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IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

washingtonpost.com

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Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#581

Post by AnthonyMouse »

firstlink wrote: post #368
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then give them something they want, like have the IRS send everyone a summary just exactly how much in taxes they actually pay. Let people know the "refund" they get is not money from the government but rather money the government took from them several months ago and is only getting around to giving back now. Make a clear comparison between the amount they're getting back and the amount the government kept, which fo…

A clear accounting of what you have already paid is on your 1040, copied in from your W-2. People are ignorant of it because they want to be.

That's the thing you don't read or understand because it's part of the multi-page document full of arbitrary number boxes that you're paying TurboTax to handle for you, isn't it?

How about a simple form which shows those numbers in large typeface and nothing else?

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#582

Post by AnthonyMouse »

astrange wrote: post #350
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then give them something they want, like have the IRS send everyone a summary just exactly how much in taxes they actually pay. Let people know the "refund" they get is not money from the government but rather money the government took from them several months ago and is only getting around to giving back now. Make a clear comparison between the amount they're getting back and the amount the government kept, which fo…

Corporations can't donate to campaigns. Anyone using this to make a point is lying. That page shows who employees of the companies have donated to. (And the politicians aren't actually "bought" by it. It's more like they already agreed, and maybe they're being paid to stay politicians instead of getting a better paying less annoying private sector job.)

Employees of corporations donating to campaigns when the dissolution of that company's business model would affect their employment is pretty much the highest degree of alignment you're going to see between corporations and their employees.

And corporations can't donate to "campaigns" but they can perfectly well donate to PACs aligned with campaigns.

> And the politicians aren't actually "bought" by it. It's more like they already agreed, and maybe they're being paid to stay politicians instead of getting a better paying less annoying private sector job.

But nobody said they were bought. It's not corruption if it's legal, right?

The problem is the systemic bias it introduces. Politicians need to raise money to stay in office, so they have to appease whoever has money. So politicians who appease special interests have an electoral advantage, win more elections and constitute a majority of the legislature.

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#583

Post by RektBoy »

jcfariadias wrote: post #50
RektBoy wrote: post #29

Wait 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.

In Portugal, every transaction should, by law, be sent to the tax authority. Every employer should also report what paid to their employees and also retain in source part of the income Everything is then setup centraly by tax authority which enables the process of submiting tax reports being automatic for most or either, if you have a more complex tax situation, taking you a couple hours tops to self-fill and submit.…

I'm from CZ and we have an electornic tax filling only for a few years. You're light years ahead of us in this.

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#584

Post by RektBoy »

aksss wrote: post #204
jcfariadias wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Portugal, every transaction should, by law, be sent to the tax authority. Every employer should also report what paid to their employees and also retain in source part of the income Everything is then setup centraly by tax authority which enables the process of submiting tax reports being automatic for most or either, if you have a more complex tax situation, taking you a couple hours tops to self-fill and submit.…

> every transaction should, by law, be [reported to the gov.] Conceptually, and in principle, this freaks a lot of Americans out. But the burden of not doing it is exceeding the alternative, I think. While it may be progressive to automate tax filing, having the government know everything about your financial transactions without proper cause is not considered very progressive (I guess it depends on what you are tryi…

Ehm you have spy agencies which knows what you had for a dinner yesterday. Who cares about taxes then?

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#585

Post by [deleted] »

ajmurmann wrote: post #580
a_humean wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a moment to look outside of your borders. In the UK we have a mostly progressive income tax system with various tax brackets, tax free allowances up to 12k GBP, claw backs of said allowance over incomes of a certain amount, national insurance taxation, student loan repayments, etc... The majority of UK citizens file no paperwork with HMRC (equivalent to the IRS) and never have a reason to contact HMRC. The major…

It feels like you are arguing against a point I didn't make. I was responding to this section from the parent "it'll be much harder to restrict benefits only to specific income brackets, but it would be much simpler and cheaper for taxpayers." Also to "Take a moment to look outside of your borders.", I'm a German citizen where my dad is a retired tax officer and Iia business degree which involved accounting and taxat…

[deleted]

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#586

Post by a_humean »

ajmurmann wrote: post #580
a_humean wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a moment to look outside of your borders. In the UK we have a mostly progressive income tax system with various tax brackets, tax free allowances up to 12k GBP, claw backs of said allowance over incomes of a certain amount, national insurance taxation, student loan repayments, etc... The majority of UK citizens file no paperwork with HMRC (equivalent to the IRS) and never have a reason to contact HMRC. The major…

It feels like you are arguing against a point I didn't make. I was responding to this section from the parent "it'll be much harder to restrict benefits only to specific income brackets, but it would be much simpler and cheaper for taxpayers." Also to "Take a moment to look outside of your borders.", I'm a German citizen where my dad is a retired tax officer and Iia business degree which involved accounting and taxat…

I apologise, I think I actually meant to reply the the parent above you.

I was intending to criticise the implied premise that the problem with filing is that tax code is too complex, when its very possible in other complex tax justidictions to automate all of this away for most citizens (esp when the standard deductible is sufficient for almost everyone). There is evidence that its already possible to automate most of this away in the US because the data collection and calculation is already happening for most simple cases.

I know this because I'm a dual citizen and I am constantly shocked at how terrible the IRS is and how relatively pleasant HMRC is.

I just took it as non-sequitur to promote some other policy bug bear.

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#587

Post by firstlink »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #581
firstlink wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A clear accounting of what you have already paid is on your 1040, copied in from your W-2. People are ignorant of it because they want to be.

That's the thing you don't read or understand because it's part of the multi-page document full of arbitrary number boxes that you're paying TurboTax to handle for you, isn't it? How about a simple form which shows those numbers in large typeface and nothing else?

Oh yes, adding a form will definitely help people pay attention.

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#588

Post by AnthonyMouse »

firstlink wrote: post #587
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the thing you don't read or understand because it's part of the multi-page document full of arbitrary number boxes that you're paying TurboTax to handle for you, isn't it? How about a simple form which shows those numbers in large typeface and nothing else?

Oh yes, adding a form will definitely help people pay attention.

The claim was that the complicated form is necessary to help people pay attention so Republicans would object to getting rid of it. Why wouldn't they prefer a simpler form that shows exactly what they want people to pay attention to?

Re: IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants

#589

Post by lazide »

ethbr0 wrote: post #339
lazide wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? What adversarial tension is needed for filing ? It’s literally data entry. Tax prep/accounting (what to put where for cases where there is ambiguity) can always be different. That doesn’t apply to W2 earners though (in 99% of cases)

Free filing would by definition be both, as people using it would be unlikely to have separate tax prep services. Ergo, imagine there's a checkbox option that would apply to 25% of free filers to save them money. How would the IRS free file handle that from a UX perspective? What are their incentives? Alternatively, suppose a feature used by 10% of filers is broken for the current tax year. How long does it take to g…

You are correct, and I hate it ! Hahaha, sigh.
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