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Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

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Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#181

Post by nkrisc »

headsman771 wrote: post #168
nkrisc wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s worse than that. For example we were also supposed to withhold 50% of the social security tax that the employee is responsible for, or if we pay the full amount for them (which we did because we didn’t know we were supposed to withold that), then we have to declare that as additional income for the employee, and more I’m sure I’m forgetting because I started to lose it at that point.

You don't have to do any of that. Its their job to report income and pay taxes. Withholdings are a "convenience" not a requirement. Furthermore you weren't their employer, they provided a service to you.

They were my employee per tax law. Domestic workers such as nannies are considered employees.

I eventually got everything sorted with the help of an accountant and they confirmed this.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#182

Post by maxrecursion »

janalsncm wrote: post #18
thegrim33 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it was originally done this way because in the past people actually had some semblance of privacy and the government didn't actually know a great deal about people's income. Eventually, privacy was eroded away year after year to the point where the government now knows an extreme amount about each citizen. I guess I'd refrain the question - instead of asking why do we need to do taxes when the government know…

Liberty and privacy are fashionable. The problem is that our Congress passes hundreds of pages of domestic spying legislation in the middle of the night. It’s not exactly the School House Rock democratic process we learned about in 4th grade. But that’s really beside the point. If you are like millions of other Americans filing W2s, the fact that you work for your employer isn’t a secret. Your salary isn’t a secret.…

If they got rid of all the deductions and loopholes most people wouldn't need to file as the only thing they'd have to put on their taxes is their W2 income.

I believe the IRS is even informed of things like 401k disbursement and stock sales. Meaning most people wouldn't have to submit for those either.

The gains of simplify the tax code are gargantuan, but unfortunately, the wealthy and powerful organizations benefit from the current system, and would be hurt financially by simplifying it. So, it will never be simplified.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#183

Post by llukas »

anon291 wrote: post #101
tmountain wrote: post #8

It’s amazing that 54% of adults in the United States have a literacy below 6th grade level, but it is expected for the same population to have the financial literacy to file their taxes accurately. Going further, the IRS already knows the details of most people’s taxes before they file, yet everyone is expected to complete what amounts to a complex task for many people. I cannot fathom why it is still done this way.

Following tax forms is so braindead simple, I honestly can't see how anyone can be that incapable without being mentally deficient enough to be under conservatorship. It's literally step by step "Add this" or "subtract that". If you have a calculator and a 3rd grade level understanding of English, I can't see how you'd have a problem.

We can have a problem with forms being on paper and not doing "add this" or "subtract that" automatically? It was available in other countries 10+ years AGO ;)

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#185

Post by nkrisc »

kanbara wrote: post #169
nkrisc wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No 1099, it needed to be a W2. What made it difficult was: finding out we needed to do anything at all, finding out what that “anything” even was, finding instructions for doing it, parsing the instructions and figuring out if we were reading the correct instructions, figuring out if the various exceptions and other special clauses applied, researching those, then figuring out how to actually do any of this, and so o…

> “all this for…” — you’re employing someone for 40% a full time duration. of course you need to do the right thing, ensure they get the right wage, if you need to pay benefis, etc. this is such a privileged position and you think you should’ve just been able to pay cash and potentially screw someone over?

That’s not even remotely close to what I said.

I went through all the trouble because I thought it was the right thing to do and I wanted to do right by the babysitter. It’s why I ended up paying an accountant a larger lump of money than I would have liked to in order to get it all sorted out.

Im complaining how difficult it is to do the right thing.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#186

Post by noodlesUK »

ghaff wrote: post #180
noodlesUK wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Party affiliation, which is mandatory in some U.S. states for voters (e.g. Oregon) is available to anyone who wants to access the registration dataset from the Secretary of State.

I assume you can also be independent though maybe there are implication for voting in primaries. At least in MA being on voting lists puts your address in the available registration dataset. It takes very little to deanonymize things like healthcare records with this information as was demonstrated going back to the 1990s.

You can be unaffiliated (or a member of the confusingly named Independent Party) but you’re right, you then can’t vote in any primary elections.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#187

Post by boolemancer »

tadfisher wrote: post #113
jrockway wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it is expected for the same population to have the financial literacy to file their taxes accurately I assume most people have too much money taken out of their paycheck for taxes, so the net result is that the government takes in extra money.

Withholding too much is literally required under the law. If you don't withhold enough, at tax time you could be liable for penalties unless you also pay quarterly to make up the difference. This counts for all of your income, not just the income from a W-2 job. Fixing the withholding system to account for the real world would go a long way toward simplifying reporting and would improve compliance.

> Withholding too much is literally required under the law. If you don't withhold enough, at tax time you could be liable for penalties unless you also pay quarterly to make up the difference.

You only need to withhold 90% of the taxes you owe to avoid an underpayment penalty, so you don't need to withhold too much.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#188

Post by sgerenser »

nkrisc wrote: post #81
sbrother wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see doing this for a nanny, but surely no one is jumping through all these hoops for ad-hoc, hourly babysitting? Any of the random highschoolers or college kids I've used would look at me like I was crazy if I tried to set them up on payroll lol.

It depends on if your yearly payments to them exceed some threshold. There may be more to it than that, of course. Don’t listen to me, I’m the idiot who couldn’t figure it out.

Per care.com[1], the threshold is $2700 per year:

For all intents and purposes, a babysitter is looked at just like a nanny in that if they must adhere to the schedule you set and come to your home to take care of your kids based on the rules you set, the IRS will most likely view this as an employment relationship. And taxes can sneak up on you quickly. If the babysitter earns just $15 per hour and works even 10 hours per week, you’ll cross the $2,700 tax withholding threshold in a little over four months.

[1] https://www.care.com/hp/do-you-need-to-pay-taxes-for-your-pa...

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#189

Post by nitwit005 »

jimbob45 wrote: post #25
kelthuzad wrote: post #3

wait until turbo tax comes in hot with their lobbying efforts - didn't they manage to prevent or diminish a free tax filing service already a few years ago?

I like TurboTax. It just works, year after year. The fee is worth the peace of mind that I wouldn’t have by letting a government program lose my submission accidentally.

TurboTax just submits your data to the IRS. There's no change in the potential for the IRS to lose your data.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#190

Post by williadc »

latency-guy2 wrote: post #133
hiddencost wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gotta be honest, the "government is unreliable" crowd are not people I think of as honest. Government works fine, and for less money, if you actually try to make it work.

How unquantifiable. The standard that government organizations run off of is "use up all the budget, or else your budget gets cut the next year". Are you going to lie and say that is not the case? Be honest.

> use up all the budget, or else your budget gets cut the next year

I have worked at multiple large and successful tech companies, and groups in those companies operated under the same principles.

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