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Please stop with this. Free File is provided free of charge to a massive portion of the population. This is a solved problem. It is significantly more productiv

Please stop with this. Free File is provided free of charge to a massive portion of the population. This is a solved problem. It is significantly more productive to spend your time supporting awareness of Free File. The group that does not qualify for Free File most often requires the services of a tax professional anyway. Not because it is complicated, but because the monetary benefit of a tax professional is going to be more than the cost of their services. These IRS grumpings by fringe libertarians is wildly unproductive and has no place on HN as it does not fall within any of the guidelines for content.

ceejayoz 7y ago
You should consider reading the article, as it details how the industry manages to prevent free file from being successful, including misleading eligible people into thinking their "free edition" is the same thing.
- momokoko 7y ago
  I did. I should be extended. It makes sense. There is no reason to waste taxpayer money and risk when this is a solved problem that allows taxpayers to choose from a wide variety of tax preparation services. For free.
  - kevhito 7y ago
    And for those of us who do not trust these private, for-profit (and imo corrupt and predatory) companies with our financial data? What then? There is a reason Intuit does not want me to be able to give my tax forms directly to the government. I refuse, even though it is ostensibly "free" (hint: it isn't really "free" at all, and we all know that, because Intuit wouldn't be fighting so hard if it were).
wallacoloo 7y ago
> the monetary benefit of a tax professional is going to be more than the cost of their services. Sure, structuring your spending in advance to optimize taxes is something you might want to ask outside help for. But when it comes to paying your taxes based on how you’ve already used your money, why does it make sense for there to be anything other than one value which both you and the government agree is owed? Why should it be negotiable?
- momokoko 7y ago
  If you have an AGI(meaning your income after deductions) of more than $66k a year you have to pay $40-$60. Meaning you likely make $85k+. Come on. Seriously? That's worth making this crazy fuss about?
  - wallacoloo 7y ago
    > that’s worth making this crazy fuss about? You’re making as much a fuss about this as me. If you want to foster productive discussion, at least respond to what the comment you’re replying to was about: why should your tax bill be negotiable after you’ve finalized your spending?
  - kchoudhu 7y ago
    Absolutely. You're paying a tax to pay your taxes. That's fucked, and doubly so because you're paying the toll to a parasitic company that only exists because of the government's inability to provide basic services.
ta0987 7y ago
I agree that the effort is best spent on promoting Free Fillable Forms which has no income limit (unlike Free File). But I file my state taxes on paper because fuck those assholes. If your coworker stole 50 dollars straight out of your wallet would you not make a fuss? That is what these tax software companies are doing every year. And I don't need a paid tax professional, I get paid on a single W-2. And the one time I did need them (income in multiple states, ambiguous residence, as an international student) they were useless and I knew the laws better than they did.

ceejayoz 7y ago

You should consider reading the article, as it details how the industry manages to prevent free file from being successful, including misleading eligible people into thinking their "free edition" is the same thing.

momokoko 7y ago
I did. I should be extended. It makes sense. There is no reason to waste taxpayer money and risk when this is a solved problem that allows taxpayers to choose from a wide variety of tax preparation services. For free.
- kevhito 7y ago
  And for those of us who do not trust these private, for-profit (and imo corrupt and predatory) companies with our financial data? What then? There is a reason Intuit does not want me to be able to give my tax forms directly to the government. I refuse, even though it is ostensibly "free" (hint: it isn't really "free" at all, and we all know that, because Intuit wouldn't be fighting so hard if it were).

wallacoloo 7y ago

> the monetary benefit of a tax professional is going to be more than the cost of their services. Sure, structuring your spending in advance to optimize taxes is something you might want to ask outside help for. But when it comes to paying your taxes based on how you’ve already used your money, why does it make sense for there to be anything other than one value which both you and the government agree is owed? Why should it be negotiable?

momokoko 7y ago
If you have an AGI(meaning your income after deductions) of more than $66k a year you have to pay $40-$60. Meaning you likely make $85k+. Come on. Seriously? That's worth making this crazy fuss about?
- wallacoloo 7y ago
  > that’s worth making this crazy fuss about? You’re making as much a fuss about this as me. If you want to foster productive discussion, at least respond to what the comment you’re replying to was about: why should your tax bill be negotiable after you’ve finalized your spending?
- kchoudhu 7y ago
  Absolutely. You're paying a tax to pay your taxes. That's fucked, and doubly so because you're paying the toll to a parasitic company that only exists because of the government's inability to provide basic services.

ta0987 7y ago

I agree that the effort is best spent on promoting Free Fillable Forms which has no income limit (unlike Free File). But I file my state taxes on paper because fuck those assholes. If your coworker stole 50 dollars straight out of your wallet would you not make a fuss? That is what these tax software companies are doing every year. And I don't need a paid tax professional, I get paid on a single W-2. And the one time I did need them (income in multiple states, ambiguous residence, as an international student) they were useless and I knew the laws better than they did.