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No way would I ever trust open source tax software not to mess things up somehow. The paid software has a big incentive to get it right.
by CheezeIt 5y ago
No way would I ever trust open source tax software not to mess things up somehow. The paid software has a big incentive to get it right.
- bsdnoob 5y agoDo you not trust any opensource software and prefer only paid software to build your systems?
- orangepurple 5y agoGuess who is going to get pulled into court when someone's taxes get screwed up and the IRS comes after them?
- Mathnerd314 5y ago> the IRS doesn't consider accidental mistakes as fraud. A case for intention has to be made before the IRS actually charges you with a crime. It's relatively easy to screw up your taxes by misentering a number into the paid software as well. The various guarantees the paid software people offer don't cover this sort of situation. I don't think this is really a factor.
- jjeaff 5y agoDo you think if that happened while using Intuit software, they are going to pull intuit into court? When you prepare your taxes using software, it all looks the same once the IRS receives it. It will show up as self prepared. If you pay a CPA to do it, then they also sign the return. But in either case, you will be responsible for underpaying your taxes and will have to make up the difference. I doubt any of the software companies offer any kind of guarantee.
- kube-system 5y agoThe big tax companies do offer some guarantees of the accuracy of their calculations. Which is probably not the kind of mistake you’ll have on your taxes anyway. Basic arithmetic is easy. And if you do make these mistakes it’s not likely the IRS does anything more than correcting it. But it’s more than no guarantee. Also they do provide human support.
- renewiltord 5y agoAs far as I know, all the tax software tells you you are responsible in the end.
- CheezeIt 5y agoObviously not, that’s why I specified tax software.
- kiba 5y agoOpen source can be paid.
- CheezeIt 5y agoNo it can’t.
- kube-system 5y agoI bought my first Linux distro in a box on a shelf in a store.
- CheezeIt 5y agoBe serious.
- kube-system 5y agoI am serious. And Red Hat had $3.4 billion in revenue the year it was acquired. There are plenty of people getting paid to write open source software. The top contributors to open source projects are frequently for-profit companies. Open source != hobbyist. There’s nothing about paid software development that requires source code to be kept private.
- CheezeIt 5y agoTheir customers aren’t paying for the software.
- kube-system 5y agoThey do make a lot of money from value add services, but in some cases, yes they absolutely are paying for software. This is fairly common when people want features/updates that don’t yet exist.
- 5y ago
- thewakalix 5y agoObligatory reminder that libre software need not be $0.
- icelancer 5y agoEquifax controls as much of our lives as tax software. Possibly more. And there are no penalties for screwing up repeatedly.
- CheezeIt 5y agoWhat’s your point?
- cable2600 5y agoPaid software like Turbotax has hand-holding via the web interface or helpline chat over the app. Tech support is included in the price.
- CheezeIt 5y agoIf it were open source, then somebody else could repackage it and sell it themselves.