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What is the legitimate argument against this, besides knee-jerk fear of government? They already have all this data and do this work.

imgabe 7y ago
I'm totally for it. I'm just saying it's not that easy for an average citizen to actually do anything about this. It's not like I can call 1-800-GOVERNMENT and say "Hey how about preparing my tax return for me? kthnx!" and then it will happen. It would require a massive, coordinated grassroots effort to overcome the lobbying by Intuit, H&R Block, etc. So saying "Hey just have the government do this!" is fairly useless.
- OrangeMango 7y ago
  That's exactly what the IRS used to do (I used it for my after-school job in high school in the 1990s): > The IRS may be saving money as a result of its decision to shut down its free TeleFile program for filing taxes returns by phone, but the move is costing taxpayers millions of dollars, according to a report released by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2542655/report--shutdown-of-telefile-is-costly-to-taxpayers.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2542655/report--shutdo...
reaperducer 7y ago
What is the legitimate argument against this, besides knee-jerk fear of government? Fear of government is engrained in American culture. It is literally what the nation was founded on, and enshrined in the documents which established the country.
- brown9-2 7y ago
  That’s not an argument against the idea though.
cascom 7y ago
1. Tax payers will pay more because the government will optimize for revenue when making decisions/interpretations on their behalf 2. Errors are likely to go unnoticed as people will be loathe to “check the governments work” Also not really an argument, but a consideration is that by keeping taxes “painful”, they are more unpopular than they would be, making higher tax policies less palatable to the public.
- kevinschumacher 7y ago
  Both of those points are FUD in my opinion. The government is already equally as able to optimize for revenue today as you claim they would be in a situation where the IRS mails you your 1040 with your income pre-printed. Ultimately most people’s income taxes are withheld from their paycheck, and you get a refund at the end. Do you know how much you pay in taxes now? Do you think other people know how much they pay? How would your knowledge of how much you pay change under a proposed system where the IRS mails you a pre-filled 1040? You say there’s work to be checked — it’s literally “did they get my w2 right?” and “do I want to take the standard deduction?” If you don’t want to take the standard deduction, the process reverts to what it is today - you fill out your own tax forms and send them in. Nothing changes for that situation. Your second point assumes gross incompetence or straight malice, which is unfair. Edited for clarity

imgabe 7y ago

I'm totally for it. I'm just saying it's not that easy for an average citizen to actually do anything about this. It's not like I can call 1-800-GOVERNMENT and say "Hey how about preparing my tax return for me? kthnx!" and then it will happen. It would require a massive, coordinated grassroots effort to overcome the lobbying by Intuit, H&R Block, etc. So saying "Hey just have the government do this!" is fairly useless.

OrangeMango 7y ago
That's exactly what the IRS used to do (I used it for my after-school job in high school in the 1990s): > The IRS may be saving money as a result of its decision to shut down its free TeleFile program for filing taxes returns by phone, but the move is costing taxpayers millions of dollars, according to a report released by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2542655/report--shutdown-of-telefile-is-costly-to-taxpayers.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2542655/report--shutdo...

reaperducer 7y ago

What is the legitimate argument against this, besides knee-jerk fear of government? Fear of government is engrained in American culture. It is literally what the nation was founded on, and enshrined in the documents which established the country.

brown9-2 7y ago
That’s not an argument against the idea though.

cascom 7y ago

1. Tax payers will pay more because the government will optimize for revenue when making decisions/interpretations on their behalf 2. Errors are likely to go unnoticed as people will be loathe to “check the governments work” Also not really an argument, but a consideration is that by keeping taxes “painful”, they are more unpopular than they would be, making higher tax policies less palatable to the public.

kevinschumacher 7y ago
Both of those points are FUD in my opinion. The government is already equally as able to optimize for revenue today as you claim they would be in a situation where the IRS mails you your 1040 with your income pre-printed. Ultimately most people’s income taxes are withheld from their paycheck, and you get a refund at the end. Do you know how much you pay in taxes now? Do you think other people know how much they pay? How would your knowledge of how much you pay change under a proposed system where the IRS mails you a pre-filled 1040? You say there’s work to be checked — it’s literally “did they get my w2 right?” and “do I want to take the standard deduction?” If you don’t want to take the standard deduction, the process reverts to what it is today - you fill out your own tax forms and send them in. Nothing changes for that situation. Your second point assumes gross incompetence or straight malice, which is unfair. Edited for clarity