3 ms·

Can you point to a specific rule in the tax code that is overly complex because of intuit lobbying and not because of the interests of one of the two main polit

by harryh 7y ago

Can you point to a specific rule in the tax code that is overly complex because of intuit lobbying and not because of the interests of one of the two main political parties in the US? I cannot.

wombat-man 7y ago
Well they lobbied to stop the IRS from creating a free online tax thing. https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-... It's slightly different I guess. But since a lot of the paperwork you have to feed into turbotax is already known to the IRS, it's possible the IRS having their own product would have really simplified things. Then again, gov websites are pretty hit and miss.
- briandear 7y ago
  However, does the government have an incentive to help you find every deduction? Or course not.
  - stonogo 7y ago
    The free-file option was for people taking the standard deduction.
  - maxerickson 7y ago
    What's the deal with this complaint? Literally no one is proposing that the tax system be changed so that you get a bill that you have to pay, every proposal is that the government should send you forms prepared with the information they have, and you can file different forms if have additional information. You gotta complain about it being unfair for people in cash businesses to get that information or something, the lack of incentive alignment is not even close to a real problem with the idea.
Ozzie_osman 7y ago
It's probably a mix, but: https://qz.com/1590961/taxpayers-are-paying-turbotax-to-keep-taxes-complicated/ https://qz.com/1590961/taxpayers-are-paying-turbotax-to-keep... "Each year, Americans pay billions of dollars to Intuit, the corporate owner of TurboTax, to help them navigate the byzantine nightmare of filing a tax return. And each year, Intuit reinvests a small sliver of that revenue into political contributions and lobbying efforts to keep taxes pointlessly complicated."
- harryh 7y ago
  That isn't an answer to my question. I'm looking for a specific form, or deduction, or rule that exists because of this lobbying.
  - dumbthrow322 7y ago
    [assumed bad faith]
    - harryh 7y ago
      I'm not talking about IRS provided tax software. I'm talking about "tax code complexity." Things like all of our complicated deductions, or the AMT, or the NIIT or all the new goofy rules around S corps. Things like that.
      - dumbthrow322 7y ago
        Here is a decent start.[0] There's a year drop-down to see what bills Intuit lobbied for during each period. [0]https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/bills?cycle=2013&id=D000026667 https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/bills?c...
  - Ozzie_osman 7y ago
    I don't have an exact form, deduction or rule. The articles include broad statements but no exact details. Anyway, I edited my comment to read "keep tax filing complex", which is much better documented in the articles, though I don't think it would change opinions or arguments, but in the spirit of being as exact as possible.

by harryh 7y ago

Can you point to a specific rule in the tax code that is overly complex because of intuit lobbying and not because of the interests of one of the two main political parties in the US? I cannot.

wombat-man 7y ago

Well they lobbied to stop the IRS from creating a free online tax thing. https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-... It's slightly different I guess. But since a lot of the paperwork you have to feed into turbotax is already known to the IRS, it's possible the IRS having their own product would have really simplified things. Then again, gov websites are pretty hit and miss.

briandear 7y ago
However, does the government have an incentive to help you find every deduction? Or course not.
- stonogo 7y ago
  The free-file option was for people taking the standard deduction.
- maxerickson 7y ago
  What's the deal with this complaint? Literally no one is proposing that the tax system be changed so that you get a bill that you have to pay, every proposal is that the government should send you forms prepared with the information they have, and you can file different forms if have additional information. You gotta complain about it being unfair for people in cash businesses to get that information or something, the lack of incentive alignment is not even close to a real problem with the idea.

Ozzie_osman 7y ago

It's probably a mix, but: https://qz.com/1590961/taxpayers-are-paying-turbotax-to-keep-taxes-complicated/ https://qz.com/1590961/taxpayers-are-paying-turbotax-to-keep... "Each year, Americans pay billions of dollars to Intuit, the corporate owner of TurboTax, to help them navigate the byzantine nightmare of filing a tax return. And each year, Intuit reinvests a small sliver of that revenue into political contributions and lobbying efforts to keep taxes pointlessly complicated."

harryh 7y ago
That isn't an answer to my question. I'm looking for a specific form, or deduction, or rule that exists because of this lobbying.
- dumbthrow322 7y ago
  [assumed bad faith]
  - harryh 7y ago
    I'm not talking about IRS provided tax software. I'm talking about "tax code complexity." Things like all of our complicated deductions, or the AMT, or the NIIT or all the new goofy rules around S corps. Things like that.
    - dumbthrow322 7y ago
      Here is a decent start.[0] There's a year drop-down to see what bills Intuit lobbied for during each period. [0]https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/bills?cycle=2013&id=D000026667 https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/bills?c...
- Ozzie_osman 7y ago
  I don't have an exact form, deduction or rule. The articles include broad statements but no exact details. Anyway, I edited my comment to read "keep tax filing complex", which is much better documented in the articles, though I don't think it would change opinions or arguments, but in the spirit of being as exact as possible.