling it into a web app, which breaks with all the usual connections you built with the paper equivalent and is the most UX unfriendly monstrosity one could create. From this year on you HAVE TO USE IT. I deeply disrespect this regression, which forces many people into paying a tax office for their private tax submission.
I wish for a swedish/norwegian system, where the state courts you for YOUR money. I don't know a single person in Germany which states: "I love doing my tax submissions!"
EDIT: Typos plus last paragraph
Re: Show HN: ustaxes.org – open-source tax filing webapp
#90Related 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…
> I cannot understand why filling out the submission seems so hard in most countries
The fact that schools do not teach makes it crazy too. I imagine it has something to do with the fact that if you make it easy, mistakes cannot be made therefore you cannot exploit the few bucks here and there out of a large number of people who are not tuned to the tax filling process.