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Filing personal taxes in the US sounds like filing taxes for a company in other countries. A complete nightmare consisting of tons of forms that some bureaucrat

Filing personal taxes in the US sounds like filing taxes for a company in other countries. A complete nightmare consisting of tons of forms that some bureaucrat dreamed up, which nobody really knows how to fill out correctly. Software exists to fill them out for you, and if you use some well-known software to do it, it's just assumed to be correct by everyone; including the state.

qzw 5y ago
This perception is what keeps a lot of tax preparation companies in business. I know people who could fill out their taxes in 10 minutes, who would instead pay hundreds of dollars every year to have it done by one of those “tax stores.” If US high schools would spend one day to walk kids through filling out a tax return, they’d probably put H&R Block out of business. Which is also why it’s won’t ever happen.
- Moto7451 5y ago
  Both you and the parent are right. I actually did get basic filing instructions in high school and managed to handle my own taxes easily for the first fourteen of my working years. Eventually my taxes fell into the realm of forms that even CPAs can make mistakes on or are unfamiliar with. I am really conservative with this stuff and really make sure to pay what I owe. I, or my CPA, still make mistakes that result in the State or Federal government sending me small “you paid us too much” checks every so often. That’s been true when I’ve done it myself, used TurboTax, or used CPAs. I have a friend with similarly complicated taxes and she just got her first “you owe us $XX” letter for this TY2020 and another $XX check in her favor for TY2018 and TY2019 making the whole thing a wash. If they can tell you that you paid the wrong amount a couple months after filing it feels like for those on a W2 and without unreported 1099 income they could just send a statement with an invoice if you owe and a check if you’re owed. The status quo for those individuals really is as you say. There’s enough complexity baked in that people throw their hands up in the air and just pay the $100 for basic tax prep that should be unnecessary in the first place and is not much more difficult than balancing a checking book.
  - qzw 5y ago
    Yes, I have also gotten those. Pretty nice to get a check that you weren’t expecting, from the IRS no less. In my experience a lot of CPAs are very dependent on tax prep software anyway. It might be more advanced “professional”tax software, but still has limitations. A good CPA will be more aware of those limitations ahead of time, but mistakes are almost inevitable over the course of a few years.
- triceratops 5y ago
  > If US high schools would spend one day to walk kids through filling out a tax return, they’d probably put H&R Block out of business. Lmao no. Look at the number of people who eat out every day instead of cooking. People go to H&R Block because filing taxes is tedious, boring and can land you in jail (or at least, serious legal hot water) if done wrong.
drstewart 5y ago
90% of people in the US could fill out their taxes by hand in less than 5 minutes. It's <12 lines on a one page form (1040-EZ) and half of those won't even apply to everyone. Yes, the IRS could do even this for you, but there's a myth that US taxes are always monstrously complicated that everyone likes to perpetuate: 1) The tax companies like it because it keeps people scared of doing it themselves 2) Tax reform advocates like it because it's they can cluck and shake their head at the corrupt government and tax companies 3) It _can_ get complicated if you have a complicated tax situation
- AmericanChopper 5y ago
  US tax laws are monstrously complicated. There’s a couple thousand pages of tax code, along with close to 10,000 pages of IRS regulations, that you won’t understand adequately unless you’ve also studied the many tens of thousands of pages of related case law. There is no single person alive who fully understands US tax laws, and even a well resourced team of people likely won’t when combined. It’s possible to understand it well enough to get by, but you’re pretty much guaranteed to make mistakes in one way or another, and some of those mistakes are pretty much guaranteed to be criminal offences. You could live your whole life without that ever becoming an issue, but the gamble you’re taking isn’t that you’re never going to make a mistake (you will), it’s that the IRS will never commit any considerable resources to investigating your mistakes.
  - UncleMeat 5y ago
    There is a ton of tax code, but if you have W2 income in one state and only contributed to a 401k then virtually none of those pages of laws apply to you. Most people fall into this category. Genuine errors on your taxes are also not criminal offenses.
  - NikolaeVarius 5y ago
    > some of those mistakes are pretty much guaranteed to be criminal offences. Unless there is malicious intent, the IRS does not give a fuck. They will bring it up, and ask you to fix it.
- 5y ago

qzw 5y ago

This perception is what keeps a lot of tax preparation companies in business. I know people who could fill out their taxes in 10 minutes, who would instead pay hundreds of dollars every year to have it done by one of those “tax stores.” If US high schools would spend one day to walk kids through filling out a tax return, they’d probably put H&R Block out of business. Which is also why it’s won’t ever happen.

Moto7451 5y ago
Both you and the parent are right. I actually did get basic filing instructions in high school and managed to handle my own taxes easily for the first fourteen of my working years. Eventually my taxes fell into the realm of forms that even CPAs can make mistakes on or are unfamiliar with. I am really conservative with this stuff and really make sure to pay what I owe. I, or my CPA, still make mistakes that result in the State or Federal government sending me small “you paid us too much” checks every so often. That’s been true when I’ve done it myself, used TurboTax, or used CPAs. I have a friend with similarly complicated taxes and she just got her first “you owe us $XX” letter for this TY2020 and another $XX check in her favor for TY2018 and TY2019 making the whole thing a wash. If they can tell you that you paid the wrong amount a couple months after filing it feels like for those on a W2 and without unreported 1099 income they could just send a statement with an invoice if you owe and a check if you’re owed. The status quo for those individuals really is as you say. There’s enough complexity baked in that people throw their hands up in the air and just pay the $100 for basic tax prep that should be unnecessary in the first place and is not much more difficult than balancing a checking book.
- qzw 5y ago
  Yes, I have also gotten those. Pretty nice to get a check that you weren’t expecting, from the IRS no less. In my experience a lot of CPAs are very dependent on tax prep software anyway. It might be more advanced “professional”tax software, but still has limitations. A good CPA will be more aware of those limitations ahead of time, but mistakes are almost inevitable over the course of a few years.
triceratops 5y ago
> If US high schools would spend one day to walk kids through filling out a tax return, they’d probably put H&R Block out of business. Lmao no. Look at the number of people who eat out every day instead of cooking. People go to H&R Block because filing taxes is tedious, boring and can land you in jail (or at least, serious legal hot water) if done wrong.

drstewart 5y ago

90% of people in the US could fill out their taxes by hand in less than 5 minutes. It's <12 lines on a one page form (1040-EZ) and half of those won't even apply to everyone. Yes, the IRS could do even this for you, but there's a myth that US taxes are always monstrously complicated that everyone likes to perpetuate: 1) The tax companies like it because it keeps people scared of doing it themselves 2) Tax reform advocates like it because it's they can cluck and shake their head at the corrupt government and tax companies 3) It _can_ get complicated if you have a complicated tax situation

AmericanChopper 5y ago
US tax laws are monstrously complicated. There’s a couple thousand pages of tax code, along with close to 10,000 pages of IRS regulations, that you won’t understand adequately unless you’ve also studied the many tens of thousands of pages of related case law. There is no single person alive who fully understands US tax laws, and even a well resourced team of people likely won’t when combined. It’s possible to understand it well enough to get by, but you’re pretty much guaranteed to make mistakes in one way or another, and some of those mistakes are pretty much guaranteed to be criminal offences. You could live your whole life without that ever becoming an issue, but the gamble you’re taking isn’t that you’re never going to make a mistake (you will), it’s that the IRS will never commit any considerable resources to investigating your mistakes.
- UncleMeat 5y ago
  There is a ton of tax code, but if you have W2 income in one state and only contributed to a 401k then virtually none of those pages of laws apply to you. Most people fall into this category. Genuine errors on your taxes are also not criminal offenses.
- NikolaeVarius 5y ago
  > some of those mistakes are pretty much guaranteed to be criminal offences. Unless there is malicious intent, the IRS does not give a fuck. They will bring it up, and ask you to fix it.
5y ago