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How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

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Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#161

Post by forgingahead »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #118

Couple of notes. 1) The IRS itself gets most of the tax advice wrong that it gives out to taxpayers 2) Paying taxes is one of the few transactional relationships you have with your government. If you ask me, a government representative should come to your office and you should pay him in cash, not hide and automate taxes so that they disappear. 3) There is a difference between a simple tax system and a tax system tha…

Thank you -- very well written. It would be incredibly interesting to have employees write their own withholding cheque to the government every month, as opposed to having the employers do it automatically. There is absolutely a need for us to be more aware of our relationship to the government and the power dynamics involved.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#162

Post by JadeNB »

ScottWhigham wrote: post #40

To those saying "We should be more like Sweden/Finland!", I'd ask whether those countries have a tax system that is also based on using tax credits and deductions to lower your tax due? I don't know the tax codes in those countries but my guess is that, because they use the tax entity-created system, they do not have such a complicated tax code as the US. In the US, you have two sides of this: (1) the IRS, and (2) CP…

> The "winner" (for a particular user/client) is the one who (a) has the best reputation of not getting you audited, and (b) who gets you the best price:deduction ratio.

As a tiny nitpick, I think that, in this case, it is the absolute difference `deduction - price`, not the relative difference, that matters: given that I have the money available, I'm happier to spend $2000 to get back $2100 than I am to spend $10 to get back $11.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#163

Post by stevenbedrick »

Hannan wrote: post #110
pdubs wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if it's malicious or intentional. A mistake will be picked up and you'll get a form a year or two later asking you to accept or challenge proposed corrections. If less tax was paid than required you have to pay that + interest...which really isn't that unreasonable. I'm not saying the whole system isn't needlessly complex, but don't make it out like the IRS is actively out to get you.

>> If less tax was paid than required you have to pay that + interest...which really isn't that unreasonable. If I pay too much, do I get interest back on the overage?

Yes, usually.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#164

Post by yyqux »

danso wrote: post #137

The fact that a tax-hater such as Grover Norquist opposes reforming the tax-filing procedures illustrates the complex dichotomy between giving government good responsibility without giving it dictatorship-like responsibility. In Norquist's opinion, making taxes too easy to file will make citzenry too complacent about how they're being nickel-and-dimed and will lull them into not pursuing reform. OK, fair enough. But…

The argument seems to be that Americans don't sufficiently resent paying taxes already because it's too efficient, so we have to make their lives even more inconvenient. The amount of complaining about taxes I hear on a day to day basis I think entirely discredits the premise of the argument.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#165

Post by mosselman »

frogpelt wrote: post #90

Frankly, anyone who does trust any government hasn't had very much experience with them. At best, governments are inefficient and incompetent. At worst, they are run by politicians absorbed with self-interest. There are already scads of people trusting too much to other entities rather than figuring it out on their own. These people leave their tax withholdings at default levels, then walk down to the local Wal-Mart…

"you're too dumb or unaware of your surroundings"

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#166

Post by HarlinAtWork »

Personally I'm against any business lobbying to change laws to give itself a competitive advantage. However, so that I don't have to pay more than my fair share in taxes, I have to itemize deductions: business expenses and those that I am entitled to. Until we can implement something more libertarian like the Fair Tax plan, a lot of us are stuck with long tax forms unfortunately. An online EZ form or a tax form that the Government fills out "on my behalf" won't cut it. The Government will screw you as much as these scumbag businesses.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#167

Post by yyqux »

frogpelt wrote: post #90

Frankly, anyone who does trust any government hasn't had very much experience with them. At best, governments are inefficient and incompetent. At worst, they are run by politicians absorbed with self-interest. There are already scads of people trusting too much to other entities rather than figuring it out on their own. These people leave their tax withholdings at default levels, then walk down to the local Wal-Mart…

Lol, first time I've heard a libertarian arguing for more paperwork and government programs.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#168

Post by r00fus »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #45
theorique wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

some government programs have excellent customer service as compared to some corporate equivalents I am sure we could find counterexamples here.

Ever been to the DMV?

I just recently went to my DMV in sunny CA to get my DL renewed (I made an appointment as without one it's literally half a day in lines). I had slated 2hrs of non-billable time on my calendar, but I was out in 15m - with the to/fro latency, it was 45m total.

Good government service.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#169

Post by jebblue »

ajross wrote: post #122
noonespecial wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the part about when == is != they get to charge you a giant penalty. That's no accident.

No one pays penalties for simple mistakes. That's what FOX news tells you, but it's not true. We've made five-figure goofs on taxes in the past and a simple letter explaining the mistake (assuming it's an explainable mistake and you didn't get caught in actual attempted fraud) is enough to get the penalty waved.

>> No one pays penalties for simple mistakes. That's what FOX news tells you, but it's not true.

Citation needed.

Re: How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

#170

Post by yyqux »

Nursie wrote: post #2

In Australia there is a program distributed by the government each year, based on some sort of spreadsheet type thing, that looks up as much info as it can from central records (when provided with identifying info) and then walks you through the rest of the process of filling in a return. Not as simple as "yes, that looks right" that happens in a bunch of places, or the UK system (no tax return unless you have specia…

Yes, it works fairly well, but unfortunately has crushed the capitalist Ubermenschen who never had a chance to build TurboTax Australia under the government's boot heel.

I've actually had my return automatically amended a couple of times to give me more money back based on tax rulings on deductions.

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