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Killing TurboTax

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Re: Killing TurboTax

#231

Post by jorblumesea »

djrogers wrote: post #182
jorblumesea wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most countries have their version of the IRS "file for you" without any of those difficulties. Everyone reports tax information to the central authority which determines how much you owe. Even complex things like 1099-B, 1099-Div etc. Which is how the current system works anyways, it just eliminates the hassle. There's almost no scenario where the IRS cannot do this stuff. Think about this fact: your W-2, 1099 invest…

Yes, those docs are filed with the IRS, but charitable contributions, child status (are they dependents or not this year?), expenses (home office, side hustle, property management etc), and many other things aren't. If all your tax returns reference are the handful of items you mention, your tax return can be done in a matter of minutes on a short form. Yes, it could be better, but it's a fantasy to think it should b…

These are easily done and in other countries, are fairly simple. Sure it turns your 10 minute tax affair into a 25 minute one. Declaring child status is just a simple form box. Declaring "side hustle" money is a similar affair. Charitable contributions just register with the IRS instead of it going directly to you like a 1099 or W2.

It's still a far cry from the "entire Saturday morning" affair, even using online tax software.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#232

Post by specialist »

wwww4all wrote: post #216
specialist wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true that the Democratic caucuses, both federal and state level, are much harder to hold together. Every year there's a bill in my state to reign in pay day lenders. Basically banning usury level interest rates on loans. Overwhelming popular support (~80%) and editorial support. And every year there's a "blue dog" Democrat living in a purple district which bends to the pro pay day loan lobbyists. Vetocracy is a…

Democrats had filibuster proof senators when Obama was president. They had way more than 50%. Why did this not happen then?

You'll have to ask Sen Joe Lieberman. Please share his answers. I'm dying to know too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lieberman

Re: Killing TurboTax

#233

Post by EvanAnderson »

vharuck wrote: post #212
EvanAnderson wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The IRS is a US federal agency, though. They can claim no copyright on the code. It should be be public domain.

Unless it was written by a contractor who then gave the copyright to the IRS. This is a very common situation. The federal government is not barred from having copyrights.

That would be a fun legal rabbit hole to descend into.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#234

Post by alex_g »

totaldude87 wrote: post #222

Ok am curious. Why people hate TurboTax so much ? Is it because its a monopoly (or) does it uses any predatory practices (or) kill other companies that tries to compete. Disclosure: I used TurboTax to file this year's taxes and kind of like their UI and ease of use (for top $ of course):|

All of the above. Yeah TurboTax is great because they make it easier to do something nearly everyone hates to do and doesn't understand. So most people don't care about why Intuit is a terrible company because TurboTax is their only option and it works well.

Intuit has excessively lobbied the US government to prevent simplification of the tax code, they struck a deal to offer a free option in return for the IRS not developing their own alternative, and then deceptively hid access to the free option so that users are tricked into purchasing it anyway.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#235

Post by glial »

bluGill wrote: post #154
glial wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have used TaxAct successfully for the last several years and they're great. (just a happy customer)

I've been using TaxAct for years, but I'm not sure they are better. They have every incentive to lobby with TurboTax to make sure it is hard to file taxes without help. I'm tempted to go back to paper forms. It wasn't hard, just annoying the one time I forgot to copy line 13 of form 1234 to line 43d of form 5678 and then had to amend my state filings.

Yeah, truthfully I would rather not have to use TaxAct either. Since the IRS already knows what I owe, what's the point of filling out forms by hand?

Every year when I manually copy information from my W2 onto an online form, I think that tax season must be the biggest data entry clusterfuck in the world.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#236

Post by d1zzy »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #153
chrisseaton wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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!

It’s pretty simple to do your own taxes unless you have your own business and partnerships and whatnot. Spend a couple hours reading the instructions, use the IRS free fillable forms website, and you do it once and every year after it’s quick and easy. Things don’t change much year to year. If you don’t understand, post a question a personal finance forum and someone will pipe in with an answer.

> It’s pretty simple to do your own taxes unless you have your own business and partnerships and whatnot.

IDK about that. As a non-resident alien for tax purposes for a couple of years I couldn't use any of the existing software (TurboTax, etc). I even tried to contact a tax accounting firm like HRBlock and they had no idea about things I needed to file that I discovered on my own reading the IRS publications. So I did the taxes on my own and every time it was the most painful thing happening that year (yes, that likely means I lead an otherwise stress-free life), it took 3 weeks at least spending most evenings a few hours making little progress on it each day. And at the end of it I never felt very confident about it and I likely left on the table possible deductions.

But if there's one thing doing that helped with is appreciate how easy and painless is to do it as a resident alien with something like TurboTax (takes a few hours instead of weeks) and it helped me understand the terms and instructions of some of the more complex issues that you may have to deal with even with TurboTax.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#237

Post by astrea »

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #189
wheybags wrote: post #167

Something I never understood about us taxes - from reading discussions online, it seems like everyone needs to file taxes at the end of every year? Here it's only self employed, or people with rental or investment income. In a normal employer-employee relationship, the employer has to take care of it for you, they deduct taxes before sending the money to your account. This seems to be the way it works in most places,…

Technically you only need to file if you owe the government money. If you have money deducted from your paycheck, you will want to file in order to get a refund, but technically you don’t have to.

This is not entirely true. You have to file if your income is above a certain amount for your age and filing status. If you owe or get a refund from the federal or state government is entirely dependent on your tax obligation and the amount withheld from your paychecks throughout the year.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#238

Post by frockington1 »

totaldude87 wrote: post #222

Ok am curious. Why people hate TurboTax so much ? Is it because its a monopoly (or) does it uses any predatory practices (or) kill other companies that tries to compete. Disclosure: I used TurboTax to file this year's taxes and kind of like their UI and ease of use (for top $ of course):|

People don't like TurboTax becauseof their advertising and lobbying tactics. They target income levels that can file for free online and spend money 'lobbying' the government to allow the practice to continue. That being said, I use Turbo Tax and love it. The clean UI made filing take 90 minutes despite having several property and other transactions this year.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#239

Post by mixmastamyk »

motbob wrote: post #188
chrisseaton wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most importantly, most countries do it by simply having much higher thresholds for complicated tax rules applying to you. In the UK quite a few people don't pay any tax at all, and the vast majority don't pay enough tax to have to file any return. What impact does a dependent have on your tax that needs to make it so complicated? I have relatively complicated taxes due to two jobs and some unusual deductions, but hav…

Well, if you are a simple family where everyone is biologically related and living together, then things are pretty simple in the end. The issues come up with mixed families, divorced parents, etc. As for the dollar values, if you make $30,000 and have 2 kids, you can usually get a $6,000 tax credit or more. The U.S.'s support for working low-income families is carried out through the tax system. Put another way, tax…

Not a problem, you enter dependents into the wizard, and take them out when/if they move out.

No matter the situation, they accept your word for it. If an audit occurs you will have to prove things with documentation and be held liable for mistakes or fraud.

It's basically a five-minute task that you appear to believe should make tax filing take hours?

I did taxes once in NZ, you go to a website where they have all the data ready. Then you go next, next, finish, adding a deduction or dependent here and there. Takes 15-30 mins.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#240

Post by guerrilla »

moviuro wrote: post #178
klmadfejno wrote: post #146

The article seems odd to me. Tax filing at the push of a button still implies a middleman. You don't need to push the button.

We have the following data about you: [...] Does it look correct? [Y/n] That's how it's done in France for example.

and Sweden.
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