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For the tax payer who uses a free file option or one of the lower tiers of a product like Turbo Tax, I consider it a crime that the government doesn’t do the ta
by twodave 7y ago
For the tax payer who uses a free file option or one of the lower tiers of a product like Turbo Tax, I consider it a crime that the government doesn’t do the tax calc for those people and simply send out either a bill or a refund.
The government has all the information they need to do this, and over time the gaps can be filled by requiring additional paperwork from tax entities like employers, non-profits, financial institutions, etc. There is way less paperwork this way and instead of filing a return one would simply file a dispute with documentation or else accept the government’s numbers. For the vast majority of Americans the math is dead simple.
For those of us who run a business and pass through as ordinary income, we should really only have to file the business return, not both business and personal.
- ianai 7y agoI think that’s been promised by several presidents over the years and never delivered. That or just a simple 1 page post card sized file.
- harryh 7y agoIt has never been a credible promise. Unfortunately.
- spookthesunset 7y agoA certain political party who shall go unnamed views making taxes simple is the same as raising them. They would argue that if all you got in the mail was a postcard the government could raise taxes and you’d never notice. Take that however you want, but that is why we don’t have easy taxes in the US.
- harryh 7y agoAnd the other major political party consistently adds complexities to the tax code either as a form of social welfare or to extract revenue to pay for their projects. The EITC, the AMT, the NIIT, all sorts of deductions. Unfortunately, there is not really a constituency in either party for simplified taxes.
- jdavis703 7y agoThese social safety net tax credits happen because it’s politically difficult to create new “big government welfare” programs.
- harryh 7y agoI don't think that's true in many cases. For example their are all kinds of deductions for green energy usage.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoYou just proved the comment you replied to.
- jedberg 7y agoJust so you know, it was the GOP that passed the EITC and the AMT (in its current form). The EITC was actually a Nixon proposal.
- harryh 7y agoHuh. TIL. Well some pie in the face for me here. Though these have become DEM interests over the years despite the source of their original passage.
- klipt 7y agoI guess it shows that the GOP of today would oppose many policies of the GOP of yesterday as too liberal. Eg Obamacare was originally conceived by a conservative think-tank: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2011/10/20/how-a-conservative-think-tank-invented-the-individual-mandate/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2011/10/20/how-a-...
- ineedasername 7y agoYou talk of entitlements and welfare. The political party difference isn't in whether those should exist, it's in which people or entities should receive them, and what form they take.
- scarface74 7y agoThis was very much a bipartisan issue. Both parties were swayed by lobbyists.
- briandear 7y agoAnd here is Milton Friedman in that very subject: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TruCIPy79w8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TruCIPy79w8
- InTheArena 7y agoIntuit has had a path into the government and has been screwing customers since Clinton. This is not about one party or the other - but it shows up there - it’s about the ability of corporations to affect the agencies themselves and then turn to xo grass as a last resort.
- pstuart 7y agoYes corruption happens on both sides of the fence but the parent post is correct, the GOP is against government efficiency in this regard: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/07/18/tax-filing-congress-irs-000683 https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/07/18/tax-filing-...
- briandear 7y agoTed Cruz advocates postcard taxes; that proposal has been opposed by Democrats. https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/ted-cruz-tax-reform/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/ted-cruz-tax-reform/...