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Dutchie here, never had an issue with tax returns in my country. You just go to the website, fill it in, done. I don't get the context at all. Is the ELI5: CA

Dutchie here, never had an issue with tax returns in my country. You just go to the website, fill it in, done. I don't get the context at all. Is the ELI5: CA wanted to create their own tax return software. Intuit said no, and now they use Intuit or something? Normally I understand context and such, but in this case: isn't it the obvious thing to do? Does the USA not have the back of their citizens? I'm sorry to say it so charged but this seems desperately simple on what ought to be done here.

epistasis 5y ago
> Does the USA not have the back of their citizens? In the US, at least one party requires its members to have the party's back, but not the other way. Which is why we have mass delusions about vaccines being bad, or COVID-19 not being a big deal. The party has decided its members need to provide blood sacrifices and the party members obliged. This is the same party that says that government can do no good, then asks for your vote. For a less partisan example, for the past ~3 years, people with US phone numbers have been bombarded by spam phone calls, making the phone system nearly useless, and congressional action has been nonexistent. When I see what is going on with national media and with federal inaction, I feel that the US is far past its peak years. We have chosen bad governance, and if we can't get a majority of people to even want to advocate for themselves, there's no way to get that back.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
failrate 5y ago
California offers the typical international option: they'll send you your estimated annual taxes, and you just jave to correct them if there's a discrepancy. This was supposed to be the default option for Californian state taxes. Instead, Intuit's army of lobbyists managed to almost get rid of it. It is now an opt in for people that is not advertised or easy to find on the gov website. Intuit's business model is making tax preparation easier. If tax preparation wasn't so deliberately complicated in the US, they would no longer have a viable business model.
- slobiwan 5y ago
  Can you provide some breadcrumbs to find opt-in ?
pokot0 5y ago
A country is made of people AND legal entities. Legal entities in the US have a lot of impact in what the country does (for example it's legal for companies to pay politicians, which is illegal almost everywhere else). Believe it or not, about half of the country believes these policies are great and it's what makes the usa so succesful. I am not making a stand, just trying to explain here.
- kfprt 5y ago
  It creates a strange disconnect. Voters in influence policy at election time and then lobbyists come in an undo everything.

epistasis 5y ago

> Does the USA not have the back of their citizens? In the US, at least one party requires its members to have the party's back, but not the other way. Which is why we have mass delusions about vaccines being bad, or COVID-19 not being a big deal. The party has decided its members need to provide blood sacrifices and the party members obliged. This is the same party that says that government can do no good, then asks for your vote. For a less partisan example, for the past ~3 years, people with US phone numbers have been bombarded by spam phone calls, making the phone system nearly useless, and congressional action has been nonexistent. When I see what is going on with national media and with federal inaction, I feel that the US is far past its peak years. We have chosen bad governance, and if we can't get a majority of people to even want to advocate for themselves, there's no way to get that back.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

failrate 5y ago

California offers the typical international option: they'll send you your estimated annual taxes, and you just jave to correct them if there's a discrepancy. This was supposed to be the default option for Californian state taxes. Instead, Intuit's army of lobbyists managed to almost get rid of it. It is now an opt in for people that is not advertised or easy to find on the gov website. Intuit's business model is making tax preparation easier. If tax preparation wasn't so deliberately complicated in the US, they would no longer have a viable business model.

slobiwan 5y ago
Can you provide some breadcrumbs to find opt-in ?

pokot0 5y ago

A country is made of people AND legal entities. Legal entities in the US have a lot of impact in what the country does (for example it's legal for companies to pay politicians, which is illegal almost everywhere else). Believe it or not, about half of the country believes these policies are great and it's what makes the usa so succesful. I am not making a stand, just trying to explain here.

kfprt 5y ago
It creates a strange disconnect. Voters in influence policy at election time and then lobbyists come in an undo everything.