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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

#211

Post by eyelidlessness »

m463 wrote: post #209
eyelidlessness wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. That’s only a good reason if you’re opposed to the actual programs and/or outcomes. If you favor those programs and outcomes, making people “painfully aware” of their cost almost certainly undermines them. Which... > The bad reason: Lobbying by intuit and parties…

> That’s only a good reason if you’re opposed to the actual programs and/or outcomes. Your argument seems to be that if you pay more taxes, then you get good programs and services. In a similar vein, you should give your kid lots of lunch money to take to school, because he would have a more nutritious lunch. :)

My argument is that I would rather live in a society that benefits from the services afforded by my taxes than live in a society that overly scrutinizes them. I don’t much need for those services thank goodness (anymore, thank goodness), but I’m sure glad they exist for the people who do need them and I’m not about to start pinching those pennies at “time to fill out an annual form”. And I trust the judgment of “money well spent” from people with expertise and investment who share those values much more than random cranks who just see their own forms and complain.

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

#212

Post by eyelidlessness »

rayiner wrote: post #186
Majromax wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I also support forcing people to grapple with the cost of government once a year. But that's one-sided: people do not have the same requirement to "grapple" with the benefits of government once a year. That feeds right into known cognitive biases, where we underweight small but steady effects and overweight concentrated effects. If you had a "yearly day of reckoning" with your partner where you re-hashed every…

> But that's one-sided: people do not have the same requirement to "grapple" with the benefits of government once a year. Presumably you experience that every day. Moreover, politicians spend tons of time talking about those benefits.

> Presumably you experience that every day

That’s the kind of thing that becomes invisible when contrasted with a major personal economic event.

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

#213

Post by privatenumber »

Filing taxes is a solved problem in many countries so it's very disappointing it's still so difficult to do in the US. I'm glad to see open source engineers taking matters into their own hands to disrupt this corrupt industry.

If milestones and a growth path can be clearly planned and communicated, I think many people would happily chip in to help fund a project like this.

Something like this page would be nice: https://k9mail.app/2021/02/14/K-9-Mail-is-looking-for-fundin...

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

#214

Post by ac29 »

rodonn wrote: post #200
lotsofpulp wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In which state did this happen?

Some thing very similar happened in California: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/04/03/709656642/epis...

CalFile is still around, and pretty good: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/inde...

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

#215

Post by noahtallen »

systemvoltage wrote: post #73
janwillemb wrote: post #26

In the Netherlands the tagline of the tax authorities used to be "we can't make it funnier, but we can make it easier". Most tax forms are online and pre-filled with data they already have. For most people it's probably a matter of minutes.

I prefer the US style actually. The government assumes flexibility, citizen’s responsibility and their ability to challenge their calculations / deductions by default . When that’s not the case, there is 1040-EZ [1] for people who want to simplify. 1040-EZ can be done in 10 mins max. I also enjoy filing taxes. It’s one of those things that allow you to reflect on your work, how you did, optimize the deductions, and g…

Filing taxes is too often ambiguous, which negates the fun

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

#216

Post by m463 »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #211
m463 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That’s only a good reason if you’re opposed to the actual programs and/or outcomes. Your argument seems to be that if you pay more taxes, then you get good programs and services. In a similar vein, you should give your kid lots of lunch money to take to school, because he would have a more nutritious lunch. :)

My argument is that I would rather live in a society that benefits from the services afforded by my taxes than live in a society that overly scrutinizes them. I don’t much need for those services thank goodness (anymore, thank goodness), but I’m sure glad they exist for the people who do need them and I’m not about to start pinching those pennies at “time to fill out an annual form”. And I trust the judgment of “mone…

I understand your point, but I believe it should be "trust but verify". Checks and balances are a normal part of any stable structure of governance, and they should always be there.

One thing that confounds me is how do taxes tend to increase as a percentage (and will it only end because of mathematical limitations like the laffer curve?)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve

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

#217

Post by lowpro »

freewilly1040 wrote: post #202
sunnyam wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks very easy to just build this from source, which is what privacy-concerned users would do anyway

That sounds like more trouble than just learning how to file your taxes?

Building from source is probably easier for a non-tech user than filing taxes that are anything more than a basic W-2.

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

#218

Post by sul_tasto »

snorremd wrote: post #102
ac29 wrote: post #21

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

As I understand it this is a result of big tax software companies and accounting firms lobbying to keep tax filing as complex as possible so there is still a market for them. If taxes were as easy to file as in countries like Norway and Sweden the market for accountants and tax filing software for private citizens would plummet.

the US tax system is ‘broken’ because there are powerful interests that benefit. it goes well beyond the accounting industry.

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

#219

Post by lostmsu »

pwg wrote: post #158

Related project: OpenTaxSolver ( http://opentaxsolver.sourceforge.net/ ): OpenTaxSolver (OTS) is a free, safe + secure program for calculating Tax Form entries for Federal and State personal income taxes. It automatically fills-out and prints your forms. I've used OTS for the last three or four years now to do my taxes, it does work for the task.

This app would be the prime project for GitHub donations.

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

#220

Post by lostmsu »

thanksforfish wrote: post #136
evolve2k wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A practical self-test would be to enter up your last years tax return as is and compare the assessment to what you actual assessment was. [Having proper unit tests as specs is a much cooler answer.]

Various tax law changes could make that inaccurate.

I think he means comparing output of the app for 2019 with what you filed for 2019. Not using the app for 2020 with your filings from 2019.
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