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Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

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Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#31

Post by joshyeager »

digitalzombie wrote: post #8
weinzierl wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a happy user of many web-based services, but why would anyone give all their personal financial data to single company? Ok, the success of Mint proves me wrong, I just don't get it. It's not only that they can use your data to build and sell a profile, there is a realistic chance that the data gets leaked.

> Ok, the success of Mint proves me wrong, I just don't get it. Well for one thing people are lazy and Mint devs actually take care of handling logins for all of those banks, credit cards companies, and credit unions. I'm not entirely sure if there's any other alternative non web base software that can do this. I would assume those apis are different between all those companies. Sure I can input my stuff manually but…

Quicken can download transactions from every bank I've used. From what I can tell, it uses the same APIs that Mint does. But the data is never stored anywhere but my home server.

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#32

Post by kumarm »

Demand Force one of the asset they are trying to sell was acquired just 3 years ago for 450 Million.

You would think executives making these decisions will have some consequences :).

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#33

Post by EGreg »

tptacek wrote: post #7
sschueller wrote: post #2

Looks like they are not worried about taxes ever becoming simpler. Intuit has spent about $11.5 million on federal lobbying in the past few years to kill bills that would have simplified taxes. [1] [1] http://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-...

If $2.3MM/yr over 5 years is enough to reshape the trajectory of fundamental laws in this country, why aren't people just Kickstarter-ing cannabis decriminalization, marriage equality, and copyright law changes? My point is: that's not a lot of money. Not that I think you can get important changes done for $2.3MM. There is real conservative opposition to return-free filing. For instance, conservatives in general thin…

Corporate lobbying against change always costs less.

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#34

Post by rayiner »

sschueller wrote: post #2

Looks like they are not worried about taxes ever becoming simpler. Intuit has spent about $11.5 million on federal lobbying in the past few years to kill bills that would have simplified taxes. [1] [1] http://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-...

Let's say hypothetically that Crate and Barrel spent a few million lobbying on behalf of gay marriage, on the theory that the uptick in marriages would be good for business. anything wrong with that?

This isn't an obscure issue where a small amount of lobbying is going to push legislation in favor of a small interest group. It's literally one of the most scrutinized and contentious issues on the political table.

NB: the conservative opposition to tax free filing exists and isn't illogical. I for one do my own taxes each year, and the rage induced by thinking about the mortgage interest deduction is sufficient to keep me from voting for another cycle.

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#35

Post by seiji »

tptacek wrote: post #7
sschueller wrote: post #2

Looks like they are not worried about taxes ever becoming simpler. Intuit has spent about $11.5 million on federal lobbying in the past few years to kill bills that would have simplified taxes. [1] [1] http://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-...

If $2.3MM/yr over 5 years is enough to reshape the trajectory of fundamental laws in this country, why aren't people just Kickstarter-ing cannabis decriminalization, marriage equality, and copyright law changes? My point is: that's not a lot of money. Not that I think you can get important changes done for $2.3MM. There is real conservative opposition to return-free filing. For instance, conservatives in general thin…

My point is: that's not a lot of money.

It's called the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tullock_paradox — "the low costs of rent-seeking relative to the gains from rent-seeking."

Influencing individuals is relatively cheap. You just have to overwhelm them. Our laws are made by a limited group of individuals. Ergo, influencing laws is relatively cheap once you've got a few million dollars to burn and can gain billions off the results.

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#36

Post by tptacek »

guelo wrote: post #29
patio11 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I can elaborate on that concern a bit: if government is allowed to be loud about transfer payments and quiet about taxes then it can successfully bribe the middle class with their own money. It is entirely possible to run a tax system without W-2 employees having to do a return at all. Many nations do it. American conservatives strongly prefer a government which is not sized like the government of those nations.

Causing extra suffering for millions of people just to make a political point is straight up evil in my book.

Is there anyone on this thread that would disagree with that? Hurting people to make a political point is immoral. I don't think anyone is advocating for that.

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#37

Post by guelo »

tptacek wrote: post #36
guelo wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Causing extra suffering for millions of people just to make a political point is straight up evil in my book.

Is there anyone on this thread that would disagree with that? Hurting people to make a political point is immoral. I don't think anyone is advocating for that.

Huh? That is exactly what these conservatives are advocating. Make tax filing maximally painful to make a political point

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#39

Post by glesica »

protomyth wrote: post #27
tptacek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If $2.3MM/yr over 5 years is enough to reshape the trajectory of fundamental laws in this country, why aren't people just Kickstarter-ing cannabis decriminalization, marriage equality, and copyright law changes? My point is: that's not a lot of money. Not that I think you can get important changes done for $2.3MM. There is real conservative opposition to return-free filing. For instance, conservatives in general thin…

> There is real conservative opposition to return-free filing. For instance, conservatives in general think the tax code is both too complex and too onerous. In a return-free system, citizens are given a summarized bill and encouraged not to consider the line items. The concern is that the bill is unfair, and the less citizens have it shoved in their face, the less likely we are to get a fairer tax code. I'm a conser…

> Even showing no understanding of basic math when deduction + flat rate taxes are suggested.

As a left-winger, my views and yours probably aren't that far off. I would be fine with a flat tax (that was actually collected from everyone) and a large deductible. Even more so if it was coupled with a meaningful basic income guarantee.

The problem is that I don't actually believe politicians when they say that is what they will do. With all the talk about "job creators", it really, truly sounds as though the modern GOP actually wants a regressive system where the rich pay almost nothing and there is no deductible because the poor need to pay their "fair share" (whatever that means).

So it isn't that we don't understand math. My preferred tax code probably looks surprisingly similar to your preferred tax code, I just don't trust any of your politicians to actually move us in that direction (and for the record, it's not like I trust HRC to do any better).

Re: Intuit Will Sell Off Quicken

#40

Post by jungturk »

joshyeager wrote: post #31
digitalzombie wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ok, the success of Mint proves me wrong, I just don't get it. Well for one thing people are lazy and Mint devs actually take care of handling logins for all of those banks, credit cards companies, and credit unions. I'm not entirely sure if there's any other alternative non web base software that can do this. I would assume those apis are different between all those companies. Sure I can input my stuff manually but…

Quicken can download transactions from every bank I've used. From what I can tell, it uses the same APIs that Mint does. But the data is never stored anywhere but my home server.

Quicken's bank feeds are processed the same way mint's are - through an Intuit service that makes the call to the financial institution. That call ostensibly adds other functional value (transaction categorization, friendly names for businesses), but Intuit's in custody of your financial data (and passwords) to perform that feature.

Fortunately, Intuit's also (currently) takes lots of care to ensure proper data-at-rest and in-flight custodial procedures, but you're still trusting someone to do things right.

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