When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update • Hacker News Board

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#41

Post by morgante » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 9:01 PM UTC

pyrocat wrote: post #3

"If you don’t want the IRS in your online business, Dyanim suggests ratcheting up the privacy settings on all of your social media accounts. And never posting anything that you wouldn’t want the agency to see. You could also try a charm offensive. The IRS has 24,000 Facebook fans and 52,000 Twitter followers." Isn't it true that "liking" a page on Facebook gives the owner of that page information about your profile?…

> Isn't it true that "liking" a page on Facebook gives the owner of that page information about your profile? It seems like the two calls to action for this article are contradictory.

No more information than what's already public.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#42

Post by seivan » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 9:04 PM UTC

This happened in Sweden recently if I recall correctly.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#43

Post by ahallock » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 9:10 PM UTC

cheetahtech wrote: post #11

I am for over complicating the tax code. Let me tell you why. If we over complicate the tax code as well as complicate doing your taxes, maybe folks will finally get more upset with it. The more folks get upset, maybe the more outspokeness to change it. The IRS is a huge problem and the loop holes are even a greater problem. I am all for flat or fair tax at 9-13%. First you might say no, but with a flat tax, you no l…

I totally agree. I spent about 6 hours today trying to sort through federal, state, AND city forms--3 levels of hell, really, with city being the worst. For city, I was denied the ability to e-file after going through a long sign-up process spanning many pages and questions. They asked for my SSN at least 5 times. At the end, with a simple 3-question form, they determined I wasn't eligible to e-file. Maybe they should have put that first.

The rules shouldn't be so convoluted that we have to pay private companies to untangle the mess for us. The government had a choice in the matter; they could have gone with simplicity instead of the Gordion knot. I guess I'm not surprised, since we're forced to deal with their system. We can't vote with our dollars, only votes at the ballot box, and last time I checked, simplifying the tax code wasn't on the agenda.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#44

Post by cobrausn » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 9:15 PM UTC

DrJokepu wrote: post #18

I deal with 3 tax agencies every year. I submit my personal and my business's tax returns to the British HMRC as that's where I live. I deal with my home country's (Hungary) tax agency too for various, boring reasons. And, ultimately, as I tend to do my wife's tax returns as well and she's a citizen of the United States I file taxes with the IRS. I don't know how else I could put this: the US tax system is absolutely…

My father-in-law was pretty high up in the NY State taxing agencies before he retired. When I once asked him why he thought the tax codes in the US were so complicated, he said it was simply because the US likes to use the tax codes to for social engineering and many different people have had their hands at the controls over the years.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#45

Post by MrBuddyCasino » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 9:15 PM UTC

cheetahtech wrote: post #11

I am for over complicating the tax code. Let me tell you why. If we over complicate the tax code as well as complicate doing your taxes, maybe folks will finally get more upset with it. The more folks get upset, maybe the more outspokeness to change it. The IRS is a huge problem and the loop holes are even a greater problem. I am all for flat or fair tax at 9-13%. First you might say no, but with a flat tax, you no l…

German citizen here. 70% of all tax literature is German, because our law is notoriously complex. Efforts to simplify it have largely failed. So, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#46

Post by jrs235 » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 9:21 PM UTC

Slight tangent: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/04/15/d...

I wonder if Donald gets audited or not because he admits he doesn't know the accuracy of his return.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#47

Post by coolsunglasses » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 9:41 PM UTC

john_b wrote: post #34

cheetahtech wrote: post #11

I am for over complicating the tax code. Let me tell you why. If we over complicate the tax code as well as complicate doing your taxes, maybe folks will finally get more upset with it. The more folks get upset, maybe the more outspokeness to change it. The IRS is a huge problem and the loop holes are even a greater problem. I am all for flat or fair tax at 9-13%. First you might say no, but with a flat tax, you no l…

You are missing the incentive structure that results from over-complicating the tax code. Getting angry about an over-complicated and taking productive action to change it takes effort . Lots of it, sustained over time in an organized and intelligent way. But people generally aren't passionate about taxes. They're passionate about hobbies, their families, friends, major life goals, and so on. Taxes are just an obstac…

They can if they literally just graduated high school. 1040EZ.

The problem is when you are a homeowner, have family, have a business, etc.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#48

Post by maxerickson » Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 10:13 PM UTC

talmand wrote: post #30

cheetahtech wrote: post #11

I am for over complicating the tax code. Let me tell you why. If we over complicate the tax code as well as complicate doing your taxes, maybe folks will finally get more upset with it. The more folks get upset, maybe the more outspokeness to change it. The IRS is a huge problem and the loop holes are even a greater problem. I am all for flat or fair tax at 9-13%. First you might say no, but with a flat tax, you no l…

I don't see how the US Federal Tax Code could get more complicated without just inserting pure gibberish into it. The thing is, most of the tax code doesn't apply to everyday citizen. The really complicated stuff only applies to a certain number and I'm sure they have well paid people doing their best to avoid those sections. The easy way to get people riled up about taxes? Remove withholding from paychecks and force…

That number is already shown on W-2s and copied to the tax return. I guess it's easier to not care about the number than it would be to not care about a check.

One thing that would happen is that a lot more people would come up short at tax time.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#49

Post by oldstrangers » Wed, Apr 16, 2014, 12:39 AM UTC

swalkergibson wrote: post #40

oldstrangers wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except it's exactly the same.

It is not. Tax evasion is an actual crime. The IRS using public signals from social media to determine if somebody is cheating on their taxes is not the same as the NSA tracking your GPS location via your cell phone at all times.

"If you don't have something to hide then you shouldn't mind" ... "They do have something to hide, so fuck them!" is two sides of the same coin.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#50

Post by poulsbohemian » Wed, Apr 16, 2014, 1:54 AM UTC

We don't want to drive more corporations out of the US, but if the feds actually think they are losing $300 Billion in revenues each year, why not go after the Fortune 100 and their offshore shenanigans rather than 100+ million poor schlubs who might owe a few more bucks here and there. That is the major problem I have with the current tax system - Jane/John Sixpack don't have the "opportunities" that corporations do when it comes to taxes, yet every year around this time we hear hit pieces against the American people like this that we aren't paying our fair share. Nonsense.