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TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

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Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#71

Post by cptskippy »

bicknergseng wrote: post #31
zdw wrote: post #2

Intuit's PolOps are also continuously trying to keep the US Tax system complex, so they have a reason to exist that isn't the case in other countries: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/business/24digi.html?_r=0 http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/27/turbotax-maker-funnels-mill... If you want something evil to disrupt, disrupt this.

Has anyone tried to make an open source version? Any 18f or USDS folks around who want to save us from Intuit and H&R Block?

The trouble is that there would have to be a new version every year for the new tax code changes and it would need to be updated in a timely manner.

We're talking like Chrome or Firefox level of support for an app most people would use once a year.

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#72

Post by iolothebard »

tsestrich wrote: post #66

I've used TurboTax the past few years, and completely echo the sentiment expressed by others regarding the hidden charges that get tacked on when starting with a "free" return. Turned out that losing money on the stock market also cost me extra on preparation fees as well... Partly because of the negative experiences with TurboTax, my co-founder and I just launched a company [1] in this space. We're actually "replaci…

I use H&R Block TaxCut (going on 15 years). Costs about 39.99 a year for both my business and personal. Just keep an eye open for when it goes on sale (retail is 89.99 I believe).

I even dropped Quickbooks after their shit 2011 "upgrade". Worst fucking software I've ever used, but hey, it looks like it's WPF now!

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#73

Post by cmurf »

masklinn wrote: post #54
johnward wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see this working in the US without first simplifying the tax code. Right now if the government sent this out I would assume a majority of people would have some deduction they could take.

1. I was under the impression the vast majority only gets the standard deductions (which would probably be applied by default or something) 2. if the default doesn't match your status, you just change what you need to change and validate that

Most people have multiple valid deductions, but they add up to less than the standard deduction. If all of them add up to be more than the standard deduction, you have to itemize all of them, which is a PITA, but if you don't do that then you're paying too much tax.

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#74

Post by Sgt_Apone »

suter wrote: post #33

FWIW, we're taking on TurboTax in Canada, https://simpletax.ca . The Canada Revenue Agency introduced an API this year that enables us to auto-fill much of the return: https://help.simpletax.ca/questions/how-to-use-afr .

Simple Tax is great. I've been using it for the past few years and it has worked flawlessly despite a relatively complicated tax situation. Kudos!

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#75

Post by curun1r »

zdw wrote: post #2

Intuit's PolOps are also continuously trying to keep the US Tax system complex, so they have a reason to exist that isn't the case in other countries: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/business/24digi.html?_r=0 http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/27/turbotax-maker-funnels-mill... If you want something evil to disrupt, disrupt this.

It's an interesting balance that Intuit is trying to strike. They want the tax code complex enough that people don't feel they can do it by themselves but simple enough that they don't feel that they need to hire a CPA. Since every filer is different, there will be some that fall on either end of the spectrum (though they have their free products to address the simple cases), but the goal is to keep as many people in that "comfortable using software" group as possible. What's truly amazing is just how little it costs to buy that influence. IIRC, it's in the $10m-$15m per year range, which is less than half of what they spend on hosting for TurboTax alone.

I've had conversations with Brad Smith (CEO) and Scott Cook (Founder) and often considered asking them how they can reconcile their "Integrity Without Compromise" corporate value with these kinds of lobbying activities, but I never had the stones to ask the question. I will say that from my interactions with them, I'm positive that they do have some rationalization in their heads that makes them actually believe that what they're doing isn't evil, I'm just not sure what it is.

Disclaimer: Former Intuit employee, though not on TurboTax.

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#76

Post by SilasX »

algorithmsRcool wrote: post #46
willis77 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds glorious. In the U.S., figuring out taxes is like: Take line 39b, multiply it by your age as determined by worksheet 6689. If you are between 41 and 43 years of age, enter '0'. If you were not subject to the Railroad Act of 1938's exempt dependent pension clause (this is not common), add 13 to this number in hexadecimal, else, subtract 2 and multiply by 1.388688. If you did not have healthcare for more than 14…

Is this really the case? Can't most people can just file with a 1040(A or EZ) and be done pretty quickly. I was under the impression that you only have to break out the crazy worksheets or software if you want to get fancy with your deductions or take advantage of tax credits. You can save alot of money this way, but really it's the deductions that are the complication (and the audit risk...) but how can you simplify…

You can't file for free on the IRS site if your income is above $62k, no matter how simple your filing is:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/Free-File:-Do-Your-Federal-Taxes-for...

Edit: I'd love to know a logical reason for that policy beyond "f- the rich".

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#77

Post by sseagull »

masklinn wrote: post #54
johnward wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see this working in the US without first simplifying the tax code. Right now if the government sent this out I would assume a majority of people would have some deduction they could take.

1. I was under the impression the vast majority only gets the standard deductions (which would probably be applied by default or something) 2. if the default doesn't match your status, you just change what you need to change and validate that

There are some deductions you can take in addition to the standard deduction (student loan interest, moving expenses, some education expenses, etc). These all change the adjusted gross income, from which the standard deduction (or itemized deduction) is subtracted.

edit: I suppose some of this could be pre-computed if all the different companies sent the info to the IRS and states you lived in during the year. But that's probably too much work...

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#78

Post by imperialdrive »

LordKano wrote: post #44

I have been using TaxAct for about 10 years. Thus far, I'm very happy with it. There is one minor gripe that I have, they moved the location of the data files so the process of making a backup copy is a little different but that's easy to overcome once you're aware of it.

That, and they are started to get a little gimmicky with the upsells etc. Still, I enjoy using them for about 10 years too. Taxes done in about 1 beer - can't beat it!

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#79

Post by brianwawok »

SilasX wrote: post #76
algorithmsRcool wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this really the case? Can't most people can just file with a 1040(A or EZ) and be done pretty quickly. I was under the impression that you only have to break out the crazy worksheets or software if you want to get fancy with your deductions or take advantage of tax credits. You can save alot of money this way, but really it's the deductions that are the complication (and the audit risk...) but how can you simplify…

You can't file for free on the IRS site if your income is above $62k, no matter how simple your filing is: https://www.irs.gov/uac/Free-File:-Do-Your-Federal-Taxes-for... Edit: I'd love to know a logical reason for that policy beyond "f- the rich".

"Tax software provides jobs for Americans, and if we remove obsolete laws that make the tax software important - you would cost Americans jobs!!!!"

Re: TurboTax Takes Aim at Smaller Rival in Fight for Filers

#80

Post by brianwawok »

masklinn wrote: post #54
johnward wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see this working in the US without first simplifying the tax code. Right now if the government sent this out I would assume a majority of people would have some deduction they could take.

1. I was under the impression the vast majority only gets the standard deductions (which would probably be applied by default or something) 2. if the default doesn't match your status, you just change what you need to change and validate that

A lot of people at least get student loan interest deduction (with all the college debt around), which I believe pushes out out of 1040EZ lane.
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