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Killing TurboTax

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Re: Killing TurboTax

#281

Post by motbob »

RankingMember wrote: post #263
motbob wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's "bull pucky" to you, but I have vivid memories of my parents agonizing over taxes as a child. The agony they went through is much ameliorated now due to advances in technology. And thank you for the link, but this news segment basically is big on opinion, low on specifics. Feel free to link me to a detailed article on how non-U.S. countries handle self-employment or dependent tax issues and whether/how tho…

A task being easier than it used to be doesn't mean that task's process shouldn't be improved or that its existence shouldn't be questioned altogether as a matter of course.

True. But I think progress over the years is a better metric for whether things are in a good place, policy-wise, than "some other country does things better." So I'm not grumpy about the state of the U.S.'s internet infrastructure, but I am grumpy about the state of the U.S. health care system (for example).

Re: Killing TurboTax

#282

Post by lolsal »

TurboTax's offering is not just about literally filing my taxes. It's about managing risk that I'm not botching my filing in the form of missing something entirely, mis-filing, or leaving deductions on the table.

Even if submitting forms online is entirely free, I'm willing to pay SOMETHING to make sure SOMEONE ELSE is responsible for making sure it goes well. I pay accountants for this for this exact reason. I'm sure I could figure out what boxes to copy where, but I'm not paying an accountant or TurboTax for copying values.

edit: I did not mean this to sound like an apology for TurboTax being despicable for other reasons.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#283

Post by michaelmior »

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…

I've never really been fearful of an audit. I just assume that if I DIY, I'm likely missing out on refunds I should have gotten because I didn't know where to look.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#284

Post by lupire »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #129
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…

Free File is made by Turbotax. It's likely to discourage the government from entering the space. dig freefilefillableforms.com ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: freefilefillableforms.com. 300 IN SOA a18-64.akam.net. nadmin.intuit.com. 2020102802 10800 3600 604800 86400

There's an actual law and legal agreement between IRS and tax companies to operate Free File.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#285

Post by dominotw »

anonymousab wrote: post #99
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?

Absolutely. And with the tax companies, it turns out that it's very cheap to corrupt a US congressperson.

what the going price? do you know?

Re: Killing TurboTax

#286

Post by ianlevesque »

lolsal wrote: post #282

TurboTax's offering is not just about literally filing my taxes. It's about managing risk that I'm not botching my filing in the form of missing something entirely, mis-filing, or leaving deductions on the table. Even if submitting forms online is entirely free, I'm willing to pay SOMETHING to make sure SOMEONE ELSE is responsible for making sure it goes well. I pay accountants for this for this exact reason. I'm sur…

I get what you're saying, and I use it for the same reason, but as far as "SOMEONE ELSE is responsible" they do a really great job in the ToS making sure they legally really aren't responsible in any way. It's a great racket.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#287

Post by ohyeshedid »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #233
vharuck wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't know about fun, but it would definitely be expensive.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#288

Post by gugagore »

lolsal wrote: post #282

TurboTax's offering is not just about literally filing my taxes. It's about managing risk that I'm not botching my filing in the form of missing something entirely, mis-filing, or leaving deductions on the table. Even if submitting forms online is entirely free, I'm willing to pay SOMETHING to make sure SOMEONE ELSE is responsible for making sure it goes well. I pay accountants for this for this exact reason. I'm sur…

This is an honest question: what responsibility does a TurboTax have? How would you find out that they messed up, and how would you react?

Re: Killing TurboTax

#289

Post by jjeaff »

vidarh wrote: post #202
Uehreka wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL, or an accountant, etc, but if I’ve learned anything from ravenously consuming Trump family news the past few years, it’s that ignorance of the law actually is a defense in cases around taxes, and the IRS has to satisfy a standard of proving bad intent in order to really screw you. Again, IANAL, do your taxes, please. But it does seem like the system is legitimately designed with an ethos of just making sure ta…

Having dealt with tax authorities in several countries, it's a recurring theme that they have no interest in coming down on you hard if you seem to be trying to do the right thing and make actual efforts at compliance, as they have their hands full putting actual effort into dealing with people actually trying to evade tax. What I always do if in doubt is to attach a letter setting out my assumptions. I've outright h…

There is no way that would work with the IRS. Anything you estimated and can't provide documentation for will automatically be considered void and non-existent by the IRS if that thing reduces your tax bill.

If you think you have about $5k in valid deductions, but you can't provide any documentation upon an audit, then that $5k will be reduced to exactly $0 and you will owe all additional taxes plus interest and penalties.

Re: Killing TurboTax

#290

Post by throwawayboise »

d1zzy wrote: post #236
lotsofpulp wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 d…

HRBlock is not a tax accounting firm. They are a service firm who hire people to sit in retail storefronts and key your info into TurboTax (or their internal equivalent).

You need a real CPA with a tax focus if you have "complicated" taxes.

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