301–310 of 341 posts
OMG big business is trying to ruin my life! The government are not incentivized to do a good job preparing your taxes. I'm not a tinfoil-hat conspiracy theorist. I don't think the US government wants to institute a program to systematically defraud the population. But I do believe that governmental inefficiency and incompetence is nigh-limitless, and the very people who may need their tax returns the most could end u…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't manually entered more than a trivial amount data into TurboTax in years. Most banks and brokerages seem to be on the direct-download bandwagon these days.
Are you endorsing TurboTax as some sort of appropriate monopoly on tax prep? My bank can tie in to TurboTax, but why should I have to support a private company lobbying to make the tax code worse on purpose just to do my taxes easily? I went through the same thing as the commenter above and it was OBNOXIOUS. Even worse, there's no real reason for it be done the way it is. Oh, and then I realized I'd made a really stu…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>In Australia I think they can go back 7 years. No idea what it is in the US. It's 3 years. And fairly easy to look up: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Em... Those records generally should be kept for three years from the date the tax return was filed. >Yes by all means send me to prison for failing to mention a $24,000 retirement account in Australia I can't touch until I'm 65 instead. Great us…
"The IRS doesn't put anyone in prison for making a mistake. You have to willfully try to cheat on your taxes, multiple times, before you're even close to the position of facing jail time." You only really face jail time if you do something else on top of tax evasion (like money laundering for a drug cartel).
There are two things that disturb me about the US government: 1. As a whole, it seems to operate on the assumption of guilt; and 2. It seems bought and paid for by special interests, pork barrelling and so forth. As a foreigner I of course have foreign retirement and bank accounts. If they total more than $10,000 (at any point in the last calendar year) you need to report them. This is FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Repo…
The FBAR requirements and penalties are completely ridiculous, I couldn't agree more on this point.
On the issue of the ATO e-tax system, it's not that incredibly awesome. I still use an accountant to maximize my tax refund. Costs me $250. Totally worth it for the additional taxes I save.
For my USA taxes, I use TaxACT. Completely free and that includes one free e-file.
From a practical perspective, this is a complete non-issue. You CAN e-file your taxes easily and for free in the USA, it's just not a service supplied by the government.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"The IRS doesn't put anyone in prison for making a mistake. You have to willfully try to cheat on your taxes, multiple times, before you're even close to the position of facing jail time." You only really face jail time if you do something else on top of tax evasion (like money laundering for a drug cartel).
This is false, they specifically make examples of folks (especially so with businesses) that attempt to defraud the IRS. http://www.irs.gov/uac/Examples-of-Employment-Tax-Fraud-Inve...
"On September 18, 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Larry Lough, of West Chester, Ohio, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $757,751 in restitution to defrauded investors and $145,175 in restitution to the IRS. Lough pleaded guilty on February 15, 2012, to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit employment tax fraud and income tax evasion."
That's how it works in Chile, for about 10 years now :D
There are two things that disturb me about the US government: 1. As a whole, it seems to operate on the assumption of guilt; and 2. It seems bought and paid for by special interests, pork barrelling and so forth. As a foreigner I of course have foreign retirement and bank accounts. If they total more than $10,000 (at any point in the last calendar year) you need to report them. This is FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Repo…
FYI, the California fire retardants law was recently repealed after that nytimes article brought it to everybody's attention. http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Flame-retardant-law-ma...