4 ms·

>Many of the people eligible for CTC don't file tax returns There is a level of pragmatism that calls for better communication of programs and help with tax fi

>Many of the people eligible for CTC don't file tax returns There is a level of pragmatism that calls for better communication of programs and help with tax filings ... but ... as a citizen, you do have a responsibility to file tax returns. Why is it always hard to make the argument from both sides, namely: we should make tax filing as easy as possible AND the citizen has a responsibility to file their taxes regardless. It seems we, as a society, have a hard time with the latter part.

kaiju0 5y ago
Most every other country has the government send a tax sheet to you. If you disagree you go to appeal. If you do nothing your done. So much easier.
- barbazoo 5y ago
  While I agree that that would be nice, I'm not sure that this is really as common as you say it is. Do you have examples?
  - andrewaylett 5y ago
    The UK is a good example of this -- if you're a regular employee and earn under the higher earnings threshold then you're very unlikely to be required to fill in any kind of tax return, as all your income will have been taxed at source and we don't tend to _do_ deductions. You'll get a P60 from your employer and you've got until October to notice if you either want to or need to fill in a self-assessment (hint: you don't). If you earn more, it may well be worthwhile filling one in because schemes like gift-aid assume basic rate tax and you can claim back the difference between basic and higher rate. But even then, as an employee you can often ask for any pension contributions or charitable donations to be given directly from salary pre-tax which means less paperwork later. Having to fill out self-assessment -- or at least complaining about doing so -- is a bit of a humble-brag as it's an indication that the person complaining earns enough (or has sufficiently complicated tax arrangements) to need to.
TFortunato 5y ago
In this case, no, many of those in question are not required to file a tax return.
erik_seaberg 5y ago
Before credits like this, filing wasn’t required and didn’t make sense for many people with low income: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2020_publink1000220687 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2020_publink1000...
dragonwriter 5y ago
> But … as a citizen, you do have a responsibility to file tax returns. No, this is not a general responsibility of citizenship.

kaiju0 5y ago

Most every other country has the government send a tax sheet to you. If you disagree you go to appeal. If you do nothing your done. So much easier.

barbazoo 5y ago
While I agree that that would be nice, I'm not sure that this is really as common as you say it is. Do you have examples?
- andrewaylett 5y ago
  The UK is a good example of this -- if you're a regular employee and earn under the higher earnings threshold then you're very unlikely to be required to fill in any kind of tax return, as all your income will have been taxed at source and we don't tend to _do_ deductions. You'll get a P60 from your employer and you've got until October to notice if you either want to or need to fill in a self-assessment (hint: you don't). If you earn more, it may well be worthwhile filling one in because schemes like gift-aid assume basic rate tax and you can claim back the difference between basic and higher rate. But even then, as an employee you can often ask for any pension contributions or charitable donations to be given directly from salary pre-tax which means less paperwork later. Having to fill out self-assessment -- or at least complaining about doing so -- is a bit of a humble-brag as it's an indication that the person complaining earns enough (or has sufficiently complicated tax arrangements) to need to.

TFortunato 5y ago

In this case, no, many of those in question are not required to file a tax return.

erik_seaberg 5y ago

Before credits like this, filing wasn’t required and didn’t make sense for many people with low income: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2020_publink1000220687 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2020_publink1000...

dragonwriter 5y ago

> But … as a citizen, you do have a responsibility to file tax returns. No, this is not a general responsibility of citizenship.