What we really need to do is cut all of these middle men out. If the government can tell if we've filed correctly from the get go, clearly they can be capable of simply knowing what we've paid,...
What we really need to do is cut all of these middle men out. If the government can tell if we've filed correctly from the get go, clearly they can be capable of simply knowing what we've paid, ask to see what we've made, and figure the rest out directly.
At least for private citizens filing their taxes. CPAs and whatnot would still be useful in this environment, because taxes can still be complicated. Intuit's one of the biggest lobbyists that is trying to justify their own existence anyway.
Its classic rent seeking behavior. Tax preparation is almost entirely a made up, wasteful exercise in banality. The tax code could be streamlined and simplified. There are so many credits,...
Its classic rent seeking behavior. Tax preparation is almost entirely a made up, wasteful exercise in banality. The tax code could be streamlined and simplified. There are so many credits, loopholes, and caveats that do very little towards what they're designed to do (incentivize certain types of behavior). A simplified, streamlined progressive tax scale would make the entire tax prep industry pointless and save millions of man hours, billions of dollars, and an immeasurable amount of stress every year. The government already knows how much 90% of the people in the country makes because their employer files W2s on their behalf. The only reason there needs to be any sort of interaction from the taxpayer is to report any additional income, and for deductions. Eliminate the deductions, and allow people to voluntarily report additional income if they have it enforced by random audits, but otherwise, people would have to do nothing, their taxes could be automatically filed, we wouldn't have to worry about additional withholding nonsense, and we could go about our lives without wasted dozens of hours shuffling pointless paperwork around every year.
Finally. The FTC has let them get away with this deceptive practice for far too long. Intuit is a truly terrible company, and the the FTC settles for less than permanantly shutting them down, they...
Finally. The FTC has let them get away with this deceptive practice for far too long. Intuit is a truly terrible company, and the the FTC settles for less than permanantly shutting them down, they will not have done enough.
I'm not defending the behaviour described in the OP, but, as someone who's used Intuit's tax software for several years, and been relatively satisfied with it, I ask an honest question: What are...
I'm not defending the behaviour described in the OP, but, as someone who's used Intuit's tax software for several years, and been relatively satisfied with it, I ask an honest question: What are the recommended alternatives, besides filling out paper forms oneself, or hiring and meeting with a human to do one's taxes?
How about ignoring their lobbying and allow the IRS to provide their own free-file-software. Which, as far as I'm aware, they wanted to do, but lobbying blocked it, because it would destroy a very...
How about ignoring their lobbying and allow the IRS to provide their own free-file-software. Which, as far as I'm aware, they wanted to do, but lobbying blocked it, because it would destroy a very profitable market.
BTW, in Germany, we have such free-file software by our equivalent of the IRS. I'd say it's slightly less convenient to use, but also a lot less annoying to use. You can even provide access to your files on it to your tax guy, which is nice if you ever have to hire one.
/r/personalfinance has a tax software megathread every year. Here is the 2022 one. I tried credit karma's offering for a year until they got bought by intuit, after which I switched to freetaxusa...
I tried credit karma's offering for a year until they got bought by intuit, after which I switched to freetaxusa (though looking through things, apparently credit karma tax was separate and got bought by cash app, and isn't under intuit?). I've been pretty happy with freetaxusa after using it for the past couple of years - federal is free and state is $15 IIRC, which is a very acceptable cost in my mind. My taxes aren't too complex, and its covered the few nonstandard things I've had so far.
Also I plan to file this weekend, so thanks for making me look up the thread - apparently there is a 10% discount for freetaxusa (PROMOWIN), so I'm saving myself a buck and a half this year!
Correct. Intuit bought Credit Karma and the Justice Department didn't like a big tax player buying a small/disruptive tax player and giving them too much market share. So they required them to...
(though looking through things, apparently credit karma tax was separate and got bought by cash app, and isn't under intuit?)
Correct. Intuit bought Credit Karma and the Justice Department didn't like a big tax player buying a small/disruptive tax player and giving them too much market share. So they required them to sell or close it, it was sold to Square/CashApp.
To be frank, tax forms aren’t as hard as they are made out to be. This is especially true for the average single non-homeowner person who is probably going to be fine with a 1040ez, the simplified...
To be frank, tax forms aren’t as hard as they are made out to be. This is especially true for the average single non-homeowner person who is probably going to be fine with a 1040ez, the simplified tax form. But state and local taxes are something else entirely.
This year I decided to use the free file services from OLT and it worked out just fine. They also covered my state taxes.
If you are married, a homeowner, or someone who owns things that can otherwise be classified as capitol, that’s when taxes begin to get complicated and getting a tax consultant involved might be a good idea.
I used freetaxusa.com last year. Federal taxes were free, as advertised, state taxes were 15$, as advertised. It was pretty much just as easy as Intuit.
I used freetaxusa.com last year. Federal taxes were free, as advertised, state taxes were 15$, as advertised.
Others have recommended other software, but the other problem is that these companies actually lobby the government to make taxes harder to do so they can make money! If Intuit weren't making a...
Others have recommended other software, but the other problem is that these companies actually lobby the government to make taxes harder to do so they can make money! If Intuit weren't making a ton of money from complicated disparate tax forms, we probably wouldn't have them, or at least they'd be a lot easier to understand.
Turbotax and H&R Block lobby for more difficult taxes. Not all tax prep companies do - and many recommendations are made with that in mind, as many people are switching away from those options for...
Turbotax and H&R Block lobby for more difficult taxes. Not all tax prep companies do - and many recommendations are made with that in mind, as many people are switching away from those options for that very reason.
What we really need to do is cut all of these middle men out. If the government can tell if we've filed correctly from the get go, clearly they can be capable of simply knowing what we've paid, ask to see what we've made, and figure the rest out directly.
At least for private citizens filing their taxes. CPAs and whatnot would still be useful in this environment, because taxes can still be complicated. Intuit's one of the biggest lobbyists that is trying to justify their own existence anyway.
Its classic rent seeking behavior. Tax preparation is almost entirely a made up, wasteful exercise in banality. The tax code could be streamlined and simplified. There are so many credits, loopholes, and caveats that do very little towards what they're designed to do (incentivize certain types of behavior). A simplified, streamlined progressive tax scale would make the entire tax prep industry pointless and save millions of man hours, billions of dollars, and an immeasurable amount of stress every year. The government already knows how much 90% of the people in the country makes because their employer files W2s on their behalf. The only reason there needs to be any sort of interaction from the taxpayer is to report any additional income, and for deductions. Eliminate the deductions, and allow people to voluntarily report additional income if they have it enforced by random audits, but otherwise, people would have to do nothing, their taxes could be automatically filed, we wouldn't have to worry about additional withholding nonsense, and we could go about our lives without wasted dozens of hours shuffling pointless paperwork around every year.
Finally. The FTC has let them get away with this deceptive practice for far too long. Intuit is a truly terrible company, and the the FTC settles for less than permanantly shutting them down, they will not have done enough.
As someone who uses Intuit products for work as well... I agree wholeheartedly.
I'm not defending the behaviour described in the OP, but, as someone who's used Intuit's tax software for several years, and been relatively satisfied with it, I ask an honest question: What are the recommended alternatives, besides filling out paper forms oneself, or hiring and meeting with a human to do one's taxes?
How about ignoring their lobbying and allow the IRS to provide their own free-file-software. Which, as far as I'm aware, they wanted to do, but lobbying blocked it, because it would destroy a very profitable market.
BTW, in Germany, we have such free-file software by our equivalent of the IRS. I'd say it's slightly less convenient to use, but also a lot less annoying to use. You can even provide access to your files on it to your tax guy, which is nice if you ever have to hire one.
/r/personalfinance has a tax software megathread every year. Here is the 2022 one.
I tried credit karma's offering for a year until they got bought by intuit, after which I switched to freetaxusa (though looking through things, apparently credit karma tax was separate and got bought by cash app, and isn't under intuit?). I've been pretty happy with freetaxusa after using it for the past couple of years - federal is free and state is $15 IIRC, which is a very acceptable cost in my mind. My taxes aren't too complex, and its covered the few nonstandard things I've had so far.
Also I plan to file this weekend, so thanks for making me look up the thread - apparently there is a 10% discount for freetaxusa (
PROMOWIN), so I'm saving myself a buck and a half this year!Correct. Intuit bought Credit Karma and the Justice Department didn't like a big tax player buying a small/disruptive tax player and giving them too much market share. So they required them to sell or close it, it was sold to Square/CashApp.
To be frank, tax forms aren’t as hard as they are made out to be. This is especially true for the average single non-homeowner person who is probably going to be fine with a 1040ez, the simplified tax form. But state and local taxes are something else entirely.
This year I decided to use the free file services from OLT and it worked out just fine. They also covered my state taxes.
If you are married, a homeowner, or someone who owns things that can otherwise be classified as capitol, that’s when taxes begin to get complicated and getting a tax consultant involved might be a good idea.
I used freetaxusa.com last year. Federal taxes were free, as advertised, state taxes were 15$, as advertised.
It was pretty much just as easy as Intuit.
Others have recommended other software, but the other problem is that these companies actually lobby the government to make taxes harder to do so they can make money! If Intuit weren't making a ton of money from complicated disparate tax forms, we probably wouldn't have them, or at least they'd be a lot easier to understand.
Turbotax and H&R Block lobby for more difficult taxes. Not all tax prep companies do - and many recommendations are made with that in mind, as many people are switching away from those options for that very reason.