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What the hell is up with this thread? This has to be the worst thread I've ever seen at HN. You'd think this were a comment thread on Fox News or something. Pe

What the hell is up with this thread? This has to be the worst thread I've ever seen at HN. You'd think this were a comment thread on Fox News or something. People: Chill the fuck out. The IRS is accepting comments on the issue. The rule doesn't go into effect until, realistically, April of 2013. By then, it is almost guaranteed that the rule will be significantly weakened to the point where it is not much different than what we have in place now. This isn't a world-ending or economy-destroying fuckup organized by big-governement Democrats. It was a short-sighted clause put in by a politician trying to close a loophole. This is why we have checks and balances- the executive branch, which is actually in charge of implementing these rules, will implement them in a sane way. So put your conspiracy theories to bed and get on with life. File a comment with the IRS and wait a couple of years. Then maybe you'll see that this was just one big stink over nothing.

nkassis 16y ago
Realistically most new bill have a ton of shitty things in them that get fixed through other bills later on, it's always been like that and the small business lobby is fairly powerful so 2 years should be enough to kill this clause.
Sirocco 16y ago
In all seriousness, the Reddit influx is upon us, full tilt.
- RyanMcGreal 16y ago
  From the Hacker News Guidelines: [1] "If your account is less than a year old, please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. (It's a common semi-noob illusion.)" [1] http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - MartinCron 16y ago
    I just checked, and your account is exactly one year old, so you may submit comments saying HN is turning into Reddit, if you would like.
    - RyanMcGreal 16y ago
      I left reddit for HN a year ago (yes, I'm a late adopter in this regard), and believe me: HN is no reddit.
  - ericd 16y ago
    There was a discussion recently by a number of long-time accounts on how this seems to actually be coming to pass, and that the quality of submissions hitting the front page has clearly decreased. I can't say I disagree. That said, I'm just as annoyed as the next guy at the inefficiency that the IRS seems to be trying to foist into the economy to help them raise revenues.
brianpan 16y ago
What is up is the inflammatory submission title and linked page got people all riled up. There is not really a good reason to be linking tax codes with the end of the world. I'd downvote the submission if I could.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
jimbokun 16y ago
"By then, it is almost guaranteed that the rule will be significantly weakened to the point where it is not much different than what we have in place now." This is probably only true if people flip out over it now.
- alnayyir 16y ago
  Intelligent and measured comment is more likely to be listened to, especially if it comes from people educated in tax law and accounting. I don't think the IRS is reading angry internet forums. This law is just noodling. They're just fishing around for new income ideas, throwing spaghetti at the wall, and seeing what sticks. Don't freak out.
  - megablast 16y ago
    I am not so sure that is true. It is like saying, be polite to people in stores and restaurants and you are more likely to get what you want, but the fact is that you see pissed of people making a stink, and getting treated better for fear of pissing them off. We wish it was true, but it ain't.
    - chronomex 16y ago
      I work in a small store, where I'm the only person running the place. I eject people who cause trouble.
Confusion 16y ago
The IRS is accepting comments on the issue. [..] It was a short-sighted clause put in by a politician trying to close a loophole. It's not just one politician: a great many people have been over these documents. It seems none of them realized how insane this is. Or perhaps none of them could be bothered to do anything about it? Either way: means there's something seriously wrong right there. If enough sillyness makes it through to this level, at some point the sillyness will actually make it all the way through.
- makmanalp 16y ago
  I just really want to know the reasoning behind this. What would make a person propose such a thing? What loophole were they thinking of closing? How could they not see what is so blatantly wrong with what they are proposing? I wonder, who is this person?
fexl 16y ago
Even if it does go through exactly this way, very few people will comply with it, so the probability of getting singled out for serious retribution should be fairly low. So there's yet another reason to chill out.
- fexl 16y ago
  Ouch. I was just trying to find a lead lining in the asbestos cloud, but that didn't go over too well.
Tangurena 16y ago
The current rules for the filing date for the copy of the recipient's copy of the 1099 is Jan 31. The electronic filing deadline for the IRS's copy is Mar 31.

nkassis 16y ago

Realistically most new bill have a ton of shitty things in them that get fixed through other bills later on, it's always been like that and the small business lobby is fairly powerful so 2 years should be enough to kill this clause.

Sirocco 16y ago

In all seriousness, the Reddit influx is upon us, full tilt.

RyanMcGreal 16y ago
From the Hacker News Guidelines: [1] "If your account is less than a year old, please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. (It's a common semi-noob illusion.)" [1] http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- MartinCron 16y ago
  I just checked, and your account is exactly one year old, so you may submit comments saying HN is turning into Reddit, if you would like.
  - RyanMcGreal 16y ago
    I left reddit for HN a year ago (yes, I'm a late adopter in this regard), and believe me: HN is no reddit.
- ericd 16y ago
  There was a discussion recently by a number of long-time accounts on how this seems to actually be coming to pass, and that the quality of submissions hitting the front page has clearly decreased. I can't say I disagree. That said, I'm just as annoyed as the next guy at the inefficiency that the IRS seems to be trying to foist into the economy to help them raise revenues.

brianpan 16y ago

What is up is the inflammatory submission title and linked page got people all riled up. There is not really a good reason to be linking tax codes with the end of the world. I'd downvote the submission if I could.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

jimbokun 16y ago

"By then, it is almost guaranteed that the rule will be significantly weakened to the point where it is not much different than what we have in place now." This is probably only true if people flip out over it now.

alnayyir 16y ago
Intelligent and measured comment is more likely to be listened to, especially if it comes from people educated in tax law and accounting. I don't think the IRS is reading angry internet forums. This law is just noodling. They're just fishing around for new income ideas, throwing spaghetti at the wall, and seeing what sticks. Don't freak out.
- megablast 16y ago
  I am not so sure that is true. It is like saying, be polite to people in stores and restaurants and you are more likely to get what you want, but the fact is that you see pissed of people making a stink, and getting treated better for fear of pissing them off. We wish it was true, but it ain't.
  - chronomex 16y ago
    I work in a small store, where I'm the only person running the place. I eject people who cause trouble.

Confusion 16y ago

The IRS is accepting comments on the issue. [..] It was a short-sighted clause put in by a politician trying to close a loophole. It's not just one politician: a great many people have been over these documents. It seems none of them realized how insane this is. Or perhaps none of them could be bothered to do anything about it? Either way: means there's something seriously wrong right there. If enough sillyness makes it through to this level, at some point the sillyness will actually make it all the way through.

makmanalp 16y ago
I just really want to know the reasoning behind this. What would make a person propose such a thing? What loophole were they thinking of closing? How could they not see what is so blatantly wrong with what they are proposing? I wonder, who is this person?

fexl 16y ago

Even if it does go through exactly this way, very few people will comply with it, so the probability of getting singled out for serious retribution should be fairly low. So there's yet another reason to chill out.

fexl 16y ago
Ouch. I was just trying to find a lead lining in the asbestos cloud, but that didn't go over too well.

Tangurena 16y ago

The current rules for the filing date for the copy of the recipient's copy of the 1099 is Jan 31. The electronic filing deadline for the IRS's copy is Mar 31.