61–70 of 438 posts
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Everyone else is, what 10% of filers? If you're in the 10% you'll know it and you'll do private preparation.
About 2/3rds of people do file a 1040 rather than a 1040A or 1040-EZ which at least suggests that most people do have taxes that are more complex than just just a W2 and a standard deduction.
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Think of it more as "The IRS has prepared this return for you. Look at it. If it's what you expect, you have nothing else to do other than send a check if you owe or a bank account for your refund. If you have extra information (more income, deductions, etc) - then you are free to fill out your own forms. As such, 60-70% of the population would have nothing to do. People with multiple part time jobs would be fine. Th…
What happens when the IRS gets it wrong and the impoverished recipient has nobody to review it for them? (Still I suppose that may be an improvement over the status quo)
Colleagues from the EU countries who relocate to the US generally tend to have a two-fold reaction - excitement at the lower tax rates and dismay at the filing complexities. Would be amazing to have the cake and eat it too - lower taxes and a simple filing system!
Lower taxes? In France the bracket for a family for €104,120 to €279,132 is only 30%. Sure if you live in Oaklahoma you might pay less than that but CA/NY state taxes plus property taxes, plus fewer investment tax free options, I think US taxes are now similar or higher. Ie 28% federal + 10% state + 10% property taxes equals nearly 50%. Sure sales tax is lower. Plus - you still have to pay for your medical care, and…
They send you tax report already filled and all deductions done based on information they know. You check it for errors and correct if there is need and send it back. If you don't send it back, they just assume the default was OK.
“Your taxes” is such an overloaded term that it’s almost comical to refer to it as if it means the same thing for everyone. There is basically one straight-forward case where the IRS preparing taxes makes sense: that of full time employees whose only income is from their job which issues W2s. For everyone else — which includes: - People working multiple part time jobs - People with non-standard investment portfolios…
There are about 125 million households in the US. 80% of those households obtain money via: W-2, Retirement (Social Security, 1099-r), bank interest via 1099, dividends or other investment income via 1099, contractor income via 1099 and similar. 13% of taxpayers can file a 1040EZ (aka simple enough to use a phone IVR)
100 million households can be freed of a needless administrative burden. Why not?
13 million in lobbying over five years to prevent more efficient tax filing for an entire nation and protect your business model. Sounds like an amazing deal for a company with 5 billion in revenue. I'm consistently amazed at just how little money it takes to buy off the government effectively.
It's not just that, anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist has outsized interest on the right and he gets republicans to sign a pledge to not raise taxes, and if they violate the pledge Norquist raises money and campaigns against them. The problem is, the pledge also requires signees also do not support legislation to make paying taxes easier. The radical anti-tax groups are so anti-tax that they see making it easier to pay…
Most tax filers have a single W2 income and use the standard deduction, so the IRS would just send you a form that has that.
For the rest of us who actually don't use the standard deduction, at least it would help me know which forms the IRS has and what they think I owe them, so I don't forget anything, or can correct things. I've had incorrect 1099s filed against me and had no idea for years until the IRS notified me of a discrepancy.
So yeah, there is no downside to the IRS doing my return and then letting me amend it.
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Most people have boring taxes. For those people with interesting taxes, they can do them themselves or pay someone else to do them. For the exceptional cases, this is what they already do. Arguing against something that simplifies an act for most people by pointing out that it doesn't apply to everyone does not make sense to me. I think it's almost important to keep in mind that the IRS already does your taxes. If wh…
If you have boring taxes this isn't a problem anyways. It's extremely simple to file if all you have is a W2. It can be done in about 10-15 minutes without any special knowledge.
Patronizing and offensive to Americans
I stopped filing my taxes starting in 2011 for 2010. I had always hated the process, but in 2010 I had switched jobs several times, and had misplaced one of the stubs mailed by an employer. I have almost always worked as an employee, not a contractor or business, so I did not owe money--they probably owed me. I decided that rather than get the couple hundred bucks I would receive as my return, I will forgo the stupid…
How did you give up income?