4 ms·

>The IRS actually had a plan to make tax filing fully automated, essentially doing your return for you, but lobbyists for Turbotax and H&R Block successfully bl

>The IRS actually had a plan to make tax filing fully automated, essentially doing your return for you, but lobbyists for Turbotax and H&R Block successfully blocked it, leaving the agency to process millions upon millions of extra homemade tax returns, more than it can possibly handle. Republicans cause government dysfunction on purpose, then advocate cutting it because it "doesn't work". http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/04/grover_norquist_and_h_r_block_the_unholy_alliance_of_tax_prep_firms_and_conservative_activists_to_make_your_taxes_even_more_complicated_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/04/grov... >When the Golden State implemented its ReadyReturn system, it did so over the objections of Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pressure group Americans for Tax Reform, which fears that if taxes become less annoying voters might be less unhappy about paying them.

gwright 9y ago
> Republicans cause government dysfunction on purpose, then advocate cutting it because it "doesn't work". Meh. The ability of a bureaucracy to screw things up transcends the ideology of those who think they are directing it.
snuxoll 9y ago
Actually preparing and filing my annual tax return is indeed the single most annoying part of paying taxes, doubly so since I have an LLC I use when doing odd jobs. Business filings will never go away, but if I could just have the IRS automatically process my tax bill after getting my Schedule K-1 and W2 it would eliminate the extra work I shouldn't have to do (it'd also make life much easier because I wouldn't have two other members of my family asking for help filing their returns).
- smnrchrds 9y ago
  Filing personal taxes is not fully automated in Canada, but it is damn close to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_trGJOiwY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_trGJOiwY Unless you have a business, filing your taxes would take somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes. The downside is that there are few tax credits available to individuals. For example, mortgage interest is not tax-deductible. This is one of the reasons filing taxes is easier. There are just not as many things to consider or documents to keep as US.
e40 9y ago
Republicans cause government dysfunction on purpose, then advocate cutting it because it "doesn't work". This cannot be emphasized enough. It is absolutely evil. The other thing which has been happening, over decades, is the IRS budget has been slowly but surely reduced. This means your chances of an audit have been steadily going down for decades. This is also by design, by those same Republicans.

gwright 9y ago

> Republicans cause government dysfunction on purpose, then advocate cutting it because it "doesn't work". Meh. The ability of a bureaucracy to screw things up transcends the ideology of those who think they are directing it.

snuxoll 9y ago

Actually preparing and filing my annual tax return is indeed the single most annoying part of paying taxes, doubly so since I have an LLC I use when doing odd jobs. Business filings will never go away, but if I could just have the IRS automatically process my tax bill after getting my Schedule K-1 and W2 it would eliminate the extra work I shouldn't have to do (it'd also make life much easier because I wouldn't have two other members of my family asking for help filing their returns).

smnrchrds 9y ago
Filing personal taxes is not fully automated in Canada, but it is damn close to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_trGJOiwY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_trGJOiwY Unless you have a business, filing your taxes would take somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes. The downside is that there are few tax credits available to individuals. For example, mortgage interest is not tax-deductible. This is one of the reasons filing taxes is easier. There are just not as many things to consider or documents to keep as US.

e40 9y ago

Republicans cause government dysfunction on purpose, then advocate cutting it because it "doesn't work". This cannot be emphasized enough. It is absolutely evil. The other thing which has been happening, over decades, is the IRS budget has been slowly but surely reduced. This means your chances of an audit have been steadily going down for decades. This is also by design, by those same Republicans.