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Obligatory mention of https://www.turbotaxsucksass.com/ https://www.turbotaxsucksass.com/, which takes you directly to real free file option of each major onlin

Obligatory mention of https://www.turbotaxsucksass.com/ https://www.turbotaxsucksass.com/, which takes you directly to real free file option of each major online tax prep site, bypassing all the misleading not-actually-free filing options that the sites loudly advertise.

swiley 6y ago
I thought the official IRS form filler was discontinued? Does this just take you to another intuit competitor? EDIT: it just sends you to the free version of turbo tax and has links for the competitors heh
- masklinn 6y ago
  > I thought the official IRS form filler was discontinued? IRS's own service was discontinued after an agreement with tax preparation companies that they would provide such a service (the IRS Free File Program) if your AGI is below 69k (nice). Which they do, but try to hide as much as they can via negative SEO and various dark pattern, so that you unknowingly get directed towards "free" offers which quickly require you to pay. There's plenty of information all over the net. And I thought I remembered LWT doing an episode on that recently, but apparently it was Patriot Act… in what I now learn was the last episode, that would certainly explain why it's been so long I've seen an episode pop up in my feed.
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    Unfortunately, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj was canceled[0]. The last episode was June 28, 2020: "Why Doing Taxes Is So Hard" It's too bad. I thought it was a really worthwhile show. --- [0]: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/hasan-minhaj-patriot-act-canceled-netflix-1234738562/ https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/hasan-minhaj-patriot-act-ca...
    - masklinn 6y ago
      Yes, that’s what I meant by “last episode”. I should probably have written “final” or “ultimate”.
- TheJoeMan 6y ago
  What’s crazy is there is a tier of Turbotax called “Free” (not free if you make almost any money) and “Free File” (actually free)
  - masklinn 6y ago
    It’s not crazy, the entire point is to avoid use of Free File by any means possible.

swiley 6y ago

I thought the official IRS form filler was discontinued? Does this just take you to another intuit competitor? EDIT: it just sends you to the free version of turbo tax and has links for the competitors heh

masklinn 6y ago
> I thought the official IRS form filler was discontinued? IRS's own service was discontinued after an agreement with tax preparation companies that they would provide such a service (the IRS Free File Program) if your AGI is below 69k (nice). Which they do, but try to hide as much as they can via negative SEO and various dark pattern, so that you unknowingly get directed towards "free" offers which quickly require you to pay. There's plenty of information all over the net. And I thought I remembered LWT doing an episode on that recently, but apparently it was Patriot Act… in what I now learn was the last episode, that would certainly explain why it's been so long I've seen an episode pop up in my feed.
- pmiller2 6y ago
  Unfortunately, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj was canceled[0]. The last episode was June 28, 2020: "Why Doing Taxes Is So Hard" It's too bad. I thought it was a really worthwhile show. --- [0]: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/hasan-minhaj-patriot-act-canceled-netflix-1234738562/ https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/hasan-minhaj-patriot-act-ca...
  - masklinn 6y ago
    Yes, that’s what I meant by “last episode”. I should probably have written “final” or “ultimate”.
TheJoeMan 6y ago
What’s crazy is there is a tier of Turbotax called “Free” (not free if you make almost any money) and “Free File” (actually free)
- masklinn 6y ago
  It’s not crazy, the entire point is to avoid use of Free File by any means possible.