California tried to save the nation from tax filing, then Intuit stepped in • Hacker News Board

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

#251

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 8:53 PM UTC

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.

[deleted]

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

#252

Post by landemva » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 8:53 PM UTC

RappingBoomer wrote: post #180

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.…

ok, but the media would stop any general strike using identity politics and or Dem vs GOP polarization already existing...divide et impera...divide and conquer...we are already quite divided...and therefore quite conquered... as long as the media & its corporate advertisers can keep congress and the white house more or less evenly balanced between GOP and Dem over the long term, the people will never catch on that co…

USA probably has the least worst currency today, due to gold being centralized in USA during WW2, along with current military spending. Euro will tank before USD.

If China plays it right, they can be the financial leader within ten years. 2031.

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

#253

Post by mrguyorama » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 8:53 PM UTC

frockington1 wrote: post #219

mullen wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe you are wrong and California's "draconian politics" are being effective and corporations are scared of that.

California's population shrank for the first time since it was founded last year. Statistics seem to indicate that the "draconian policies" are causing an exodus

That probably has more to do with the general flood of people away from cities due to covid

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

#254

Post by MichaelZuo » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:03 PM UTC

celeduc wrote: post #199

tromp wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can only 2 congress people be responsible? Surely all the other members would have had a say as well in legislating IRS policy?

How? Fundraising power! Horse trading! Lobbying! The entire system of government being corrupted by corporate money from top to bottom.

What your saying implies that the entire congress is responsible as everyone is accepting deals to look the other way… maybe you need to reevaluate what your writing?

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

#255

Post by bradlys » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:23 PM UTC

MichaelZuo wrote: post #254

celeduc wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How? Fundraising power! Horse trading! Lobbying! The entire system of government being corrupted by corporate money from top to bottom.

What your saying implies that the entire congress is responsible as everyone is accepting deals to look the other way… maybe you need to reevaluate what your writing?

> What your saying implies that the entire congress is responsible as everyone is accepting deals to look the other way… maybe you need to reevaluate what your writing?

Is that really so hard to imagine?

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

#256

Post by ashtonkem » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:28 PM UTC

landemva wrote: post #245

charwalker wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's an odd set of policies to support.

Those 'odd policies' freed this country from the British. People signed their name on the declaration of independence and risked their lives. They succeeded and created a constitution. You may want to skim it sometime. Really started going downhill in 1913 with creation of third central bank of the U.S. and addition of personal income tax.

> Those 'odd policies' freed this country from the British.

That’s really not true. Never mind the involvement of the French, the current constitution is the result of the miserable failure of the articles of confederation, which was arguably closer sentiments that drove the revolution. Whether or not the constitution as it exists today reflects the principles that kicked off the revolution was hotly debated by the men that actually fought that revolution.

Regardless of the historical claim, I’m fairly skeptical of the idea that what the founding fathers wanted is inherently the best. Yes, it was better than the British monarchy, but that’s a low bar. I’d hope that we can achieve something as a society that’s better than what a bunch of slave holders thought was a neat idea.

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

#257

Post by djrogers » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:35 PM UTC

It's all good to blame the private companies like Intuit here, but what really needs to happen is that the politicians and bureaucrats who took their money need to be outed.

A market will always have rent seekers, and people will always look for shortcuts. It's the job of our elected officials to ensure that doesn't happen.

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

#258

Post by shagmin » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:36 PM UTC

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #185

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.

There are actually less lawsuits per capita in the US than in most OECD nations. The "lawyers culture" is a false idea created, it seems, by popular media (films, TV, etc.)

Was curious about this, and from some quick Googling the US isn't much of a contender for lawsuits per capita, but a lot more of our GDP goes to law firms and litigation than any other country and we have one of the highest lawyers per capita.

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

#259

Post by toomanyrichies » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 9:36 PM UTC

mwint wrote: post #68

Since I’ve not seen it mentioned yet, https://www.freetaxusa.com/ . Used it the last few years to do my taxes, which include investment and self employment income. No complaints. Intuit’s stuff would charge quite a bit for my “complex” taxes. They charge a couple bucks to file state taxes, which gives me a bit of confidence they’re not making money by selling my info to someone.

Just added a calendar event for April of next year to check these folks out. Thanks for the suggestion!

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

#260

Post by vinay427 » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 10:03 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #211

tromp wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why assign all the blame to Intuit? > They persuaded the Internal Revenue Service for more than a decade to pledge in writing not to adopt California’s innovation or develop any other offerings that threatened their business model. I think the IRS deserves much of the blame for yielding to Intuit's persuasion. Every American should be upset with both Intuit and the IRS.

There is a strong contingent in Congress that believes that it is only moral for it to be annoying and expensive to pay taxes, as they believe that taxes should be opposed by the masses. If taxes are too easy then people won't think about them, and will simply enjoy the services the government provides with them, which is tyranny. This is also why the US keeps sales tax separate instead of rolling it into the price o…

> This is also why the US keeps sales tax separate instead of rolling it into the price of the item like Europe.

Even in a relatively federalized (by European standards) country like Switzerland, the VAT is set nationally. This isn’t the case in the US, and several states even have different sales tax rates in each city. It would be a considerable logistical mess to coordinate integrated sales tax signposting, both from a business and consumer perspective. Amazon already handles this somewhat awkwardly by changing store prices if you set your location on Amazon.de to Switzerland, with the prices somewhat unpredictably changing if it decided to remember your location preferences, and no longer following common numbering conventions (e.g. x.99).