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TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

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Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#111

Post by abaga129 »

DavidPeiffer wrote: post #34
klmadfejno wrote: post #21

I used to say turbo tax wasn't that bad, and that free filing was easy if you just ignored their promises to save you money if you upgraded. Last year however I got all the way to the end of the process where they revealed I made too much and had to pay. That felt extremely unethical, as the information required to come to that conclusion was available far earlier in the process. And yet what am I going to do but use…

>And yet what am I going to do but use turbo tax again. The perceived risk and effort of using a non-automated system to fill them out doesn't seem worth the cost. I'd suggest FreeTaxUSA.com as an alternative. Federal is always free, and state taxes are ~12/state. I don't have anything obscure about my taxes, and their forms indicate they can handle much more complicated situations than I have. I've used them for 3 y…

I'm using freetaxusa.com for the first time this year. I got fed up with TurboTax after being hit with a similar anti-pattern as the ones described above. Got almost to the end and was told I had to pay $80 to file. This was after spending hours on my taxes because there are some things that can't simply be updated.. no you have to completely start the process over from the beginning. This felt intentional so that I would just accept the cost to be done with it.

After learning about how TurboTax lobbies to make filing more difficult, I swore I would not use them any longer. I also take everything opportunity to let people know about TurboTax's lobbying.

So far freetaxusa.com seems better than TurboTax IMO. It's cleaner and to the point. No unnecessary animations or any of that nonsense.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#112

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

alistairSH wrote: post #65
s_dev wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money. Receiving money is the fundamental difference between lobbying and discussing policy with constituents.

I'm free to donate directly to a campaign. I'm also free to pool my resources with my neighbors and donate as a block. Like I said (in the edit), the problem is campaign financing, not lobbying. The two are related in the US, but we can probably fix financing without impeding free speech.

> I'm also free to pool my resources with my neighbors and donate as a block.

And lobbyists are free to far, far, far out-contribute your block, rendering it effectively powerless.

Why do you seem okay with that?

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#113

Post by lotsofpulp »

asavadatti wrote: post #59
klmadfejno wrote: post #21

I used to say turbo tax wasn't that bad, and that free filing was easy if you just ignored their promises to save you money if you upgraded. Last year however I got all the way to the end of the process where they revealed I made too much and had to pay. That felt extremely unethical, as the information required to come to that conclusion was available far earlier in the process. And yet what am I going to do but use…

Unless your taxes are really simple I’d suggest hiring a professional to do it for you. It is money well spent

I would hope anyone who made it through A US K-12 education would be able to do their own taxes if all they have is W-2. Even 1099/student loan interest deductions/etc is pretty easy.

I would say it only gets really complicated once you venture into dealing with equity and AMT and stuff.

It’s funny though that people will scour the web and clip coupons to save money, but they won’t research how their biggest expense (tax) is calculated.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#114

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

chrisseaton wrote: post #76
s_dev wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money. Receiving money is the fundamental difference between lobbying and discussing policy with constituents.

I don't know if you're confusing 'lobbying' with 'bribing'? Lobbying doesn't have to involve money. It just means talking to people and trying to persuade them to your point of view, which isn't inherently dishonest or problematic.

Generations of congressional data reflect how lobbying + firehosing campaign cash = federal power on demand.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#115

Post by undersuit »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #102
s_dev wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money. Receiving money is the fundamental difference between lobbying and discussing policy with constituents.

Something I don’t see anyone else talking about: power. They don’t just come in and offer you a fat campaign contribution check on behalf of those they represent while strongly encouraging you to vote a certain way on that one bill that would really move the needle for them. They’re also offering executive / board positions in the companies they represent and related entities. Do your own research on EO 13770 and how…

They'll even write the bill for you! That's almost as good as money... which you'll need if you're going to sponsor the bill.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#116

Post by alistairSH »

adkadskhj wrote: post #85
matwood wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really - constituents donate money.

How often has a single (non-rich) constituents money been the cause of policy change? This is comparing a gun to a nuke. Yes, you could kill just as many people with a gun, but the nuke is hyper efficient at the job. They're not the same. Lobbyists may be akin to a policy nuke. They have an arsenal of tools from influence, to money, to unethical and sometimes illegal behavior. Their positions have become so effective…

Another way to think about it is that Lobbyists have changed, i think, from the voice of a group of people to a voice instead of a group of people. Leaving many people voiceless in the face of insane capital and influence.

I'm not convinced this is true. If a lobbyist is not speaking on behalf of people, who are they speaking for? After all, corporations are just legal entities composed of people - with stockholders/owners, a BoD, employees, and customers.

The simple act of Joe Lobbyist meeting Congresswoman Schmidt for a coffee and chat about some topic isn't a problem. The problem is that with that cup of coffee comes an implied donation on behalf of the people Joe represents. The problem is campaign finance, not talking to our representatives.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#118

Post by chrisseaton »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #114
chrisseaton wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if you're confusing 'lobbying' with 'bribing'? Lobbying doesn't have to involve money. It just means talking to people and trying to persuade them to your point of view, which isn't inherently dishonest or problematic.

Generations of congressional data reflect how lobbying + firehosing campaign cash = federal power on demand.

> lobbying + firehosing campaign cash = federal power on demand

Right... but only one side of that operation is the problem!

It's like saying 'a glass of milk + cyanide capsule = death' and blaming the glass of milk!

Lobbying is a neccesary and healthy part of a functioning democracy. Do you want decisions about you and your life taken with no input from you apart from voting once every few years?

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#119

Post by alistairSH »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #112
alistairSH wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm free to donate directly to a campaign. I'm also free to pool my resources with my neighbors and donate as a block. Like I said (in the edit), the problem is campaign financing, not lobbying. The two are related in the US, but we can probably fix financing without impeding free speech.

> I'm also free to pool my resources with my neighbors and donate as a block. And lobbyists are free to far, far, far out-contribute your block, rendering it effectively powerless. Why do you seem okay with that?

I'm not ok with that. I'm pretty sure I said campaign finance was a problem. Lobbying != campaign finance.

Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)

#120

Post by ryandrake »

asavadatti wrote: post #59
klmadfejno wrote: post #21

I used to say turbo tax wasn't that bad, and that free filing was easy if you just ignored their promises to save you money if you upgraded. Last year however I got all the way to the end of the process where they revealed I made too much and had to pay. That felt extremely unethical, as the information required to come to that conclusion was available far earlier in the process. And yet what am I going to do but use…

Unless your taxes are really simple I’d suggest hiring a professional to do it for you. It is money well spent

I always hear this, but what does "simple" mean? Do you recommend a professional if you have rental income? Stuent loan interest? Stock sales? Stock options? Convert a 401(k) to an IRA? Inherit money? Own a small business?

I've done all these things painlessly with regular tax software. I've also tried a professional CPA once, and he was useless. Just sat there asking me every question that the software normally would, and then typing my answers into his software. Nice guy, but not worth $400 compared to $50 software.

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