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Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

wakeuptopolitics.com

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Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#31

Post by dataflow »

JSR_FDED wrote: post #4

Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…

> the impact on the final assessment could be as high as $80

That's the financial impact. Depending on what you're missing, the nonfinancial might be opening yourself to perjury, because you're knowingly claiming a falsehood as a fact on a tax return (even if it's financially in the government's benefit)... never mind potentially screwing up future tax returns in the process.

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#32

Post by cindyllm »

ikety wrote: post #30
enraged_camel wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the result of decades of Republican lobbying, legislation and outright sabotage. The philosophy, openly advertised by Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, goes like this: nobody likes taxes. So if people find the filing process difficult and stressful every year, they will be constantly reminded of this fact. This will in turn make them more open to suggestions and propaganda along the lines of taxes b…

The ease in which you can get away with these tactics ad infinitum is starting to make me a pessimist. It feels like it takes almost an entire population of unified people, that are diligently advocating on behalf of themselves, to compete with a ruling class that has the resources to stay on the offense forever. The ruling class doesn't even have to actively communicate and conspire with one another (although they d…

[dead]

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#34

Post by HWR_14 »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #13
JSR_FDED wrote: post #4

Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…

H&R Block isn’t exactly the top tier accounting option. Not sure what you were expecting. It’s like going to McDonald’s and being disappointed at the food quality.

The average American shouldn't need top tier accounting to file their taxes.

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#35

Post by pezezin »

mbreese wrote: post #17
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was Germany one of the listed countries?

Yes. > United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands, among other countries.

As a Spanish guy living in Japan, I find the Japanese system hugely complicated (or better said, antiquated), so I shudder to think how bad the American system might be...

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#36

Post by cellular »

JSR_FDED wrote: post #4

Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…

IRS should create a spreadsheet with irs forms so the user types in their numbers and the calculations are automatic.

An intern or 2 could do this for the entire nation to benefit!

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#37

Post by kccqzy »

cellular wrote: post #36
JSR_FDED wrote: post #4

Taxes in the US are unnecessarily stressful. I remember going to H&R Block and being sent home to find some piece of supporting documentation because it was “really important”. I turned the whole apartment upside down but wasn’t able to find it. Went back to the tax preparer in a state of high anxiety. When I asked what would happen if I couldn’t find the document and was told the impact on the final assessment could…

IRS should create a spreadsheet with irs forms so the user types in their numbers and the calculations are automatic. An intern or 2 could do this for the entire nation to benefit!

The IRS Direct File was shut down by the current administration. And no, it was way more effort than what two interns could do. https://github.com/IRS-Public/direct-file

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#38

Post by loeg »

syntaxing wrote: post #33

I like one of the memes online that describe filing tax as you’re taking a test that the government knows the answer to, and if answer the questions wrong, you go to jail.

People say this, but it's wrong. If you made an honest attempt and get it wrong, you might pay a fine. You have to deliberately lie to go to jail.

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#39

Post by loeg »

whycombinetor wrote: post #21

Pedantry: the article claims "Paying taxes is a universal experience", but only 60.4% (2024) of American households pay income tax.

This is a rhetorical sleight of hand; almost everyone pays FICA taxes at some point in their life, and of course there are other taxes than Federal income tax.

Re: Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

#40

Post by adabyron »

HWR_14 wrote: post #34
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

H&R Block isn’t exactly the top tier accounting option. Not sure what you were expecting. It’s like going to McDonald’s and being disappointed at the food quality.

The average American shouldn't need top tier accounting to file their taxes.

The average American can file for free, or at least it was possible in the past.

They could also learn to file their taxes, as well as simple tax planning, in a very short video.

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