> Those other countries have much simpler tax codes than we do
All German readers spew out their drink in disbelief - Pardon what?
Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
11–20 of 67 posts
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#12Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…
This is by design. Income tax filing is a long-solved problem in much of the first world.
One of the easiest ways to convince the public that the government is inept and wasteful is to make it as difficult to do the necessary as possible. If politicians cared, this wouldn’t be an issue.
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#13Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…
H&R Block isn’t exactly the top tier accounting option. Not sure what you were expecting. It’s like going to McDonald’s and being disappointed at the food quality.
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#14> Those other countries have much simpler tax codes than we do All German readers spew out their drink in disbelief - Pardon what?
Was Germany one of the listed countries?
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#15Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…
This is by design. Income tax filing is a long-solved problem in much of the first world. One of the easiest ways to convince the public that the government is inept and wasteful is to make it as difficult to do the necessary as possible. If politicians cared, this wouldn’t be an issue.
Politicians do care. Unfortunately, the ones who care are the ones who want taxes to be painful and complicated, to benefit the TurboTax lobby and/or to keep people constantly viscerally aware that they're paying taxes at all.
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#16Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…
This is the result of decades of Republican lobbying, legislation and outright sabotage. The philosophy, openly advertised by Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, goes like this: nobody likes taxes. So if people find the filing process difficult and stressful every year, they will be constantly reminded of this fact. This will in turn make them more open to suggestions and propaganda along the lines of taxes being something that must be fought tooth and nail at every turn, because let's face it, who wants the tax code to become even more complex?
In contrast, if the process is streamlined every year, most people won't even pay attention to how much they pay in taxes - which isn't great if your ultimate goal is to keep government as small as possible.
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#17> Those other countries have much simpler tax codes than we do All German readers spew out their drink in disbelief - Pardon what?
Was Germany one of the listed countries?
Yes.
> United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands, among other countries.
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#18Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…
This is by design. Income tax filing is a long-solved problem in much of the first world. One of the easiest ways to convince the public that the government is inept and wasteful is to make it as difficult to do the necessary as possible. If politicians cared, this wouldn’t be an issue.
Basically nothing is going to happen to you if you make a best effort. So many people focus on getting it correct and pay hundreds or thousands to do so. I've filed my taxes incorrectly by accident for years and the IRS just sends me a correction and the new amount
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#19Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…
It's to H&R Block's benefit to make you feel that taxes are stressful and you need 3rd party help, though. That you were stressed out about this interaction is H&R's fault; not the law or the IRS.
Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the states if you are a contractor there are tons of things that you can deduct from your taxable income. So “figuring out how much you should be taxed” is after those deductions. If uber paid you $15123 but you: Just bought a new bike bc your other was stolen You paid $1200 for insurance You bought a helmet and cold weather clothes etc etc. Those things reduce your taxable income.
I think that's common in most places. What's different in the US is that the IRS forces you to proactively provide a lot more information about it, though. I have a rental property and need to enter the same information about the same income and expenses on three different forms, breaking it down in different ways. It's tedious and error-prone, and I guess the philosophy is that it's easier to spot fraud if the numbe…
What three forms are you talking about?