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California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

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Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#231

Post by isleyaardvark »

nielsbot wrote: post #206
slg wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intuit is lobbying in defense of their entire industry. Almost every company of their size would do the same thing in their situation. The people who deserve the blame here are the people who are susceptible to those lobbying efforts. Blame Congress.

I blame the rules that let this happen. In general, people are gonna people.

This is entirely too cynical and pessimistic. In particular others have pointed out that other countries do not do this, and it’s not like they aren’t people.

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#232

Post by Boltgolt »

frockington1 wrote: post #221
teekert wrote: post #104

The US is such a stressful country, tax filing, healthcare, none of these basic things just work. Add to that the lawyers culture and you get a good basis for emotion filled Netflix dramas, but not really for real life.

Tax filing takes me a few hours and ~ $100 each year and I have multiple properties and businesses. For most people it's not that big of a deal but it's easy to jump on the anti-IRS bandwagon

Imagine paying $100 just to be able to pay your government and thinking that's "not that big of a deal"

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#233

Post by Boltgolt »

mbostleman wrote: post #113

I like finding approaches that don't necessarily "solve" a problem, but rather don't have the problem in the first place so that there's nothing to solve. In this case, I would suggest dropping income tax altogether, decommissioning the IRS, and using the state infrastructure already in place to collect an equal amount of revenue from sales tax. No filing. Broader tax base, including criminals and illegal activity. E…

This would have consequences for wealth inequality. Households with lower incomes spend much larger percentage of their money on goods with sales tax than more wealthy households. This plan would increase tax for low income families and majorly decrease it for families with where a lot ad money flows into investments or savings.

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#234

Post by rrrrrrrrrrrryan »

jjcon wrote: post #172
thebigman433 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so important and I think a lot of people miss it. The "left" that has power in the US (establishment dems) barely qualify as being left at all. They are very much invested in protecting power and wealth. The only "left" that would push against the rentiers are people who will almost never see power. However, I wouldnt say AOC winning is a "fluke". Its definitely the exception, but progressives have been able…

> The "left" that has power in the US (establishment dems) barely qualify as being left at all So when the left does something you dont like, they must not be left? Smells of no true scottsman to me.

> The "left" that has power in the US (establishment dems) barely qualify as being left at all

You seem to interpret that statement as an opinion, but it is not a subjective statement. [1]

The U.S. isn't the only democracy in the world, and if we compare the Democratic party with other political parties around the world, they are indeed barely left-of-center.

[1] https://archive.md/PjNEF

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#235

Post by junar »

junon wrote: post #157
guerrilla wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it's trivial now due to FIEC What do you mean?

Foreign Income Earned Credit. Basically since the US is one of two countries in the world to still collect taxes from people living abroad, you have to file taxes every year still but it usually amounts to a net of $0.00 as it's written off under double-tax agreements with Germany.

You are conflating two different tax benefits.

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion essentially sets your tax rate to 0% for the first $108k of earned income. It has no effect on earned income in excess of this threshold, or on unearned income such as investment income.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...

The Foreign Tax Credit subtracts your foreign tax liability from your US tax liability. In other words, you only pay US taxes to the extent they exceed the foreign tax rate. You can use it on any type of income, but you only get a benefit if the foreign country actually taxes the income.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/fore...

You may not double dip: So if you choose to take FEIE for some part of your income, you cannot take FTC on the same part of your income. However, you can take FTC to the extent you have income not eligible for FEIE.

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#236

Post by Clubber »

candiddevmike wrote: post #191
landemva wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The federal system in regards to lobbying would change if we followed the constitution as written to allow House of Representatives to grow with census population count. And restore the not direct election of Senators. Then remove federal personal income tax. For icing on the cake, shut down the 3rd central bank known as 'Federal Reserve'. This would require a nationwide general strike to show the people are serious.…

Definitely expand the house, but we should abolish the Senate. It serves no purpose except tyranny of the minority and gridlock.

The senate is supposed to represent the state governments at the federal level, but they stopped doing that with direct elections. It was to prevent large states with a concentration of population (currently like CA, NY, TX, FL) to have too much power over smaller states.

Here's some background on the arguments for and against. It's got some partisan hyperbole so try to ignore all that.

https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/the-17th-amendment-un...

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#237

Post by mike503 »

Closi wrote: post #43
brainwipe wrote: post #2

Anyone got a tldr for a Brit staring at a paywall?

Basically, as a fellow Brit you will know that for most people your tax just happens automatically (typically through the PAYE system, so tax is taken before you get your paycheck, and we never have to even think about it). Then in the UK if you have more complex tax affairs, then you have to fill in a self assessment on the government portal (where it already knows most of your tax information, and you are pretty mu…

Just FYI, in the US there are actually not just accountants but tax professionals.

Accountants will tell you “I’m not a tax guy” and tax guys will tell you “I’m not an accountant”

Taxes are so convoluted and constantly changing that a separate class of number crunchers are maintained for it.

(I’m sure someone could wear both hats, but in my experience they don’t or can’t. Too many requirements for maintaining both?)

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#238

Post by mbostleman »

Boltgolt wrote: post #233
mbostleman wrote: post #113

I like finding approaches that don't necessarily "solve" a problem, but rather don't have the problem in the first place so that there's nothing to solve. In this case, I would suggest dropping income tax altogether, decommissioning the IRS, and using the state infrastructure already in place to collect an equal amount of revenue from sales tax. No filing. Broader tax base, including criminals and illegal activity. E…

This would have consequences for wealth inequality. Households with lower incomes spend much larger percentage of their money on goods with sales tax than more wealthy households. This plan would increase tax for low income families and majorly decrease it for families with where a lot ad money flows into investments or savings.

>>Households with lower incomes spend much larger percentage of their money on goods with sales tax than more wealthy households>>

Right, I addressed this.

However, for the wealthy household, exactly what is the utility of all the money they have if they can't spend it? The minute any money is spent, the not-taxed argument comes apart because it is now taxed. How can you be wealthy if you do not have access to money?

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#239

Post by mbostleman »

lbriner wrote: post #135
mbostleman wrote: post #113

I like finding approaches that don't necessarily "solve" a problem, but rather don't have the problem in the first place so that there's nothing to solve. In this case, I would suggest dropping income tax altogether, decommissioning the IRS, and using the state infrastructure already in place to collect an equal amount of revenue from sales tax. No filing. Broader tax base, including criminals and illegal activity. E…

I guess the argument against this is that some super-rich don't spent on th emainland or not even at all, just bank a tonne of cash. In that case, the overall income from tax would be lower than it is now. I don't necessarily agree but the idea is normally that "rich" people should pay a higher percentage of their income as tax because "they can afford it". I personally like the idea of a fixed rate from 0 to infinit…

>>In that case, the overall income from tax would be lower than it is now.>>

No, because it's a requirement of the design that the revenue be the same. So to the tax rate goes up until the result is the same.

Re: California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in

#240

Post by ValleZ »

throwaway898989 wrote: post #76
ValleZ wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I paid 600 usd last year fora tax accountant. He couldn't even do the most easiest part (1040 with stocks and dividend), and after struggling with him we didn't even proceed with the multistate reports I needed. It was complete waste of time and if I didn't check the result it would be also a waste of money and potential criminal action.

1040 filings are not easy at all. incorrectly filed 1040s can lead to things like your investments being classified as a PFIC and taxed at 39.6%

Sure, if a professional struggles with it it's by definition not easy. It was however easier then the complex part: I was moving between states separately from my spouse when we were both working full time. This could not be properly handled by any online service available (yes, I tried at least 4 different) and I ended up with filling forms manually by myself. It should not be this hard in first place. And yes, likely there are a lot of pros who can file it easily but finding anyone who is good in what he is doing is not easy.
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