TurboTax is blitzing Congress for the right to tax YOU

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/turbotaxed/

by danuker • 3 years ago

67 33 3 years ago

pluralistic.net

lockhouse• 3 years ago

Don’t all organisms fight for their own survival?

If the IRS just told us what we owe them or they owe us TurboTax would be obsolete, so this should surprise no one.

ratata• 3 years ago

Actually, I believe TurboTax has successfully lobbied congress so that it's illegal for the IRS to do that. https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f...

toomuchtodo• 3 years ago

The Inflation Reduction Act appropriated $15M for the IRS to assemble a task force to explore the feasibility of the IRS building a free file system that would replace what TurboTax provides. It’s mentioned near the end of the post.

Discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34764952

rhaway847733• 3 years ago

The IRS would be thrilled to do that.

ramesh31• 3 years ago

If unicorns were real and rainbows were made by leprechauns, and congress passed a flat tax, I'd be all for dumping TurboTax. But as it stands, they provide a pretty decent value to me. With 1099s, W2s, capital gains, multiple state returns, and god knows what else to account for, I seriously cannot imagine having to fill out my own tax forms. Plus they really do have (and have had consistently for years) some of the best UX of any product I've ever used. I don't mind paying those peoples' salaries.

8jy89hui• 3 years ago

As stated multiple times in the article, making taxes easier for the average person does not stop people with complicated taxes from getting help.

My taxes are simple; my family’s taxes are simple; most of my friends taxes are simple. We don’t need Inutit making our taxes more complicated than they need to be. I’d rather have free simple filing be done with my government. I don’t need Intuit getting between me and my government. And if I ever have really complicated taxes, I’m sure TurboTax will still exist.

kadoban3• 3 years ago

There should be no requirement to fill out any forms. The government should fill them out for you for your "okay" and only if there's issues should you have to do any more than that.

The only reason that this isn't how it works is because these companies have bribed our representatives to avoid it.

cuteboy192• 3 years ago

This is something that the Indian government has done quite well. Although the website has had some growing pains (68 million filings is apparently not that easy to scale to) it is getting better and works exactly as you described. It even looks quite modern and not at all like a typical government website.

Moreover they also created a parallel tax system that forgoes all the deductions for a slightly lower tax rate so it's very easy for simple filings to just hit the OK button.

jacobsenscott2• 3 years ago

It isn't just turbotax - voting to adequately fund the IRS is political suicide anywhere but a handful of blue dots on a big red map.

rom-antics• 3 years ago

The people you're paying are the reason you have to fill out those forms in the first place. This is like saying you're happy to pay the mafia their protection money because it makes you feel safe.

MobileVet• 3 years ago

I am not affiliated with them in any way, but I have swapped to https://www.freetaxusa.com as of several years ago and will never turn back. They cover everything I need and charge a much more reasonable fee than TurboTax.

morelinks• 3 years ago

+1 for FreeTaxUSA. Simple software, reasonable rates, no dark patterns (that I’ve seen). However, with the slush fund that the government has, I don’t see why they can’t make their own.

rhaway847733• 3 years ago

They can.

In fact, they already do it.

The IRS already does your taxes for you.

It’s the TurboTax lobbying that prevents them from giving it to you.

itsmartapuntocm• 3 years ago

Same. They’re pretty upfront about what they charge for. Only thing I’ve ever paid for is the $15 for state filing.

likeabbas2• 3 years ago

This was the first year I paid for the Deluxe. Stripe didn't withhold enough taxes from the severance, and now I owe the IRS $11k. This station, combined with moving states, made me want to ask a tax analyst a few questions.

delta_p_delta_x• 3 years ago

The US blows my mind. Literally the only country where one has to pay a third-party company to help one do their taxes. I will never understand this.

beej712• 3 years ago

We don't _have_ to. But it can be a bit of work to do it yourself if your taxes are remotely complicated.

I spend about 6 hours a year on it.

Yes, it's stupid.

tatersolid• 3 years ago

The most cost-effective and realistic solution would be for the IRS to simply buy TurboTax AND all its competitors and make one of them the free e-file system. No way a government project could come close to building such a thing for less than the cost of the acquisitions.

beej712• 3 years ago

If I were Intuit, I'd charge 100x to sell TurboTax to the US Government.

TurboTax is blitzing Congress for the right to tax YOU

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