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Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

nextgov.com

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Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#201

Post by simoncion »

xboxnolifes wrote: post #199
simoncion wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, obviously, everyone knows that. It's pretty clear that daemonologist did not know that. Which is weird, given that all the tax law the average USian needs to know is "Read and follow the instructions for Form 1040.". (RIP 1040-EZ. You were a good form.) Also, I've had to file several forms in the past. It 'adds up', but it's all mechanically following instructions... not anything difficult.

Following forms is easy. The hard part is knowing if you need to file a form.

> The hard part is knowing if you need to file a form.

In my experience, the form instructions tell you clearly when you should and should not file a form. They also clearly indicate which other forms are to be filed when you meet specific conditions (income limits, possession of specific other forms, etc.).

Granted, I don't run a business, nor do I have exceptionally complex finances, so there are a great many IRS form instructions that I have never seen. Because I've not see them all, I'd never say that every such form instruction is clear, but the ones I've encountered have been.

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#202

Post by mixmastamyk »

simoncion wrote: post #185
mixmastamyk wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Started asking about two or three years ago at registration, didn’t try last year. My return is complicated and it couldn’t handle some obscure form. But don’t remember which. On time.

> Started asking about two or three years ago at registration... Very odd. I wonder (but not enough to investigate) what's so different between your situation and mine that I'd not be asked for a phone number during initial configuration.

https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-fillable-forms/free-fil...

"Email and phone verification

If you are not receiving the verification codes, from both sources, you will not be able to create an account:"

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#203

Post by deanmen »

isleyaardvark wrote: post #187
Amezarak wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to pay. https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form... As for "having most of your tax information", they don't. They know your reported income. You see that on your W2s/1099s/etc. What they don't know is whether or not you had a kid this year, or whether you lost a kid this year, whether you got married or divorced, if your spouse is claiming the kids this year or not, the number or a…

Do these other countries described above know whether you had a kid or got divorced?

Yes, in many European countries dependents and marital status changes are registered in a national civil registry, which the tax authority can query directly.

Countries like the U.S., Canada, the U.K. cannot easily do that without huge data-sharing reforms.

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#204

Post by insane_dreamer »

catapart wrote: post #146
insane_dreamer wrote: post #53

The Trump Administration is hell bent on doing everything it can to benefit large corporations at the expense of the American people. Cash App offers free Fed and State filing and it's quite good (used it last year for the first time). Not many people know about it though.

If anyone's interested, the CashApp tax prep section (kind of its own app, but its contained within the CashApp app) is a feature they have purchased from CreditKarma when CreditKarma got bought out by Intuit (turbotax pricks). So I had filed taxes with CreditKarma one year, and then the next year the CreditKarma tax service had no information about my previous filing. So I tried out the CashApp app, since I was goin…

> it's free for basic taxes,

Not just the basics. I found that it could do everything I needed including Schedules C, D and E.

IIRC, its limitations are if you're earning in multiple states, or are earning foreign income.

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#205

Post by mindslight »

ethin wrote: post #154
whoooboyy wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try telling people you voted third party because of a deeply held conviction about not electing corrupt politicians. You will be told you are evil, that you've got an unreasonable/impossible purity bar, that you don't really believe in that deeply held moral conviction actually, that you are worse than the people who voted for the other guy, that you are a utopian idealist, etc etc. Don't get me wrong, I did vote thi…

This problem is only magnified when you consider our voting system. Any ranked voting system inherently runs into Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, which makes what we have right now not exactly democratic. The solution would be to switch to something like approval voting but good luck getting that going.

It's been a while since I've studied the details of voting systems, but it seems like Approval voting just moves the spoiler effect into how people vote - ie strategic voting. Personally I think the possibilities of circular ties under Ranked Pairs is oversold.

Society is well acquainted with the concept of a tie, and whatever tiebreaker procedure we define probably won't factor into voter strategy all that much (that is, it will be less of an effect than the people who don't understand they can vote for more than one candidate)

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#206

Post by aj_hackman »

Freak_NL wrote: post #116
com2kid wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lobbyists aren't the problem. They are doing what they are paid to do. If you donate to a large charity, there is a good chance some of that $ goes to lobbying, as it should. (Presumably you want the issues goy care about to be fixed!) If you work at a large company, 100% chance it lobbies, for good reason. Large employers lobby for better mass transit (because parking garages are expensive), more housing (because it…

> (Presumably you want the issues goy care about to be fixed!) Is 'goy' a typo? I only know of its meaning as 'non-Jewish person'.

I'm sure they meant "you". שלום־עליכם

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#207

Post by insane_dreamer »

terminalshort wrote: post #62
AnotherGoodName wrote: post #44

Meanwhile in pretty much all other nations you go online to the free website, see your employer contributions already filled in and acknowledge they are correct for the year, add any extra income, check boxes for relevant deductions and you’re done.

Which is basically how it works here too. If you just have W-2 income from an employer it takes less than 10 minutes to fill out the form. Sure, the system you mention is more convenient, but the difference is minimal.

In theory, yes. In practice, no.

Also, Americans have to file both fed and state taxes (with different rules)

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#209

Post by petralithic »

whoooboyy wrote: post #106
petralithic wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more that voting third party in a first-past-the-post voting scheme is systemically pointless.

Parent poster said to stop voting for bad candidates. I said you would be mocked/judged/told off for doing so. And here we are.

What I said is factually true, neither mocking, judging nor telling you off. If you believe saying something like, don't look at the sun or you'll hurt your eyes (and then you look at the sun and say that your eyes are burnt) is telling you off, then we have different definitions of the phrase.

Re: Direct File won't happen in 2026, IRS tells states

#210

Post by Amezarak »

dpark wrote: post #184
dmoy wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that GP"s "everyone can file free" is talk about Free File Fillable Forms, not TurboTax Which is free for nearly everyone, but is only marginally better than paper filing your own taxes.

I suspect GP is simply misinformed about the reality of the situation. They also explicitly state “you can already do it for free if you want to, it just requires a third-party”. They are missing the context that only a fraction of filers are eligible to use free filing and that TurboTax paid something like 140 million to settle claims that they are misleading filers. That suit is why they now admit only 37% of peopl…

Free Fillable Forms is free for everyone. It is technically a third party. It’s very simple if you have the average tax filing situation.

There are also other services that provide free efiling regardless of income, it’s not just TurboTax.

At the end of the day, you can always do the paperwork if you really don’t want anyone seeing your taxes and mail it. Could it be better? Oh sure, but it’s difficult for me to feel very passionate about it.

> In a sane world the IRS should send a letter to every tax-paying household in February that says “we owe you X”, “you owe us X”, or

As mentioned in sibling posts, the IRS does NOT have the information it needs to get even close on your taxes. They know your reported income. They do not know your marital status, how you’re going to file, if or how many kids you have and will be filing for, and many other things. These all have MAJOR tax impacts.

An additional factor is state taxes really need to be packaged together with the actual solution.

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