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When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

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Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#21

Post by matthewmacleod »

Ricapar wrote: post #14

I find the "well then just pay your taxes" answers to be on the same level of "well if you have nothing to hide...". You can be a honest and tax-paying citizen of society and still get audited. There's always the chance that there may be a mistake somewhere. The US tax code is not simple. Even if you shell out $20-$80 a year to do it via TurboTax, H&R Block, whatever, there's always room for a mistake. And even if th…

It does suck, and I can't imagine anybody wants to be audited, and there can be mistakes. That's the cost of any government bureaucracy, I'd wager.

But I'm not clear why it's unsettling to use social networking posts—that is, public broadcast publishing by individuals—as a source of information. It's as legitimate as any other.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#22

Post by Omniusaspirer »

thenewbtg wrote: post #13
plusbryan wrote: post #2

All that effort to avoid simplifying the tax code so that the tax preparation industry can thrive.

That's wholly untrue. Yes, the tax preparation industry has made token donations to efforts to preserve the current tax code. But I would argue that the failure of tax reform is not so simple. Major tax reform is a massive, massive legislative undertaking. And doing so redefines many of the basic American incentives. Having your say in tax reform is the equivalent of leaving your mark on the next 20-30 years of Ameri…

The tax code isn't just overly complicated, it's poorly equipped for dealing with a global economy and effectively encourages you to shirk as many taxes as you can legally get away with. This is especially noticeable in the business world where you're forced to file more frequently and actively put yourself at a disadvantage if you don't exploit the loopholes to the level your competitors do.

There's a certain irony in wealthy corps/individuals being able to pay less effective taxes than the less fortunate purely because they can afford to work the system to their advantage. The only reason most of these gimmicks are possible is because the government is so damn determined to influence behavior through taxes.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#23

Post by talmand »

thenewbtg wrote: post #13
plusbryan wrote: post #2

All that effort to avoid simplifying the tax code so that the tax preparation industry can thrive.

That's wholly untrue. Yes, the tax preparation industry has made token donations to efforts to preserve the current tax code. But I would argue that the failure of tax reform is not so simple. Major tax reform is a massive, massive legislative undertaking. And doing so redefines many of the basic American incentives. Having your say in tax reform is the equivalent of leaving your mark on the next 20-30 years of Ameri…

Wait, you say it's wholly untrue but the immediately say that it's somewhat true.

Can't disagree with the rest.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#24

Post by talmand »

DrJokepu wrote: post #18

I deal with 3 tax agencies every year. I submit my personal and my business's tax returns to the British HMRC as that's where I live. I deal with my home country's (Hungary) tax agency too for various, boring reasons. And, ultimately, as I tend to do my wife's tax returns as well and she's a citizen of the United States I file taxes with the IRS. I don't know how else I could put this: the US tax system is absolutely…

You're just saying that because you don't understand it.

Once you understand it, you'll come to admire the brilliance of the whole thing.

At that point, explain it to the rest of us.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#25

Post by dragonwriter »

thenewbtg wrote: post #13
plusbryan wrote: post #2

All that effort to avoid simplifying the tax code so that the tax preparation industry can thrive.

That's wholly untrue. Yes, the tax preparation industry has made token donations to efforts to preserve the current tax code. But I would argue that the failure of tax reform is not so simple. Major tax reform is a massive, massive legislative undertaking. And doing so redefines many of the basic American incentives. Having your say in tax reform is the equivalent of leaving your mark on the next 20-30 years of Ameri…

> Yes, the tax preparation industry has made token donations to efforts to preserve the current tax code.

The millions Intuit alone spends annually lobbying to that end are considerably more than anything that could reasonably called a "token".

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#26

Post by gamblor956 »

Ricapar wrote: post #14

I find the "well then just pay your taxes" answers to be on the same level of "well if you have nothing to hide...". You can be a honest and tax-paying citizen of society and still get audited. There's always the chance that there may be a mistake somewhere. The US tax code is not simple. Even if you shell out $20-$80 a year to do it via TurboTax, H&R Block, whatever, there's always room for a mistake. And even if th…

The IRS doesn't have a system to track down FB posts or Instagram photos. It doesn't even have the resources to maintain its own systems.

Audits are randomly chosen out of several pools (i.e., corporations, very wealthy individuals, the self-employed, business-owners, every else, etc.) with heavy emphasis on high-fraud pools such as the self-employed. These pools are generated based on self-reported information (the much vaunted/feared comparative reporting analysis system is years from implementation). Due to high fraud levels, some pools (i.e., the self-employed pool) have higher likelihoods of audits but from the standpoint of the taxpayer, the increased risk is isn't meaningfully worse.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#27

Post by protomyth »

plusbryan wrote: post #2

All that effort to avoid simplifying the tax code so that the tax preparation industry can thrive.

A large cause is all the government handouts we hide in the tax code as deductions. Simplifying the tax code removes a favorite way for politicians to payoff donors.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#28

Post by genericuser »

squidfood wrote: post #7
matthewmacleod wrote: post #5

"If Nike is analyzing my information, the worst consequence is that they market stuff to me that I don’t want and it’s annoying," says Dayanim. "If the government does it, the worst consequence is there could be legal ramifications, whether it’s fines, penalties or imprisonment." Maybe don't evade your goddamned taxes then. Seriously, people who not only evade tax, but follow it up by flaunting that fact in public, d…

Hmm, this sounds like the old "you shouldn't mind surveillance if you've got nothing to hide" argument.

I see it as more of the 'if your problem is that you don't like surveillance, it shouldn't matter who is doing it' as Nike is being stated as a preferable body to have surveillance them than the IRS in a hypothetical worst case scenario for both which appears to involve them being a tax cheat.

It is not difficult after all to imagine a situation where the worst case scenario of Nike monitoring you is much worse than the worst case scenario of the IRS monitoring you.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#29

Post by thrownaway2424 »

yukichan wrote: post #20
plusbryan wrote: post #2

All that effort to avoid simplifying the tax code so that the tax preparation industry can thrive.

I wonder if tax credits on mortgage payment interests is a contributing blocker to tax reform. If they got rid of it, buying and owning a house would be so much more expensive. It would make renting more worth it.

The problem is they can't dump that deduction without causing a massive discontinuity. If you get rid of it, house prices will drop instantly and incumbent owners are holding the bag in the form of their existing mortgage. So the only sane way to get rid of it is start now and phase it out over decades.

Re: When the IRS 'likes' your Facebook update

#30

Post by talmand »

cheetahtech wrote: post #11

I am for over complicating the tax code. Let me tell you why. If we over complicate the tax code as well as complicate doing your taxes, maybe folks will finally get more upset with it. The more folks get upset, maybe the more outspokeness to change it. The IRS is a huge problem and the loop holes are even a greater problem. I am all for flat or fair tax at 9-13%. First you might say no, but with a flat tax, you no l…

I don't see how the US Federal Tax Code could get more complicated without just inserting pure gibberish into it.

The thing is, most of the tax code doesn't apply to everyday citizen. The really complicated stuff only applies to a certain number and I'm sure they have well paid people doing their best to avoid those sections.

The easy way to get people riled up about taxes? Remove withholding from paychecks and force people to write that big check every April. Then you'll get an uproar since most people have no idea how much in taxes they pay. But that's likely not the point you're trying to make.

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