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The disparity between that and the government correcting me for being off on my tax by $500 is breathtaking. Obvious question - cui bono?

by r00fus 7y ago

xenospn 7y ago
Are you sure the government does that? Did you actually check?
- Spooky23 7y ago
  I've never been questioned by the Feds on anything, but my state disallowed a deduction with value to my taxes of <$0.50. My uncle was in a few cash-heavy businesses (laundromat + plumber) he was audited annually, especially on the laundromat side.
jessriedel 7y ago
If the government is correcting an error for $500 on your taxes, its almost certainly doing that using an automated system with very little human-time-per-case for oversight. This is possible because of developed-world infrastructure -- all relevant numbers are digitized and entered into computers, all people are documented and contactable, etc. -- which is missing in Afghanistan, so it's not super surprising. Edit: Woah, HN, you have truly gone crazy. My comment is an explanation for why accountability is so much harder in Afghanistan than the developed world. It is not a general defense all US tax-collection procedures, and it is especially not a place for you to vent frustration about how the lack of pre-filled-out returns in the US benefits tax software makers.
- yyhhsj0521 7y ago
  If they have the software why not just send me a rundown of how much I owe and I could just sign over to them how much they want. Arghhh this frustrates me every tax season.
  - m-p-3 7y ago
    Intuit wouldn't like that at all. Corruption is rampant there too.
  - kindatrue 7y ago
    Because Intuit wouldn't make money if that happened. https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f... https://priceonomics.com/the-stanford-professor-who-fought-the-tax-lobby/ https://priceonomics.com/the-stanford-professor-who-fought-t... (and lost)
  - jjeaff 7y ago
    They have the software, but they only have some of the numbers. Your tax return includes all those that might not be reported. For example of you are doing small non w2 jobs on the side that you haven't received a 1099 for, the IRS had no way of knowing about those without an audit.

The disparity between that and the government correcting me for being off on my tax by $500 is breathtaking. Obvious question - cui bono?

by r00fus 7y ago

The disparity between that and the government correcting me for being off on my tax by $500 is breathtaking. Obvious question - cui bono?

xenospn 7y ago

Are you sure the government does that? Did you actually check?

Spooky23 7y ago
I've never been questioned by the Feds on anything, but my state disallowed a deduction with value to my taxes of <$0.50. My uncle was in a few cash-heavy businesses (laundromat + plumber) he was audited annually, especially on the laundromat side.

jessriedel 7y ago

If the government is correcting an error for $500 on your taxes, its almost certainly doing that using an automated system with very little human-time-per-case for oversight. This is possible because of developed-world infrastructure -- all relevant numbers are digitized and entered into computers, all people are documented and contactable, etc. -- which is missing in Afghanistan, so it's not super surprising. Edit: Woah, HN, you have truly gone crazy. My comment is an explanation for why accountability is so much harder in Afghanistan than the developed world. It is not a general defense all US tax-collection procedures, and it is especially not a place for you to vent frustration about how the lack of pre-filled-out returns in the US benefits tax software makers.

yyhhsj0521 7y ago
If they have the software why not just send me a rundown of how much I owe and I could just sign over to them how much they want. Arghhh this frustrates me every tax season.
- m-p-3 7y ago
  Intuit wouldn't like that at all. Corruption is rampant there too.
- kindatrue 7y ago
  Because Intuit wouldn't make money if that happened. https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f... https://priceonomics.com/the-stanford-professor-who-fought-the-tax-lobby/ https://priceonomics.com/the-stanford-professor-who-fought-t... (and lost)
- jjeaff 7y ago
  They have the software, but they only have some of the numbers. Your tax return includes all those that might not be reported. For example of you are doing small non w2 jobs on the side that you haven't received a 1099 for, the IRS had no way of knowing about those without an audit.