H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy • Hacker News Board

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#131

Post by berberous » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:47 PM UTC

naftaliharris wrote: post #121

I'm surprised the article and comments haven't mentioned CreditKarma's tax solution yet, which is (actually) free. [1] Presumably their strategy is to take the users and data they get from offering free tax filing and use them to advertise lending products. I think that's a sustainable and politically feasible way to get free tax filing, actually; I expect that in ~5 years Credit Karma will have eaten a big part of T…

I have not used CreditKarma's tax product, but I've heard folks say that it calculates some things incorrectly. I think that's understandable for a brand new product, but I'd be cautious about using it this year if you don't (1) have a very simple return, (2) check their work against the IRS forms/instructions and/or (3) check against another product.

(For those who don't want to give TurboTax or H&R money, I've been quite pleased with FreeTaxUSA, which is like $12 for federal and state. It's a bit less user friendly, but plenty good enough if you have some understanding of taxes, and there are way fewer upsells and overpriced crap.)

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#132

Post by hmhrex » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:49 PM UTC

I've been using TurboTax for years, and I think I'm ready to move on if they are going to continue lobbying. What are some other alternatives? I don't mind paying, but I want to make sure it's a service people trust.

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#133

Post by John23832 » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:51 PM UTC

gech wrote: post #105

John23832 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you going to do, put a business in jail? Hold the people who have made you promises and then failed to follow through responsible. Aka, your politicians. They are your backstop. What makes Goldman, GSK, Haliburton, or any of the other shady, scummy businesses out there responsible to you? They are responsible to the law on the books. Our politicians are supposed to prevent business from screwing our society.…

Business lobbies to prevent enforcement... Also don't forget the revolving door, your dichotomy of politicians vs business is paper thin

The revolving door is a separate issue that I acknowledge is a problem.

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#134

Post by sly010 » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:52 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #70

blackguardx wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever actually done your taxes by hand? The 1040EZ is supposed to take 7 hours. Back when I did paper taxes and couldn't do the 1040EZ, the 1040 long form took me about 20 hours to do, slightly beating the IRS estimate of 22 hours. The government has all the information about me. Why do I have to gather it all up and tell them again? A friend in Finland tells me it takes him 10 minutes to approve the tax docu…

The 1040EZ is a single page and has only 2 pages of instructions. How does it take 7 hours? http://datechguyblog.com/2011/04/15/7-hours-for-form-1040ez-... (Link from 2011 but I don't remember it being much different lately.) Edit: the IRS now says it takes 3 hours to fill out and submit the form, and 2 hours to collect the relevant paperwork, for 5 total. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040gi/ar03.html

"1040EZ" is an eaaasssy version of 1040. He is specifially talking about filling "1040".

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#135

Post by John23832 » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:55 PM UTC

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #126

John23832 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have every right to express dissatisfaction with their actions. I agree with you that their actions are scummy, but they have a right to lobby for their interests. Express enough dissatisfaction at your politicians so that they aren't bending to business.

Sure but your answer seems to be excusing their action. You said that it was never wrong for them to lobby. I'd say that this case is a perfect example of when lobbying is "wrong."

Your problem is with the actions that they're lobbying for, not the lobbying itself. If H&R Block instead lobbied for clean water for all US citizens, you wouldn't have an issue with that.

It is ok to think that the cause (complicating the tax code) is wrong, but the methods (lobbying) are ok.

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#136

Post by dcherman » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:56 PM UTC

imgabe wrote: post #58

Filing is always free. Online filing costs money, but you can always mail in a paper form. If everyone did that, the IRS would pretty quickly want to make sure people can file online easily and cheaply. Stop using HR Block and Turbo Tax. For most people, taxes are not very complicated. The IRS publishes detailed instructions that literally explain what every box means and what should go in it for every form. Just rea…

The AMT calculation is tedious as hell. Considering that the yearly cost for H&R Block is something like 20$, it's well worth the money just to avoid needing to do that by hand, and that's not even taking into account all of the other time savings features of it. And the cost for the software itself is tax deductible as tax prep costs.

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#137

Post by jakelazaroff » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:56 PM UTC

John23832 wrote: post #110

jakelazaroff wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think OP is moving the goalposts here. They also say "It's wrong when our elected officials bend to those business interest when it goes against the public interest", which is clearly a moral argument as opposed to a legal one.

I wasn't trying to move the goalposts. I was asked where that right was defined, and so I cited law.

Then is your position that businesses should not be expected to behave ethically, but politicians should? That's a pretty weird line to draw. There's no reason we shouldn't expect all members of society to adhere to a generally agreed-upon code of ethics, even if parts of that code shouldn't be made into law.

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#138

Post by sly010 » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:57 PM UTC

joeax wrote: post #44

Both excel at finding ways to gouge customers too. Doing standardized deductions, but happen to sell one stock? Nope. Gotta upgrade to Premier for $30 more.

Or just happen to receive dividends...

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#139

Post by heyheyhey » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 4:57 PM UTC

berberous wrote: post #131

naftaliharris wrote: post #121

I'm surprised the article and comments haven't mentioned CreditKarma's tax solution yet, which is (actually) free. [1] Presumably their strategy is to take the users and data they get from offering free tax filing and use them to advertise lending products. I think that's a sustainable and politically feasible way to get free tax filing, actually; I expect that in ~5 years Credit Karma will have eaten a big part of T…

I have not used CreditKarma's tax product, but I've heard folks say that it calculates some things incorrectly. I think that's understandable for a brand new product, but I'd be cautious about using it this year if you don't (1) have a very simple return, (2) check their work against the IRS forms/instructions and/or (3) check against another product. (For those who don't want to give TurboTax or H&R money, I've been…

> I have not used CreditKarma's tax product, but I've heard folks say that it calculates some things incorrectly.

Can anyone else attest to this? I am going to start doing my taxes soon (for the first time in my life) and CreditKarma seems like a good solution for me.

Re: H&R Block and Intuit Are Lobbying Against Making Tax Filling Free and Easy

#140

Post by computerbob » Tue, Mar 21, 2017, 5:02 PM UTC

heyheyhey wrote: post #139

berberous wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not used CreditKarma's tax product, but I've heard folks say that it calculates some things incorrectly. I think that's understandable for a brand new product, but I'd be cautious about using it this year if you don't (1) have a very simple return, (2) check their work against the IRS forms/instructions and/or (3) check against another product. (For those who don't want to give TurboTax or H&R money, I've been…

> I have not used CreditKarma's tax product, but I've heard folks say that it calculates some things incorrectly. Can anyone else attest to this? I am going to start doing my taxes soon (for the first time in my life) and CreditKarma seems like a good solution for me.

I did my tax return with CreditKarma and TaxAct. They came out almost identical. I filed with CreditKarma because it was free. They basically worked the same. It only took me about 10 extra minutes.

It also saved me about 1k since I had done my property taxes wrong. All in all I would say that CreditKarma was worth doing and I would use them again as long as they are free.

Side Note: I have used TurboTax and TaxAct in the past.