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FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

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Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#401

Post by swozey »

rossjudson wrote: post #384
swozey wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a $165k notice of defiecency bill from the IRS due next month that is a complete joke that I have had to spend days figuring out. I almost dropped thousands on a lawyer for it until I understood Tax Court better. Why? They think I sold a house and kept all of the gains. Like I didn't have a mortgage, and like it wasn't my primary residence. It's ridiculous. I can't explain how stressed out getting a $165k bill…

I highly recommend that you keep everything related to this, securely, for several years even after it is resolved . State governments are not necessarily believing the same set of facts that the federal government does. I got caught in a multi-year cycle one time where the state government kept coming after me every year for the same thing, even though I had the federal return and the evidence that it was correct. E…

Thanks. Like you, nobody has ever responded to me other than them "upgrading" me from being able to prove my taxes via fax to having to petition the tax court directly.

I'm sure this will be a nightmare for the next few years. As if selling that house wasn't a bad enough experience.

I shouldn't have to spend $5k or whatever else on a lawyer to deal with this. Insane. I walked away with $13k after paying everyone/mortgage off.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#402

Post by gbear605 »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #374
KennyBlanken wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The IRS can't even handle people e-filing. But don't worry, the project started in 2009 to replace their COBOL mainframe systems is kinda, sorta on track for completion...in 2030.

I've filed for years using FreeFillableForms. It works. A bit more cumbersome than if some ex-Amazon people had implemented it, but not too bad.

The funny thing is that Intuit makes FreeFillableForms. It could have a much nicer interface, but they choose not to, so that you go and pay money to use Turbotax.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#403

Post by markdown »

zw123456 wrote: post #271

A few years back I got audited, and it was called an "electronic audit" by the IRS. Which basically meant that they had their computer systems scour a bunch of the bank records and discovered that I had forgotten to claim a 1099 for some contract work I had. OK, so they sent me a computer print out and they had cross checked everything on my return electronically, my property tax deductions, my stock dividends so on…

Most people in my country never have to file tax returns. Their taxes are deducted at source (by their employer).

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#404

Post by jfengel »

drdec wrote: post #147
jfengel wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you made under $100,000 from salary and don't otherwise have any complications (like dependents), a form 1040EZ really is simple. There's no reason to use software for that. It's quite straightforward. If you have deductions, stock sales, a nanny, a business, etc then you need the regular 1040 and various schedules, and those are all complex enough that you'd probably benefit from software. It's not absolutely req…

FYI, the 1040EZ form no longer exists. It was eliminated in the name of simplifying the forms (don't ask me how that's supposed to work).

Oops. Damn. Sorry for the bad advice. Thank you for the correction.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#405

Post by briandear »

throwaway09223 wrote: post #390
btgeekboy wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a nice, if overly simplistic sentiment. It’d be nice if my 1099s were electronically filed with the cost basis. But they’re not. So the IRS, every year, thinks I’m going to owe way more than I do. The IRS also has zero idea about the $4000+ of sales tax deductions I’m filing for this year. And finally, if you do get it wrong, you don’t go to jail. They send you a CP2000 letter. (Remember those 1099s? I forgot on…

I agree. The IRS definitely does not know how much I owe each year. However, they do have an estimate and the vast majority of people would accept this estimate. So I think it's reasonable to suggest it ought to be provided. I think the strongest counter-argument against this approach is in regards to bad actors and who discloses first. If you're thinking about hiding income and the first step is the government telli…

> the vast majority of people would accept this estimate.

And the vast majority of people would then overpay. The IRS knows income, but they don’t know expenses.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#406

Post by briandear »

mikeInAlaska wrote: post #381
JSavageOne wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much every other major developed country operates like this. Here in South Korea for example filing taxes is as simple as logging into some government portal, verifying that the information they already have on you is correct, and making any corrections if necessary. 10 minutes, done. The U.S is unique in forcing its citizens to waste countless hours and pay hundreds/thousands of dollars every year doing the u…

> Why is the system still this backwards? Intuit lobbying hard to keep tax rules complex.

Intuit isn’t the problem. Politicians are. See Milton Friedman on this subject. A complicated tax code is used to reward and punish people. The tax code was complex long before Intuit came around.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TruCIPy79w8

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#408

Post by pc86 »

zw123456 wrote: post #271

A few years back I got audited, and it was called an "electronic audit" by the IRS. Which basically meant that they had their computer systems scour a bunch of the bank records and discovered that I had forgotten to claim a 1099 for some contract work I had. OK, so they sent me a computer print out and they had cross checked everything on my return electronically, my property tax deductions, my stock dividends so on…

Lobby certainly doesn't help but "just tell me what I owe" is not practical or possible, and is an overly simplistic view of everything about the system. Most importantly, the 1099 your client filed telling them you got paid more than $600 was due the same time your taxes were due, so they didn't know about it until after the fact.

The feds have no idea how your deductions (and to a lesser extent, your income) have changed from the previous year. They don't have a full picture of your finances, but you do. In the abstract, with those constraints, the system of "tell us everything we need to know, pay us, and you get in trouble if you lie so egregiously that you get caught" works pretty well.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#409

Post by jefftk »

pc86 wrote: post #408
zw123456 wrote: post #271

A few years back I got audited, and it was called an "electronic audit" by the IRS. Which basically meant that they had their computer systems scour a bunch of the bank records and discovered that I had forgotten to claim a 1099 for some contract work I had. OK, so they sent me a computer print out and they had cross checked everything on my return electronically, my property tax deductions, my stock dividends so on…

Lobby certainly doesn't help but "just tell me what I owe" is not practical or possible, and is an overly simplistic view of everything about the system. Most importantly, the 1099 your client filed telling them you got paid more than $600 was due the same time your taxes were due, so they didn't know about it until after the fact. The feds have no idea how your deductions (and to a lesser extent, your income) have c…

This is how taxes work in many other countries, and it's how taxes could work here if we were willing to make minor changes. For example, adjusting the deadlines you mention to be sequential would not be a hard change.

Re: FTC sues Intuit for its deceptive TurboTax “free” filing campaign

#410

Post by mlyle »

pc86 wrote: post #408
zw123456 wrote: post #271

A few years back I got audited, and it was called an "electronic audit" by the IRS. Which basically meant that they had their computer systems scour a bunch of the bank records and discovered that I had forgotten to claim a 1099 for some contract work I had. OK, so they sent me a computer print out and they had cross checked everything on my return electronically, my property tax deductions, my stock dividends so on…

Lobby certainly doesn't help but "just tell me what I owe" is not practical or possible, and is an overly simplistic view of everything about the system. Most importantly, the 1099 your client filed telling them you got paid more than $600 was due the same time your taxes were due, so they didn't know about it until after the fact. The feds have no idea how your deductions (and to a lesser extent, your income) have c…

> but "just tell me what I owe" is not practical or possible

Note that there's a whole lot of countries that send you a prepared tax return that you adjust if necessary, and most people don't need to. There's no fundamental reason we couldn't do this here.

Indeed, California even did it for a couple years: https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-was-exper...

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