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

washingtonpost.com

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

#21

Post by majormajor »

idle_zealot wrote: post #6
balls187 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is bonkers that the IRS cannot prefill information for the majority of Taxpayers.

This last year when filing my taxes with a paid turbotax product some value was auto-filled and looked about right. After submission I was notified that the IRS rejected my form because the field was wrong. They did not correct the field or otherwise communicate what they believed the value should have been. Tracking down what number they actually wanted there was a hassle. So... they have on file what they expect yo…

Huh, I've never had my filing rejected but I've had the IRS send me letters a couple times. Once a year or two later, the other time (last year) a few weeks later or so before I got the refund: each time they told me exactly what they thought I'd missed.

Which still highlights the absurdity of making me re-enter the stuff they already know.

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

#23

Post by PopAlongKid »

bradley13 wrote: post #17
monero-xmr wrote: post #11

Most Americans don’t do their own taxes. They go to H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt, and if your family makes under $60k you are almost certainly paying no income taxes and are receiving a refund via the EITC, getting a check back. So people think tax preparers are voodoo priests that do their incantations to get free money because the average person can’t understand the jargon, can’t handle forms, and the whole endeavor…

Just a minor comment, but: why does EITC exist? Just a hidden welfare payment? That out if the way, I agree with the earlier comment: why does the government automatically know all your financial details? Where is the privacy? Where is the requirement for a warrant, to access your private information?

>why does EITC exist?

To relieve the regressive payroll tax (FICA) on low-income families.

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

#24

Post by nkrisc »

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.

It’s amazing how much of an idiot I felt like when we hired a babysitter for two days a week for about a year and then it came time to do things properly regarding taxes and her wages.

I understand why it’s important to do it properly (for the employee’s benefit) but when I tried to look into what we had to do, as technically her employer, and it was nearly impossible for me to figure out what we had to do and then how to even do it (federal and state). I understand why many people just want to pay cash under the table. It really made me feel like a complete moron.

If we ever do it again we’ll have to just hire a payroll service and factor that cost into what wages we can offer, or structure it so that total payments remain under the threshold required for filing.

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

#25

Post by jimbob45 »

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.

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

#26

Post by loeg »

idle_zealot wrote: post #6
balls187 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is bonkers that the IRS cannot prefill information for the majority of Taxpayers.

This last year when filing my taxes with a paid turbotax product some value was auto-filled and looked about right. After submission I was notified that the IRS rejected my form because the field was wrong. They did not correct the field or otherwise communicate what they believed the value should have been. Tracking down what number they actually wanted there was a hassle. So... they have on file what they expect yo…

They'll send you a letter with the wrong value and the value they think is correct. And if you agree, you usually don't have to take any action (beyond maybe paying more).

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

#27

Post by ITB »

balls187 wrote: post #4
nneonneo wrote: post #2

I did my Canadian taxes for me and my spouse on a free filing site last night, in less than two hours, for $0. Everything was prefilled; practically the only thing I had to fix was to convert an imported investment statement from USD to CAD, and double check that everything was accurate. I welcome the Americans to the delightful convenience of hassle-free taxes!

It is bonkers that the IRS cannot prefill information for the majority of Taxpayers.

They could. They just want you to confess the things that are harder for them to track. So they pretend they know more than they do.

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

#28

Post by loeg »

balls187 wrote: post #4
nneonneo wrote: post #2

I did my Canadian taxes for me and my spouse on a free filing site last night, in less than two hours, for $0. Everything was prefilled; practically the only thing I had to fix was to convert an imported investment statement from USD to CAD, and double check that everything was accurate. I welcome the Americans to the delightful convenience of hassle-free taxes!

It is bonkers that the IRS cannot prefill information for the majority of Taxpayers.

Well, they can; that's the service the article is discussing?

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

#30

Post by kayson »

thegrim33 wrote: post #14
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.

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…

> 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.

You still had to file taxes, though, so they would know about your income, if only a year behind. I read somewhere that tax withholding only started during WWII (and it was supposed to be temporary). It's really the withholding that would give the IRS the information needed to file your taxes in advance, so it's only a fairly recent possibility.

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