I'm sure this will be killed in a lawsuit. Can't have the government destroying jobs.
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IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
21–30 of 589 posts
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#22I paid ~$100 to file my taxes this year. At the end they said because I had one particular form that I couldn't file electronically, and I would have to send it in. So I had to print everything out, write checks, package everything up, visit the post office, and check that the letters arrived. I still had to pay full price of course.
Pro tip: If you have a tax bill over a few thousand dollars, sign up for some credit cards with big fat bonuses just to pay the taxes, and you can easily make up the $100. When the system of {government, financial institutions, credit cards, etc.} sucks, shove it back to the system. Obviously, calculate whether it really works out in your favor with the credit card payment fees, but in many cases it will.
If you pay taxes with a card the processor charges a fee. You won’t come out ahead
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#23For what it is worth, even with my medium-complex tax return I have had great results with freetaxusa.com for the past few years. The first couple of times we used it we ran the taxes through TurboTax and FreeTax at the same time and due to better UI the FreeTax version was faster and less confusing. That said, at the end of the process after entering all of the same information in the same places the TurboTax one di…
Curious, does your medium-complexity tax return include investments?
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#24Are they going to also coordinate this with the states so Federal and State can be done for free for most people?
Nope. States are all their special snowflakes when it comes to taxes.
Many years ago, over a decade now, Virginia had an incredibly easy and free tax filing system. H&R block got one of their people elected for one term and they quietly killed it off and now we have one of the highest filing fees in the country.
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#25For what it is worth, even with my medium-complex tax return I have had great results with freetaxusa.com for the past few years. The first couple of times we used it we ran the taxes through TurboTax and FreeTax at the same time and due to better UI the FreeTax version was faster and less confusing. That said, at the end of the process after entering all of the same information in the same places the TurboTax one di…
I go with them too.
Everytime this comes up though I post this https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/
There's many nice and cheap options out there. Please, if you value basic democracy, don't give money to Intuit or TurboTax - not a dollar, not a penny. But do click on their paid ads whenever you see them and just close out after the page load. That company needs to be dismantled brick by brick, byte by byte, and deposited in the dustbin of history.
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#26What I don't understand about these programs is the added income clause. In California the state provides a free tool to file state income taxes (CalFile), but you can't use it if you make over $230,000 a year. Does it really make sense? It's similar with the federal free file program I believe. You would think they would want to encourage high income citizens to use their tool so they can control the deductions/cred…
American legislators seem to loooove "means testing" every government-provided service. Maybe it's a misguided version of that?
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pro tip: If you have a tax bill over a few thousand dollars, sign up for some credit cards with big fat bonuses just to pay the taxes, and you can easily make up the $100. When the system of {government, financial institutions, credit cards, etc.} sucks, shove it back to the system. Obviously, calculate whether it really works out in your favor with the credit card payment fees, but in many cases it will.
If you pay taxes with a card the processor charges a fee. You won’t come out ahead
The credit card fee is around 1.9% (e.g. Pay1040), most credit cards will fall somewhere between 1-2% cash back which will make up for the fee alone without even considering the sign up bonus.
Example: Chase Ink Unlimited[0] has a 75K points ($750 at minimum, more if you have a Preferred or Reserve to transfer to; was a 90K/$900 offer up until tax time this year) bonus and 1.5% cash back. It's free (untaxed!) money to pay your taxes.
https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unli...
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#28Hopefully it does. The tax system here is ridiculous to say the least.
I lived in four countries before moving to the USA and none of them required me to file at all. As an ordinary employee, taxes were PAYE (Pay as you Earn) and there was no complicated system of tax exemptions that aren't either handled directly at source, or as separate rebates (like child allowance payments). I long for that day in the USA.
"...do the right thing, after exhausting all possible alternatives"
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#29Wait what? Here in EU I've been filling out taxes for years electronically. Form and automatic guide is provided by our country.
Btw should I mention this is mandatory only for self-employed. If you're an employee, it's required by law that your employer must provided you a free service of filling the taxes and everything for you.
Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants
#30For what it is worth, even with my medium-complex tax return I have had great results with freetaxusa.com for the past few years. The first couple of times we used it we ran the taxes through TurboTax and FreeTax at the same time and due to better UI the FreeTax version was faster and less confusing. That said, at the end of the process after entering all of the same information in the same places the TurboTax one di…
Curious, does your medium-complexity tax return include investments?
Yes. And green energy credit rollover. Also children and tax deferred savings accounts. My wife is also a self-employed contractor. FreeTax was able to handle all of that, albeit that some parts are still confusing. Most of the confusion comes from the contract work, but some of that is because she is actually working for a company that classifies her as a contractor to avoid paying benefits and taxes.