TurboTax maker Intuit spent millions in record lobbying blitz amid threats to tax prep industry::undefined

  • notannpc@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Wouldn’t it be wild if the government just…sent us our refund or our bill? Because they know how much taxes we owe or how much they owe us without needing to play the stupid fucking “gather all your forms” and put it into the right fields game.

    That would also completely solve this problem by eliminating the need for turbo tax to exist at all.

    • hglman@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      For the very rich, its extremely hard to know what they own, filing taxes allows them to hide all the details.

      • max@feddit.nl
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        9 months ago

        So your government could do what the commenter above suggested for 99% of the population. Got it.
        Because that’s what they do in my country. Your income is pre-filled, and most people don’t need to do anything other than double check it and click submit. If you want to get tax breaks for edge cases like uncovered medical care, extra schooling, travel costs as a freelancer, etc., you just follow the mostly easy steps and fill that in.

        • hglman@lemmy.ml
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          9 months ago

          I want the rich to be taxed; the system is broken bc it allows for loopholes. 100% should just get a bill.

          • max@feddit.nl
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            9 months ago

            One doesn’t have to exclude the other. I sense the irony in saying this, being Dutch (whose country is considered a tax haven for the rich and corporations unfortunately), but we don’t have to pay for tax software at least. Worst case, you’ll pay for a tax advisor/accounted if you have a really complicated situation with shit like alimony and wish to squeeze every last cent from it.

          • grayman@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Over 90% of tax revenue is collected from less than 10% of the population. Tax the rich is a campaign lie. It already happens. About 50% of adults pay net 0% or get out more than they put in.

            The middle class is shrinking and the wage gap is getting worse partly because of the progressive tax system. Only the top 0.1% have the ability to not care about taxes. And even if you taxed them at 100%, they have the tools and money to avoid paying taxes on the vast majority of their wealth.

            • hglman@lemmy.ml
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              9 months ago

              Tax as a wealth transfer is exactly how to close the gap between rich and poor. You can see the picture but you have misunderstood how the elements relate. Not allowing the 0.1% to escape taxation is exactly what has to happen.

  • TORFdot0@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I don’t have a complex tax return but I’d rather pay an accountant to file my federal return for me than give these companies my business.

    Whenever I can efile my return without giving intuit, hr block or other mega corp my business, that will be a great day

  • Mango@lemmy.world
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    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?

    • Furbag@lemmy.world
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      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.

    • Salix@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      Aren’t those all part of the Intuit lead coalition, the Free File Alliance, which kept lobbying against the IRS creating their own free tax filing tool among other issues?

      Note: Intuit and H&R Block left the coalition in 2021, after a no competition from IRS rule was lifted and the IRS announced making their own free tax filing tool.

    • Clent@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Are you feeling superior over not filing your taxing?

      The most likely scenario here is that if were you to file, you’d receive a refund. The IRS will happily keep your money.

      However, if you have mucked with your deductions such that you are underpaying, you’re playing a dangerous game.

      As they say, fuck around and find out. In this case the fuck around part will especially unpleasant.

      Hope you maintain cash only lifestyle because they will empty your bank accounts. They will garnish your wages. They will get a their money with penalties and interest.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Don’t forget the 1 year of jail per year of not filing taxes if considered tax evasion. If you cannot pay your taxes they cannot jail you. Aka, file your taxes and don’t pay your taxes and you should be fine. Don’t file or pay and you might get hit with tax evasion eventually. More likely just get hit with an extra 25% of his taxes he didn’t pay as it goes up by 5% a year until it stops at 25.

        • Clent@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I didn’t want to assume based off what little they provided since often this libertarian puffery but their follow up indicates clear intent to evade taxes.

          Not filing is tax evasion a bit of research would alleviate them of any misconceptions on this.

          There only hope is to file all those years and as you noted, ignore the penalties but I see no indication they’ll be doing that anytime soon.

          This type of person is the reason cash app and others are now required to report. And if this fool tries to skirt around by structuring payments under those limits, they’ll fuck themselves in ways only money launderers experience.

          The fact that they haven’t hit the existing limits indicates they are living a life of poverty. They are putting themselves at substantial risk over tiny sums of money. Either that or they are structuring payments, at which point money laundering comes into play and whoever is playing along with them is putting themselves at substantial risk.