godofhorizons
13989
872
5
May 31, 2024 4:34 AM
godofhorizons
13989
872
5
philthedoh
Nice! Fuck Intuit.
GlenL
As opposed to what, indirect file?
StevieTheAussie
Sure is nice being Australian and having a mobile app direct to our tax system that compiles all the usual stuff automatically and lets me log my spendings and receipts etc so that the process takes 10 mins….
Mayfly10
You guys actually managed to shut down an orphan grinding machine? Congrats!
OctavioJackson
Great, now where do I apply to get a refund of the thousands of dollars extorted from me over the years?
Futchm
Last year I had to pay $90 to file a form to claim a $24 tax credit.
There was no option to not claim the credit from any tax service.
Hurch
Wow...No middleman to take away from your return? The government is actually doing something helpful for a change? AMAZING!
derekjohn
The UK has had this system for years; bloody hell USA, try to keep up.
DontKnowTheSource
Happy for everyone who can use this!
anglarite
Now do healthcare.
Hemelsblauw
Good news from the US twice in 24 hours. That's good.
thepunchline710
Good news for sure, but neither will last unfortunately.
mrpink83
I think both this and trump's conviction are the only good news of the year.
graehall
You gotta appreciate how deep the boot of capitalism is down the throat of Americans, I saw so many folk saying this was unfair to the corps
2old2behere
They should just tell me how much I owe or how much my refund is. They have all the numbers.
captainpizza
They don't though. They don't know about lots of stuff you could potentially get a tax credit for. Like yes, the system can and should be much simpler then it is, but they don't know everything.
Taokan22
They might have all your numbers. Simple tax returns should be free, and as much gruff as TurboTax gets, when you have a simple tax return it is free through them. More complicated tax returns, they do not have all the numbers. They don't know how split parents are dividing dependents for tax purposes. They don't know the cost basis of RSUs granted by a company 4 years ago that matured 2 years ago and you sold last year, to determine what was cap gains and what was already on a prior W2.
Taokan22
They don't know if you're going to use your college "Hope Credit", which you can only take two times in your lifetime, or save it for another year. They don't know the business expenses for your Uber/Lyft gig. They don't know a lot, and most of what they don't know, means they'll miss deductions and overcharge you on tax. And while self serving, that's been the heart of the lobbyist's argument over the years.
Taokan22
But I think they opted to ring the bell and pull out, after Intuit got fined 150 mil over the free filing thing. Basically said alright, we warned you, what happens now is on you.
swedeonamoose
I am way too European to ever get how the US ended up with such a complicated system to do taxes, like unless you got a bunch of stuff going on, a simple confirmation of what you are getting back/ or have to pay, via bank id should be enough.
90sWereGold
Lots of incentives build into the tax code to push certain govt priorities.
flamingflamingo
It was fucked up by all the rich people getting tax cuts they can claim at the end of the year, which just made it convoluted for everyone else.
JohnsonMcJohnson
yes u r. just wait until you learn about the 2nd amendment, our healthcare, or how we allocate funding to public schools. *(spoiler: rich children go to schools w more funding per child than schools serving poor children. Also: rich children and poor children don't go to the same schools (in the 'burbs)). America #1!
Pelican3
Yes. The I.R.S. Already knows how much tax you owe. Most of us anyway. The whole song and dance is a waste of time. Just send me a bill or a check.
PerthAussieMike
We've been able to file ourselves for ages. If it's complicated (you own a rental property/stock and shares etc...) then it is usually best to get a tax agent. I'm self employed and happy to get a professional to do mine as business laws change frequently.
CaptCrobar
Look at billy big bucks with all that property and stocks!
PerthAussieMike
? I didn't state that I had any. I don't. Read it again, please. I said 'If'. Running a small business on my own involves being aware of numerous tax laws that a salaried employee doesn't need to know. I need to return quarterly gst records to the tax office. A salaried employee doesn't. As I said in another comment, it's a necessary business expense.
GriffinMann41
I mean i'm glad you can afford a tax agent. The majority of Americans can't, especially people who need a free, simple option like Direct File
PerthAussieMike
For me, it's a necessary business expense. But yes, totally agree with you.
FartsSmellBad
Yeah but that anime tax filing game got pulled from Steam
Radix865
Wasn't that due to privacy and security concerns? Since the game asked stuff like social security numbers and shit.
ArandomDane
Why are you filling? It is just as strange as having credit scores.
GlenL
Do you not pay taxes in your country?
ArandomDane
We do not fill taxes... then have our IRS tell us if we did it correctly or not... If something changes to our income or the like we just adjust our info... And the percentage we pay is adjusted. Then in April the our IRS checks the reported info with what actual happened and either pay out the difference or tell the people they own money and a method of payment is agreed upon.
This is how most of the world works.... The filling step is a costly unneeded one...
linkdude212
Credit scores sure are... something. *If* there are going to be credit scores, they should be available 100% of the time to the owner of the score **and** there should be publicly published formula with details on what people can do to affect their score.
ispendtomuchtimehere
Jesus fuckchrist how fucking hard was that?
berryforchick
As hard as it is to overcome shitload of money you got from lobbyists
DrKonrad
Some said it was impossible, so Biden did
DorkJedi
They had to overcome the bribery.
CleverGroom
Don't get comfy. If Trump wins, the Republicans should have easily defended their majority in the House and should get a Senate majority by tiebreaker even if Montana and Ohio elect Democrats.
Might not even be an IRS after that, never mind "permanent" improvements made by the previous administration.
DontLookBackInAnger
So if Trump gets elected, he’s gonna bankrupt the government? Without the IRS enforcing taxes, wouldn’t that result in significant tax losses for the government?
neohippie7319
Oh no, there will certainly be an IRS. They just won't have enough funding to audit the rich again.
SuperPickle17
i think how one file our taxes will be the least of our worries if Trump wins.
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Eskandar
There was a time when one's political candidacy would be heavily impacted by their backrground, and "scandalous" things would tank your image, the avoidance of which used to be important. Pepperidge Farm remembers.
alwaysupvoteprincessbride
stop listening to Google's AI results
Greymalum
I was misinformed.
titoitoi
Kinda intrigued tho - what did our ai overlords proclaim? it's ok, this is a space space, they can't hear us here
sylphysylph
Incorrect. Someone convicted of certain specific crimes cannot be president. Fraud isn’t on the list.
tr26
This is incorrect
hipifreq
It was a hard-fought battle again H&R Block, Intuit, and their absolute buttload of money and lobbyists to deliver it
MyCommentsUsuallyHaveTypos
Turbo Tax, too. I’ve been using a service called OLT for years to avoid the stupid fees TT charges for getting my student loan payment deduction honored.
zigbigidorlu
Intuit owns TurboTax, just fyi.
MyCommentsUsuallyHaveTypos
Duh. OLT isn’t affiliated no matter how you cut it. https://www.olt.com/main/home/default.php
NeverDownvoteMelBrooks
Oh, so much money! Considering how long we've trusted less trustworthy entities with our online transactions, it's freaking insulting how no one else bothered to bring this process in house before now.
SolHSA
I don't get why "filing taxes" is a thing. In .fi you just get a paper saying "here's the taxes we calculated, you have some time to whine about it", usually you just don't do anything. Some reductions can be filed through a web service, if you're bothered to do so.
RevRagnarok
Because there are various carve-outs and exceptions. For example, I installed an EV charger on my house. The gov't wants to encourage that, so they give me about 1/3 of it back. They're not searching my credit card records to see if I bough it; I need to tell them.
kubi
so say "hey here is what we calculated, if you want to dispute or add anything let us know"
elgalileo
We also have tax deductions in Europe (it's part of the "whine about it"). But most traceable income: salary, share, lands, and so on are automatically declared to the local IRS. So for most people, there is almost nothing to do.
SolHSA
I'm working remotely, my work-from-home deduction is there automatically. Pretty much the only thing I add is when I pay someone to renovate my home, I get a bit back in taxes.
SuperPickle17
thats more or less how it works here too. The difference is we don't get to see what the IRS sees, and have to manually input all the information onto forms and hope it matches the IRS.
friendsofsandwiches
direct file?
ExTechOp
In many countries people paying you salary or other regular income deduct income tax, pay and report to the tax authorities, and they calculate everything for you (you can of course make additional deductions). I haven't needed to make changes for several years.
JohnSmithterms
As a brit , I wish we did it the american way. It's far more difficult to make financial decisions with your income pre tax if you rely on an employer to do it for you.
AeonQuasars
I think it's a law that will automatically refund you if airlines cancel your flight or something that's out of your control happen to the flight. Instead of waiting in a line, fill out forms and maybe petty please get a refund if they accept your case or you are persistent enough.
GlenL
. . . the fuck?
scoutMoonDiver
Uh, no.
NeverDownvoteMelBrooks
You can file online directly with the IRS (Treasury Dept) instead of having to use a 3rd party to help with the calculations and submission. Those with more complicated taxes may not be able to (at least not yet) but for sure if you can file using 1040EZ then you won't have to pay a 3rd party to file online anymore.
Vonph
Is it called EZ because it's supposed to be easy (ez), or just a coincidence?
GlenL
Welcome to 2005, you guys want me to send you some lottery numbers or something?
FPAlpha
Oh, welcome then to about a decade ago here in Germany. Nice of you to join us in the modern world :)
Seriously, good job. I know how slow government works and adopts new technology so this is a small miracle.
titoitoi
In the context of unrestrained lobbying in the US?
More like a YUGE miracle, amirite?
chainmaille
Intuit/Turbotax lobbied ~$50M to keep it from being easy.
DarwinsAgain
Not trying to 'one up' you here but same, same in Australia - in fact we've had the system since 2004. I think I read somewhere that the US is notoriously reluctant to adopt consumer technologies - they apparently still use cash for example (I haven't even touched a bit of 'real' currency in more than a year)(I'm not poor)(just lazy)
KangarooConcern
Its because of the lobbying of tax accountant firms. Also I wouldn't hold your breath, because Republican states will most likely not allow this to go ahead because it makes Biden look good ahead of the election, just going from their previous track record.
NeverDownvoteMelBrooks
Texas was one of the test states for the past year, so maybe not