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TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

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Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#251

Post by atian »

mortgagemonster wrote: post #54
maxmcd wrote: post #34

I learned a little while ago that H&R Block makes a substantial amount of its revenue from "refund anticipation loans" (no citation, I couldn't find it here: https://investors.hrblock.com/static-files/4293dedf-951d-454... maybe my information is overblown). Is there a reason there isn't a "Robin Hood for Taxes"? A service that makes all of its revenue off of refund anticipation loads and provides all tax services for…

Credit Karma does legitimately free filing

Credit Karma is legitimately bad software.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#252

Post by ben174 »

ben174 wrote: post #230
linsomniac wrote: post #37

Govt: "We need some money from you to buy things." Me: "How much?" Govt: "You figure it out." Me: "Oh, I get to pay whatever I want?" Govt: "LOL, no, we have a figure that we want you to pay." Me: "What happens if I guess that number wrong?" Govt: "You get to go to prison."

My favorite radio show quoted you. www.armstrongandgettybingo.com

4/19/2019 6am 13 minutes in, fyi

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#253

Post by test6554 »

metalliqaz wrote: post #4

Yeah they do, of course they do. They are in business to make money, after all. The real story is the absolute travesty of government corruption that TurboTax and HR Block have perpetrated by making it illegal for the government to make tax filing as easy as it should be. It's one of the things I would immediately correct if I was king for a day.

I would be happy for if the government made a free-file api and let for-profit companies and open-source projects alike create solutions for consumers. It would be like the government owning the telephone poles and letting any ISP run their cables on it to try and compete for customers.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#254

Post by test6554 »

CalRobert wrote: post #127

Meanwhile, California makes it pretty easy to file your state taxes for free, with no intermediary https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/calfile/index.asp

Meanwhile in Wyoming, Washington, Texas, South Dakota, Nevada, Florida, & Alaska there are no state income taxes which is even simpler.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#255

Post by JohnFen »

Demiurge wrote: post #39
jahabrewer wrote: post #30

Fuck Intuit. Shame on engineers who work there.

Really? This is a greedy policy, not an engineering decision. How many engineers have managers they disagree with? I'm sure you've always quit every company in such a situation?

> I'm sure you've always quit every company in such a situation?

I have absolutely quit jobs because I had serious issues with the way my employer did business. I would again. It makes sleeping at night a lot easier.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#256

Post by could-be-wrong »

If taxes were centralized, is it possible that one’s average tax bill delta would be higher than the average deal value of tax software products?

The point being, one could argue that the private sector has more incentive to reduce your tax bill in order to take a cut of the savings.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#258

Post by stordoff »

tialaramex wrote: post #177
dsr_ wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is largely correct. Simple case: the local school district here in a suburb of Boston provides a school bus service. So did the one I attended in New York. The one in NY owned a fleet of diesel buses, a central depot to put them in, a repair facility next to the depot, and paid administrators, mechanics and drivers. Every so often a wave of buses were replaced. The one in MA pays a bus company that does all the…

You can also see this very easily in the UK. One city in the entire country has essentially all its transport infrastructure owned by the government (some of it is operated by private companies under license). In every other city they're a mess of private companies. Result: In that one city (it's London) the transport infrastructure works as an integrated whole and everywhere else it's just a bunch of assemble-it-you…

I find it telling that I know the public transport better in London than my own city - it's just easier.

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#259

Post by stordoff »

Symbiote wrote: post #231
ac29 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's definitely better than what we have in the US, but the majority of people in the US don't need more than the standard form 1040 [0], which isn't too hard to fill out. Tax software vendors and accountants want people to believe its more complicated than it really is, when in reality most people only have a single source of income, and maybe a child tax credit and mortgage interest credit. For these people, doin…

That form isn't long, but would be less intimidating if it were spread out over 3-4 pages, with larger fonts and no abbreviations. Compare a UK tax form (not for the usual, simple case; I don't know if there is a form for that): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/... (Although as it says, 92% of people fill in this form online. I can't look, as it requires a login, but it should be a good UX…

> not for the usual, simple case; I don't know if there is a form for that

Most people don't require a tax return. They are on PAYE[1], which just happens (you don't have to think about it or actively do anything). _Generally_ speaking, you only need a tax return if you are self-employed as a 'sole trader', or are a partner in a business partnership, or have untaxed income such as money from renting out a property, tips and commission (over £2,500), income from savings, investments and dividends (over £10,000), or foreign income.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-as-you-earn_tax#United_Kin...

Re: TurboTax Hides Its Free File Page from Search Engines

#260

Post by stordoff »

bunderbunder wrote: post #86
themagician wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You only go to prison if you willfully and purposely try to defraud the government. It’s more of a, “Pay what you believe you owe based on your best guess and the laws as you best understand them, and if we disagree we may ask you to pay more.”

> if we disagree we may ask you to pay more The opposite can happen, too. The last time they disagreed with me on how much tax I should have paid, they mailed me a check for the difference.

Surely this raises a question: why don't they just tell you what you owe (and you can dispute it if you wish)?
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