The point is that we shouldn’t have to do taxes ourselves in the first place. The IRS have the necessary numbers, they know what we owe or are owed. Intuit continuously lobby to keep the current system in place, while advertising itself as “convenient”, and it is, but only within the system they helped create and help maintain.
Comment on TurboTax maker Intuit spent millions in record lobbying blitz amid threats to tax prep industry
Mango@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Wait. What’s wrong with TurboTax? It’s so easy. Why would anyone pay a human instead? Why would a human want to do any of this?
sebinspace@lemmy.world 9 months ago
grayman@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Agree but also disagree. The IRS has some of that info, but not all of it. While it’s true that most (ie >50%) people the govt knows everything, there are plenty of free options. I filled out the 1040EZ for many years before I couldn’t anymore. It was less than an hour of my time. That’s still available online and in paper. The only thing missing is the govt prepopulating a few numbers, which isn’t much of a benefit.
The tax code could be simplified, but the argument being made here is that most people are forced to use tax software because it’s too hard to do your own taxes. But it’s actually the opposite… Most people are fine with the 1040EZ. The 25% or so that have more complex tax situations will always be happy paying $50 for x software to get a $3k return or pay an accountant $300 to do it.
Furbag@lemmy.world 9 months ago
TurboTax lobbys the US Government heavily to keep free alternatives from existing. At one point in time, the IRS was going to allow everyone to be able to report their taxes directly via their website and Intuit and the rest of the tax preparation software developers moved heaven and earth to kill the legislation that would have allowed it.
So, to answer the question, there’s nothing wrong with TurboTax except for the fact that it’s run by a private company that charges you a fee for something that the federal government could operate for free. If you want to keep paying a 3rd party to send the IRS the information they already have, then the system works just fine.
Mango@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Oh wow, what the fuck? How can we have a straight government backed monopoly when we’re teaching kids in school that we’re specifically against that? Probably the same way I was compelled to plea guilty when we’re teaching kids in school that we’re specifically against that. It’s just theatre.
bamboo@lemm.ee 9 months ago
What we do and what we tell our kids we do are often very different
Mango@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Timmy, me and your mother tried BDSM last night, so if she has a hard time talking, it’s because she couldn’t stop me from wrecking that throat!
callouscomic@lemm.ee 9 months ago
The IRS launched a free direct file this year though that some taxpayers can use.