81–90 of 319 posts
This is a link to actual free turbotax and hr block: https://www.turbotaxsucksass.com/ It was on Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
Perhaps I do not need TurboTax, but I know that the laws at the state and federal level change every year and that I have no real ability to track any of this, but the penalties can be high for failure. I rarely understand tax jargon, in any case; I always feel like I am on the back foot of some "clever" debate team tactic of convenient definitions.
So, aside from just the lobbying aspect -- which is not trivial -- I would say that the general terror of the IRS (Al Capone, after all, fell to them), the shifting territories of tax law, and the jargon barriers also contribute to keeping TurboTax in business.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Based on this site[0], it looks like you have to use a 'partner' to file the forms if you make under $72,000 a year, is that right? 0: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-f...
The IRS site gives that impression, but I believe that's not the case. There is "IRS Free File" which is income limited as you mention, but there is also "Free File Fillable Forms" which appears to not be income limited. Intentionally misleading if you ask me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Money. Receiving money is the fundamental difference between lobbying and discussing policy with constituents.
Not really - constituents donate money.
This is comparing a gun to a nuke. Yes, you could kill just as many people with a gun, but the nuke is hyper efficient at the job. They're not the same.
Lobbyists may be akin to a policy nuke. They have an arsenal of tools from influence, to money, to unethical and sometimes illegal behavior. Their positions have become so effective that it drowns out most others.
edit: Another way to think about it is that Lobbyists have changed, i think, from the voice of a group of people to a voice instead of a group of people. Leaving many people voiceless in the face of insane capital and influence.
We're sorry the answer to "why can't we have nice things" wasn't [political party], it was lobbyists . Lobbyists is the answer to, "why can't we have nice things"!
I used to say turbo tax wasn't that bad, and that free filing was easy if you just ignored their promises to save you money if you upgraded. Last year however I got all the way to the end of the process where they revealed I made too much and had to pay. That felt extremely unethical, as the information required to come to that conclusion was available far earlier in the process. And yet what am I going to do but use…
Credit Karma is free. Works great, and has no discernable dark patterns. They even have import features from major payroll companies like ADP. I had to quit turbotax because one year I was a 1099 worker and every year since, it pushes me to go with their "small business edition." Each year it got harder to avoid "upgrading." Seriously, just do it. Quitting TT is so much easier than quitting anything else.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's fair play when you use quotation marks to insinuate a strawman opposing argument that no one in the thread has actually made.
> most other developed nations where the government just sends you a receipt for you to verify and your taxes are otherwise taken care of for you ... is quoted literally from the original post on this thread.
I have used this for many years to prepare and file online. It is FREE and uses the IRS forms. No annoying wizards or questions. Anyone can use it, no limitations.
2. It's actually pretty easy to use the electronic forms or just use paper.
3. Tax software is good, and a competent tax preparer is even better.
Why we have a tax system which creates so much work there is an entire set of industries (tech, tax preparers, etc) built around it just to pay the government is kind of loony...