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I can't imagine how horrible a single captive solution from the IRS would be compared to one spawned by the competitive marketplace. Now why our tax code needs

by rayvd 7y ago

I can't imagine how horrible a single captive solution from the IRS would be compared to one spawned by the competitive marketplace. Now why our tax code needs to be so complex that it requires software like Turbo Tax is certainly a fair question.

qwsxyh 7y ago
I would imagine it would look like European solutions; which pretty much work perfectly vs whatever bullshit a market would put out.
JohnFen 7y ago
> I can't imagine how horrible a single captive solution from the IRS would be compared to one spawned by the competitive marketplace. I see literally no reason to think the IRS would do a worse job of it than the commercial services. But regardless of that, there's no reason why the IRS couldn't provide services alongside the commercial services. It's not an either-or.
danepowell 7y ago
Of all the government agencies, I think the IRS actually has one of the best track records for caring deeply about UX. Compare the federal tax forms and instructions to just about any state tax forms, the federal forms are miles ahead in terms of usability. Relative to the complexity of the tax code itself, of course (which the IRS doesn't control).
chungleong 7y ago
And it'd probably cost a billion dollars. Government contracting is way more corrupted than the shenanigans alleged by this article.
ahallock 7y ago
Remember the healthcare.gov debacle? TurboTax isn't that much and it saves time and headache. People think in binary of free vs not-free while not considering the cost of time.
- int_19h 7y ago
  It "saves" time that is taken away from you by intentionally complicated tax code and filing procedures, that are pushed by lobbyists hired by the same company that sells you TurboTax.
  - ahallock 7y ago
    So we're blaming TurboTax for a corrupt government. If the government is supposed to represent the people, it's doing a shit job, and I can't blame TurboTax for cashing in. About the only thing we can do boycott TurboTax.
    - int_19h 7y ago
      When corruption involves two parties, we generally blame both of them, yes. Giving a bribe is illegal, not just receiving it.

by rayvd 7y ago

qwsxyh 7y ago

I would imagine it would look like European solutions; which pretty much work perfectly vs whatever bullshit a market would put out.

JohnFen 7y ago

> I can't imagine how horrible a single captive solution from the IRS would be compared to one spawned by the competitive marketplace. I see literally no reason to think the IRS would do a worse job of it than the commercial services. But regardless of that, there's no reason why the IRS couldn't provide services alongside the commercial services. It's not an either-or.

danepowell 7y ago

Of all the government agencies, I think the IRS actually has one of the best track records for caring deeply about UX. Compare the federal tax forms and instructions to just about any state tax forms, the federal forms are miles ahead in terms of usability. Relative to the complexity of the tax code itself, of course (which the IRS doesn't control).

chungleong 7y ago

And it'd probably cost a billion dollars. Government contracting is way more corrupted than the shenanigans alleged by this article.

ahallock 7y ago

Remember the healthcare.gov debacle? TurboTax isn't that much and it saves time and headache. People think in binary of free vs not-free while not considering the cost of time.

int_19h 7y ago
It "saves" time that is taken away from you by intentionally complicated tax code and filing procedures, that are pushed by lobbyists hired by the same company that sells you TurboTax.
- ahallock 7y ago
  So we're blaming TurboTax for a corrupt government. If the government is supposed to represent the people, it's doing a shit job, and I can't blame TurboTax for cashing in. About the only thing we can do boycott TurboTax.
  - int_19h 7y ago
    When corruption involves two parties, we generally blame both of them, yes. Giving a bribe is illegal, not just receiving it.