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Killing TurboTax

kunle.app

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Re: Killing TurboTax

#111

Post by coldpie »

somehnguy wrote: post #103
coldpie wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your taxes are super simple, you can use the IRS's free fillable forms: https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form... You basically type your numbers in and it does the math for you. Then you print it out and mail it in. It can't do anything complex, though. In my experience (Minnesota), state filing is even easier, usually just copying numbers from your federal form and doing one table lookup. N…

Thank you, that actually appears to be much more user friendly than I would have imagined. When I think of government websites I think I'm still stuck in the mindset of government websites 10 years ago (aka absolutely horrible). I've been surprised at how good things have gotten regarding them a few times, so I guess I need to snap out of that mindset. While looking over the requirements and supported forms I didn't…

Sorry, no idea.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#112

Post by chrisseaton »

xrd wrote: post #55
ed25519FUUU wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just thinking that an open-source tax engine is the way to go in the future. I would like to see it maintained by the USGOV.

> please don't use this software to file your taxes for the 2020 / 2021 tax season. I wonder if there is a PR that Intuit filed to add this to the readme. Seriously, I wonder how much money Intuit has spent to terrify people into using their software. Each year, I look around for alternatives so I can avoid giving them money, and each year I find some reason to grow fearful of an IRS audit and go with the company tha…

> Each year, I look around for alternatives so I can avoid giving them money

Why not pay an accountant? Why is everyone trying to do their own taxes? By the time you've spent a couple of hours looking for alternatives... you might as well have just paid a professional to do it!

Re: Killing TurboTax

#113

Post by crazygringo »

somehnguy wrote: post #103
coldpie wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your taxes are super simple, you can use the IRS's free fillable forms: https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form... You basically type your numbers in and it does the math for you. Then you print it out and mail it in. It can't do anything complex, though. In my experience (Minnesota), state filing is even easier, usually just copying numbers from your federal form and doing one table lookup. N…

Thank you, that actually appears to be much more user friendly than I would have imagined. When I think of government websites I think I'm still stuck in the mindset of government websites 10 years ago (aka absolutely horrible). I've been surprised at how good things have gotten regarding them a few times, so I guess I need to snap out of that mindset. While looking over the requirements and supported forms I didn't…

Free Fillable Forms supports every tax form as far as I'm aware.

It's really no different from doing your taxes by hand on paper, except it does almost all the math for you.

I've been using it for years (with about 15 different various forms) simply because I refuse to support the tax prep software companies out of principle.

And each year I just look at the previous year's which I saved as PDF for reference in case I forget which number goes where.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#114

Post by bombcar »

dastx wrote: post #81
ISL wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible to FOIA the IRS tax-computation code itself?

Feels like this should be in the public domain. Any reason for it not to be?

Intuit and HR Block lobby against it every year, and the IRS continues to threaten to do it.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#115

Post by boring_twenties »

mavelikara wrote: post #59
sgwealti wrote: post #6

Or the IRS could file our taxes for us for free.

Or IRS could let me know what they expect my taxes to be, and I could *choose* to agree to IRS's calculation, or provide my own.

That's actually exactly what happened when I failed to file for over a year one time. They sent me all the forms prefilled and asked me to review them and just send them back if correct. Sadly, they weren't.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#116

Post by motbob »

coldpie wrote: post #72
xrd wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> please don't use this software to file your taxes for the 2020 / 2021 tax season. I wonder if there is a PR that Intuit filed to add this to the readme. Seriously, I wonder how much money Intuit has spent to terrify people into using their software. Each year, I look around for alternatives so I can avoid giving them money, and each year I find some reason to grow fearful of an IRS audit and go with the company tha…

Unless you really screw up[1], or are intentionally trying to screw the IRS[2], you don't have to worry about an audit. The IRS's goal isn't to bring down their wrath upon you, their goal is to accurately collect the taxes they are due. If you pay too little, they'll ask you to pay the difference. If you pay too much, they'll refund it. Really: I once used the single-payer tax table instead of the filing-jointly tax…

I agree with the basic premise that the IRS is nothing to be afraid of if you make a simple mistake. Though if you make a $5,000 error (which is getting out of "simple mistake" territory), they'll tack on a 20% penalty.

That being said, audits are incredibly annoying if you didn't make a mistake, especially if children are involved. The Examinations department of the IRS is hard-headed, to say the least, and they will often make any excuse to deny you credits that you are actually entitled to. In order to get a fair hearing, you have to appeal the case to court. (The U.S. has made the appeal and court processes pretty doable even for taxpayers without an attorney, though.)

Re: Killing TurboTax

#117

Post by viklove »

gambiting wrote: post #105
Biganon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know where this idea came from (I've seen it on reddit a LOT), but it's the same here in Switzerland: you do it yourself because the tax department has no idea how much you made precisely, what you can deduce from it (expenses you had to do in order to acquire your income), etc. It just makes more sense to have everyone manage their own taxes.

In the UK vast majority of people don't do their own taxes. Your employer pays the tax on your behalf directly from your salary and updates the tax office as to how much you make. In turn, the tax office tells your employer how much tax to pay from your salary, without any input required from yourself. In fact most people I work with don't even know there is such a thing as a tax deadline every year or anything like…

> Your employer pays the tax on your behalf directly from your salary and updates the tax office as to how much you make. In turn, the tax office tells your employer how much tax to pay from your salary, without any input required from yourself.

Same thing happens in the US. When most people file their taxes here, they get money back because they already overpaid.

For example I spent a few thousand trying to launch a business this year, and that is all tax deductible. So I'll file that with my tax form that my employer sends me (with the salary info prefilled), and I'll end up getting some money back because my taxable income is lower than what the gov't expected.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#118

Post by dspillett »

dastx wrote: post #81
ISL wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it possible to FOIA the IRS tax-computation code itself?

Feels like this should be in the public domain. Any reason for it not to be?

The lobbying push from companies that would rather it wasn't (because it could erode their market position by lowering the entry bar for competitors) is stronger than any current push in the other direction, would be my guess.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#119

Post by simplerman »

xrd wrote: post #55
ed25519FUUU wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just thinking that an open-source tax engine is the way to go in the future. I would like to see it maintained by the USGOV.

> please don't use this software to file your taxes for the 2020 / 2021 tax season. I wonder if there is a PR that Intuit filed to add this to the readme. Seriously, I wonder how much money Intuit has spent to terrify people into using their software. Each year, I look around for alternatives so I can avoid giving them money, and each year I find some reason to grow fearful of an IRS audit and go with the company tha…

Most people without businesses don't need to worry about audits. IRS, of course, still audit a small percentage of the most simple and honest-looking returns. But that is mostly for how factories spot check products to ensure quality, not because they suspect you did something wrong.

On other hand, if you are audited, it is not a big deal as long as you were not intentionally defrauding IRS. My boss used to get audited almost every year for his business. IRS would ask for receipts, and once he provided those, it was end of story.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#120

Post by willhinsa »

sib wrote: post #106
nicoburns wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't the legislators just... not do what the lobbyists want? Are they really all that corrupt?

The economist's answer: If that were so, there wouldn't be so much money spent on lobbyists by companies. I guess there's a reason they call it "the dismal science."

when something doesn't provide a reliable return on investment, they stop spending that money. that's how much you know something works, whether it's buying advertising or congressmen.
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