4 ms·

> Ok, but it's far simpler elsewhere. In many places (such as Japan), doing your taxes takes a few minutes and you don't need to pay someone hundreds of dollar

> Ok, but it's far simpler elsewhere. In many places (such as Japan), doing your taxes takes a few minutes and you don't need to pay someone hundreds of dollars to someone who has made a career out of the tax system. The process of filing taxes is separate from how complicated the tax code itself is. And to be honest, you don't need to pay hundreds of dollars to anyone in order to file taxes in the US. In fact, you can file your taxes using a form that fits on a single sheet of paper. You may want to opt for one of the other methods of filing, if you qualify for special deductions that might significantly reduce your tax burden, but most people already qualify for the option that takes "a few minutes".

seanmcdirmid 9y ago
I had absolutely zero tax obligation in the USA for 9 years, and I still had to file more than a few sheets of paper, taking around a day or so to prepare.
xellisx 9y ago
Well the IRS could do your taxes for you and send you a bill/confirmation for you to correct, but companies have lobbied to get an agreement put in place that this will never happen.
- chimeracoder 9y ago
  > Well the IRS could do your taxes for you and send you a bill/confirmation for you to correct, but companies have lobbied to get an agreement put in place that this will never happen. The difference between that and filling out a 1040EZ is negligible. It takes as long to write out a 1040EZ as it would to properly verify the information on one that's already filled out for you. For people who want to utilize the more complex deductions available - there's no way that the IRS could do that for you. Contrary to popular belief, they don't have sufficient information to do that until you give it to them, and quite frankly you wouldn't want them to have access automatically to all of that.
- JBlue42 9y ago
  They do that though. The past two years I've filed online with their free forms. I knew that I was taking more allowances and would owe. They said "hey, you actually owe us this". And then I sent them a check.
- masonic 9y ago
  this will never happen This has been the case for many years already. The problem is, the IRS has no incentive to help minimize your tax. If you really have nothing to deduct, that might not be so bad, but I would have more faith in any of the existing free short-form filing services that already exist.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

I had absolutely zero tax obligation in the USA for 9 years, and I still had to file more than a few sheets of paper, taking around a day or so to prepare.

xellisx 9y ago

Well the IRS could do your taxes for you and send you a bill/confirmation for you to correct, but companies have lobbied to get an agreement put in place that this will never happen.

chimeracoder 9y ago
> Well the IRS could do your taxes for you and send you a bill/confirmation for you to correct, but companies have lobbied to get an agreement put in place that this will never happen. The difference between that and filling out a 1040EZ is negligible. It takes as long to write out a 1040EZ as it would to properly verify the information on one that's already filled out for you. For people who want to utilize the more complex deductions available - there's no way that the IRS could do that for you. Contrary to popular belief, they don't have sufficient information to do that until you give it to them, and quite frankly you wouldn't want them to have access automatically to all of that.
JBlue42 9y ago
They do that though. The past two years I've filed online with their free forms. I knew that I was taking more allowances and would owe. They said "hey, you actually owe us this". And then I sent them a check.
masonic 9y ago
this will never happen This has been the case for many years already. The problem is, the IRS has no incentive to help minimize your tax. If you really have nothing to deduct, that might not be so bad, but I would have more faith in any of the existing free short-form filing services that already exist.