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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)

#191

Post by xenocyon »

mathgladiator wrote: post #186

Given all the importing it does from the variety of finance places, what they charge is reasonable. It all depends on your opportunity cost and value of your time. I do agree that most people really don't need it, and they need to simply report their wages and submit an 1040EZ.

That's not what the article is about at all.

It's about their unethical reneging on the agreement they made, where they agreed to provide a free product in exchange for the government not providing one - but it's a free product carefully hidden with the darkest of dark patterns.

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

#193

Post by thebradbain »

ryandrake wrote: post #120
asavadatti wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 woul…

Even as a full-time college student, I've used a professional, and I'm glad I did. He did things as straightforward as claiming relevant education credits to more esoteric such as maximizing refunds around housing stipends for summer internships. I didn't have to do much else other than reach out to my accountant and provide a W2.

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

#194

Post by vineyardmike »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #176
vineyardmike wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That’s so cute how everyone is afraid of the IRS boogeyman Its so cute how everyone is afraid of a government agency that is opaque and can charge you fines or jail time for not correctly filling out their documents :)

Source for jail time for not correctly filling out documents? I imagine it’s jail time for fraud, which is not the same as not correctly filling out documents.

I have no source. Idk if it actually happens that "ordinary" people go to jail for being bad at filling out taxes. But people think it happens, people worry it happens and that's completely fair.

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

#195

Post by vmception »

vineyardmike wrote: post #165
vmception wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And yet what am I going to do but use turbo tax again. The perceived risk and effort That’s so cute how everyone is afraid of the IRS boogeyman Everyone believes whichever way they first became comfortable with is saving them money and their freedom I know people that would say the exact same thing except they are referring to their table full of printed out forms Literally everyone with a super wrong and very huma…

> That’s so cute how everyone is afraid of the IRS boogeyman Its so cute how everyone is afraid of a government agency that is opaque and can charge you fines or jail time for not correctly filling out their documents :)

the main point is that people think they way they are comfortable with is what's saving their money and freedom, while its not

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

#196

Post by tgb »

at_a_remove wrote: post #83

I am a chump who uses TurboTax every year. Having seen a few cases of the IRS going after someone I knew, I just pay the danegeld. Perhaps I do not need TurboTax, but I know that the laws at the state and federal level change every year and that I have no real ability to track any of this, but the penalties can be high for failure. I rarely understand tax jargon, in any case; I always feel like I am on the back foot…

What does "IRS going after" mean here? I've been filling my taxes by hand, and back when I used some "free" online thing, I had problems multiple times and the IRS basically just sent me a bill saying what I owed and I payed it. (Doing it myself has proven more reliable.) Contrary to popular belief, it's not a crime to make a mistake on your taxes. So what happened that you're so concerned about?

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

#197

Post by DavidPeiffer »

dizzant wrote: post #168
DavidPeiffer wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

Let me add my recommendation for FreeTaxUSA.com. I am a newly married grad student on fellowship, which implies juggling estimated taxes, confusing withholding rules, scholarship income, a name change, and first-time joint filing. Needless to say, I am not a "simple" case. After TurboTax failed to prepare my forms correctly (!) and wanted to charge me for the displeasure, I went looking for an alternative. FreeTaxUSA…

I also like their bookmark feature. I commonly realize I need a bit of information and can add a note about my questions I need to research more, or what form I'm waiting on.

Once my bookmarks are clear, I know I'm good to submit.

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

#198

Post by adkadskhj »

alistairSH wrote: post #116
adkadskhj wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/…

Fair - but this is an example where if money makes the wheels move more cleanly via lobbying, then those "people" will be the only ones heard.

Organizing millions of poor people to financially compete with lobbyist funds seems a losing battle.

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

#199

Post by kickapps »

ourmandave wrote: post #162

Every year I do my taxes on H&R Block or one of the others right up to the point where I review the form and the next step is to submit. Then I write all the numbers down and file for free on Free File Fillable Forms. https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form... Thanks H&R!

what about state taxes? is there a state level Free File Fillable form?

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

#200

Post by JadeNB »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #157
JadeNB wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the IRS allow direct e-filing? At least as of last year, it seemed that you still had to go through someone else to file electronically (although the forms are freely available).

Yes, I’ve been using IRS free fillable forms for over 10 years, I think, with no middleman between me and the IRS. Similar with my state taxes on my state’s revenue website.

Sorry, so, just to be clear: you've been filing your forms electronically with the IRS, not printing out the filled forms and mailing them? How? I swear I've looked, and been unable to find a way to file electronically (although I agree it's easy to find the form), except if you fall into certain income categories. I've even been told that it's intentionally legally impossible, as a way for the IRS to avoid competing with private providers.

(State taxes are a different matter; I've paid Illinois and Michigan taxes recently, and they do provide an easy and obvious way to e-file directly with the state.)

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