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Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#41

Post by gensym »

bradley13 wrote: post #17
monero-xmr wrote: post #11

Most Americans don’t do their own taxes. They go to H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt, and if your family makes under $60k you are almost certainly paying no income taxes and are receiving a refund via the EITC, getting a check back. So people think tax preparers are voodoo priests that do their incantations to get free money because the average person can’t understand the jargon, can’t handle forms, and the whole endeavor…

Just a minor comment, but: why does EITC exist? Just a hidden welfare payment? That out if the way, I agree with the earlier comment: why does the government automatically know all your financial details? Where is the privacy? Where is the requirement for a warrant, to access your private information?

I wouldn’t describe it as hidden. It’s a pretty straightforward form of income distribution. Compared to most government programs for the poor, it’s refreshingly simple.

If you ever work with poor families to help them navigate the government resources available to them, you develop a strong appreciation for the EITC as opposed to, say, SNAP (food stamps)

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#42

Post by sveiss »

neltnerb wrote: post #32
nkrisc wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s amazing how much of an idiot I felt like when we hired a babysitter for two days a week for about a year and then it came time to do things properly regarding taxes and her wages. I understand why it’s important to do it properly (for the employee’s benefit) but when I tried to look into what we had to do, as technically her employer, and it was nearly impossible for me to figure out what we had to do and then h…

Out of curiosity, what made it difficult? Not knowing what was required for sure? Figuring out how to fill out the 1099-MISC? Knowing how to file it with the IRS/state? I remember it being a bit tricky at first but once I knew the right form it only took a few minutes. The hard part for me is keeping track of rule changes. Payroll service works though =)

If they’re trying to follow the rules, then they can’t just fill out a 1099-MISC.

A babysitter one of the examples specifically called out as a household employee in the IRS guidance[1], so if you’re doing it right you should be running payroll. That’s pretty tricky to DIY properly.

[1] https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc756

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#43

Post by hiddencost »

jimbob45 wrote: post #25
kelthuzad wrote: post #3

wait until turbo tax comes in hot with their lobbying efforts - didn't they manage to prevent or diminish a free tax filing service already a few years ago?

I like TurboTax. It just works, year after year. The fee is worth the peace of mind that I wouldn’t have by letting a government program lose my submission accidentally.

Gotta be honest, the "government is unreliable" crowd are not people I think of as honest. Government works fine, and for less money, if you actually try to make it work.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#44

Post by Barrin92 »

thegrim33 wrote: post #14
tmountain wrote: post #8

It’s amazing that 54% of adults in the United States have a literacy below 6th grade level, but it is expected for the same population to have the financial literacy to file their taxes accurately. Going further, the IRS already knows the details of most people’s taxes before they file, yet everyone is expected to complete what amounts to a complex task for many people. I cannot fathom why it is still done this way.

I guess it was originally done this way because in the past people actually had some semblance of privacy and the government didn't actually know a great deal about people's income. Eventually, privacy was eroded away year after year to the point where the government now knows an extreme amount about each citizen. I guess I'd refrain the question - instead of asking why do we need to do taxes when the government know…

>we change the way the government is intimately entangled with our lives?

I've lived in Sweden where taxes are not just automatically filed but every citizen can trivially look up anyone's tax returns and nobody ever saw it as the government being intimately entangled with anyone's life.

Privacy violation would be to look into how and on what you spend your money, not that everyone pays their share of taxes. That tells you nothing about what people spend their money on. Merely that they aren't avoiding paying their part. I don't see the problem with the government automatically doing my taxes or anyone being able to see that.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#45

Post by itronitron »

tmountain wrote: post #8

It’s amazing that 54% of adults in the United States have a literacy below 6th grade level, but it is expected for the same population to have the financial literacy to file their taxes accurately. Going further, the IRS already knows the details of most people’s taxes before they file, yet everyone is expected to complete what amounts to a complex task for many people. I cannot fathom why it is still done this way.

At this point I think of it as a jobs program. Every year we calculate our taxes by reading the manuals and instructions, fill out our tax return and submit it. I like to think that my literacy is above 6th grade level but every year it gets corrected by the IRS, and sometimes more than once.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#46

Post by pydry »

janalsncm wrote: post #22

Listening to Congress “debate” this made me unreasonably upset. If you as a sitting politician have received monetary benefits from a tax filing service you should not be allowed to speak.

That's standard behavior. The US is more plutocracy than democracy at this point.

You can help choose the brand of oligarchy that runs the United States but you can't vote against it.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#47

Post by matwood »

jimbob45 wrote: post #25
kelthuzad wrote: post #3

wait until turbo tax comes in hot with their lobbying efforts - didn't they manage to prevent or diminish a free tax filing service already a few years ago?

I like TurboTax. It just works, year after year. The fee is worth the peace of mind that I wouldn’t have by letting a government program lose my submission accidentally.

I assume TT is doing the same efile process that any other program does. My CPA even uses efile.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#48

Post by itronitron »

neltnerb wrote: post #32
nkrisc wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s amazing how much of an idiot I felt like when we hired a babysitter for two days a week for about a year and then it came time to do things properly regarding taxes and her wages. I understand why it’s important to do it properly (for the employee’s benefit) but when I tried to look into what we had to do, as technically her employer, and it was nearly impossible for me to figure out what we had to do and then h…

Out of curiosity, what made it difficult? Not knowing what was required for sure? Figuring out how to fill out the 1099-MISC? Knowing how to file it with the IRS/state? I remember it being a bit tricky at first but once I knew the right form it only took a few minutes. The hard part for me is keeping track of rule changes. Payroll service works though =)

The complexity will vary by state. But basically you have to create a small business with a unique tax id, then pay into your employee's social security benefits.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#49

Post by yongjik »

loeg wrote: post #34
bobthepanda wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The anti tax republicans believe that if Americans had an easier time filling their taxes then they would have less objections to the same or higher level of taxation. https://www.npr.org/2013/03/26/175332655/what-would-the-u-s-...

They're probably right about that?

Well, as a non-citizen US resident, having to do my own taxes definitely makes me think "They can't even build a tax filing system? What the fuck are they doing with all that money?"

I guess the difference is that my mind immediately goes to "Who are those people who think government not doing its job properly is a Good Thing(TM), and why do Americans keep electing them?"

It's as if a wannabe entrepreneur claiming "Capitalism does not work! Make me your CEO and I'll prove it to you!" - and then the board keeps falling for those guys.

Re: Claiming high user satisfaction, IRS will decide on renewing free tax site

#50

Post by LoganDark »

worik wrote: post #40
tmountain wrote: post #8

It’s amazing that 54% of adults in the United States have a literacy below 6th grade level, but it is expected for the same population to have the financial literacy to file their taxes accurately. Going further, the IRS already knows the details of most people’s taxes before they file, yet everyone is expected to complete what amounts to a complex task for many people. I cannot fathom why it is still done this way.

> It’s amazing that 54% of adults in the United States have a literacy below 6th grade level, but... Stop there! Really? "6th grade" is age eleven? That is mind blowing!

I wonder if they went through school and just didn't retain it, or if they were simply not educated at all.
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