81–90 of 240 posts
Could we not start a non-profit that builds software as good as H&R block and allows people to file their own taxes?
Up in Canada this little company made SimpleTax. Our family + friends used to use other paid solutions, but this was actually free. Great to see people helping other people =D https://simpletax.ca/
Filing is always free. Online filing costs money, but you can always mail in a paper form. If everyone did that, the IRS would pretty quickly want to make sure people can file online easily and cheaply. Stop using HR Block and Turbo Tax. For most people, taxes are not very complicated. The IRS publishes detailed instructions that literally explain what every box means and what should go in it for every form. Just rea…
Nobody at the IRS cares one way or the other. Until a few years ago that was the only way to file, and their machines handled the load just fine. If there's a lot of paper files, and it takes an extra week for somebody to get their return, it's not going to bother the IRS one bit.
> But the legislation would also permanently bar the IRS from offering its own free alternative. Why should we as citizens of this great country be forced to give up the right to form a public option? Not quite 1:1 but the analogies to health care do come to mind.
Republicans oppose having the IRS automate taxes for most citizens. Remember to vote very year.
[1] https://www.irs.gov/uac/before-starting-free-file-fillable-f...
Filing is always free. Online filing costs money, but you can always mail in a paper form. If everyone did that, the IRS would pretty quickly want to make sure people can file online easily and cheaply. Stop using HR Block and Turbo Tax. For most people, taxes are not very complicated. The IRS publishes detailed instructions that literally explain what every box means and what should go in it for every form. Just rea…
While I am against Intuits efforts, what astounds me most is how LITTLE money is spent lobbying. A few million over a year is peanuts compared to the broader market opportunity. And the implication that Congresspeople are bought off by sums as low as "$32,000" since 2008 seems unlikely. Intuit and H&R may simply contribute to those they know already support their agenda.
I file my taxes for free, easily, by printing out the forms at home and doing them by hand on paper. The only cost to me is for the envelopes and postage. I've done some pretty complex filings over the years, and have built up the knowledge I need to do it well. Also, if I make a mistake the government is usually pretty good about letting me know and I either cut them a check for the difference or they cut me a check…
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I completely disagree. It's absolutely wrong for a business to lobby for their interests when it harms others. This is little different from dumping toxic waste into the local reservoir. That would be wrong even if it were legal. Obviously, a lot of business don't really care about right and wrong, and so they'll still do it. But we can condemn it.
I never said we can't condemn the behavior of businesses. The prime objective for a business is to make money. All the ethics, right/wrongs, etc are things that we expect from the people who run those businesses. But the business is there to make money. It is up to the people in charge of making choices for society to make the right choices. It's not the responsibility of the business. They have every right to lobby…
That's a laughably arbitrary choice you're making.
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What are you going to do, put a business in jail? Hold the people who have made you promises and then failed to follow through responsible. Aka, your politicians. They are your backstop. What makes Goldman, GSK, Haliburton, or any of the other shady, scummy businesses out there responsible to you? They are responsible to the law on the books. Our politicians are supposed to prevent business from screwing our society.…
I think it could work really well to put businesses "in jail." You can't physically put them in prison, but you can achieve the same ultimate effect by forcing them to cease operations for a period of time. If a crime would put a person in prison for five years, then maybe it should also force a business to cease operations for five years.
Filing is always free. Online filing costs money, but you can always mail in a paper form. If everyone did that, the IRS would pretty quickly want to make sure people can file online easily and cheaply. Stop using HR Block and Turbo Tax. For most people, taxes are not very complicated. The IRS publishes detailed instructions that literally explain what every box means and what should go in it for every form. Just rea…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Insinuations of shillage without evidence are not allowed here, so please don't do this. Someone expressing an opposing view does not count as evidence. https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=false&page=0&date...
I apologize, and won't do it again. Is there any way to report something like this?