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Why would I be mad at Intuit? They’re an amoral profit-seeking company seeking profit. I’m furious at the IRS and Congress for not providing me with a free, sim

Why would I be mad at Intuit? They’re an amoral profit-seeking company seeking profit. I’m furious at the IRS and Congress for not providing me with a free, simple federal tax filing solution. I know there are free file programs for certain income brackets or tax situations, but it’s outrageous that the IRS has colluded with Intuit (and other paid tax preparers) by strongly recommending that taxpayers file electronically but then not provide a free solution across the board.

CAPSLOCKSSTUCK 5y ago
^ This. It's so obnoxious that the _only way_ to e-file is to go through one of these companies, unless your income falls below a certain (not-very-generous) threshold.
lostcolony 5y ago
First, you can still e-file for free. You just don't get any guidance on filling out the forms. Second, the reason it's this way...is because of the excessive lobbying to keep it this way, of which Intuit is one of the largest players. In fact, there is no reason for the IRS not to just tell you "here is what we think you owe/should be refunded", and for you to say "Nope, here's why (and e-file relevant forms)", or "Yep, that's correct", except that lobbying has prevented it (well, and the last time it came up one of the two political parties was against it ostensibly because 'big government')
- TillE 5y ago
  > First, you can still e-file for free. Only for certain definitions of "you". All the available offers have various restrictions.
  - teraflop 5y ago
    AFAIK there are no restrictions on who can use the IRS's Free Fillable Forms, though there are a few fairly obscure forms it doesn't support. https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-forms https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form...
    - sircastor 5y ago
      That’s correct. The filling is free for everyone. The tax preparation is not.
daemoens 5y ago
The IRS didn't collude, congress did. They're the ones who cutting their budget, year after year. >Intuit revved its new lobbying machine. Even before the OMB report was publicly released, a group of Republican lawmakers, led by TurboTax’s hometown congressman, wrote to the agency arguing that there was no reason for the government to “compete” with the “well-established” private tax prep companies. Intuit’s lobbyists also went above the OMB and pressed their case directly to the White House, Forman recalled. >At the IRS, “all hell broke loose,” remembered Terry Lutes, who was then the head of electronic filing at the agency. Intuit’s clout on the Hill meant that lawmakers were soon accusing the IRS of making “secret plans to undercut the industry,” Lutes said. The agency ran the risk of seeing its funding cut if it were to pursue the Bush plan. >The IRS commissioner at the time, Charles Rossotti, also opposed the idea. The IRS’ customer service staff, already too thin to respond adequately to Americans’ questions about the tax code, would have to grow substantially to handle millions of software queries. Congress “will never give you sufficient funding,” Rossotti told ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f...
_bfhp 5y ago
Why would I be mad at the guy who stabbed me? He is simply a collection of atoms following fatalistic processes. I'm furious at the knife and knife makers for not providing me with a stab-wound-free epidermis.
- anm89 5y ago
  Funny I just came up with almost the exact same analogy above and then saw your post.
unosama 5y ago
They encourage filing electronically now? That's news to me. I filed my taxes electronically two years ago and they apparently printed it out and then lost the paperwork, then accused me me of failing to file taxes a year later. This year I found out they lost it again. I just don't understand why they're encouraging e-filing when they can't keep track of them properly.
anm89 5y ago
This is like if you were getting violently mugged and you stopped in the middle and said "why would I be mad at the muggers, they are just optimizing their own finances". You can expect people to do what is in their own interest without supporting them. I expect that the muggers will mug me. I don't support them in mugging me. They are an amoral profit seeking company who is screwing you and I over so they can benefit. That doesn't mean it should automatically be illegal, but it's not clear to me why you would like this.
- Dracophoenix 5y ago
  I read the comment as agreeing with you more than it disagreed. Gp is rightfully mad at Congress and IRS because ,regardless of Intuit's own interests, levying federal taxes is solely a power of Congress. If neither Congress nor the IRS are making tax filing simpler, then either there's some hidden agenda or they're just plain incompetent. They're not victims of anything other than themselves.
hbrav 5y ago
I'm not sure your outrage at the IRS is well-placed. The Taxpayer First Act prevents the IRS from developing a competing tax-filing service: https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-...

CAPSLOCKSSTUCK 5y ago

^ This. It's so obnoxious that the _only way_ to e-file is to go through one of these companies, unless your income falls below a certain (not-very-generous) threshold.

lostcolony 5y ago

First, you can still e-file for free. You just don't get any guidance on filling out the forms. Second, the reason it's this way...is because of the excessive lobbying to keep it this way, of which Intuit is one of the largest players. In fact, there is no reason for the IRS not to just tell you "here is what we think you owe/should be refunded", and for you to say "Nope, here's why (and e-file relevant forms)", or "Yep, that's correct", except that lobbying has prevented it (well, and the last time it came up one of the two political parties was against it ostensibly because 'big government')

TillE 5y ago
> First, you can still e-file for free. Only for certain definitions of "you". All the available offers have various restrictions.
- teraflop 5y ago
  AFAIK there are no restrictions on who can use the IRS's Free Fillable Forms, though there are a few fairly obscure forms it doesn't support. https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-forms https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form...
  - sircastor 5y ago
    That’s correct. The filling is free for everyone. The tax preparation is not.

daemoens 5y ago

The IRS didn't collude, congress did. They're the ones who cutting their budget, year after year. >Intuit revved its new lobbying machine. Even before the OMB report was publicly released, a group of Republican lawmakers, led by TurboTax’s hometown congressman, wrote to the agency arguing that there was no reason for the government to “compete” with the “well-established” private tax prep companies. Intuit’s lobbyists also went above the OMB and pressed their case directly to the White House, Forman recalled. >At the IRS, “all hell broke loose,” remembered Terry Lutes, who was then the head of electronic filing at the agency. Intuit’s clout on the Hill meant that lawmakers were soon accusing the IRS of making “secret plans to undercut the industry,” Lutes said. The agency ran the risk of seeing its funding cut if it were to pursue the Bush plan. >The IRS commissioner at the time, Charles Rossotti, also opposed the idea. The IRS’ customer service staff, already too thin to respond adequately to Americans’ questions about the tax code, would have to grow substantially to handle millions of software queries. Congress “will never give you sufficient funding,” Rossotti told ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-f...

_bfhp 5y ago

Why would I be mad at the guy who stabbed me? He is simply a collection of atoms following fatalistic processes. I'm furious at the knife and knife makers for not providing me with a stab-wound-free epidermis.

anm89 5y ago
Funny I just came up with almost the exact same analogy above and then saw your post.

unosama 5y ago

They encourage filing electronically now? That's news to me. I filed my taxes electronically two years ago and they apparently printed it out and then lost the paperwork, then accused me me of failing to file taxes a year later. This year I found out they lost it again. I just don't understand why they're encouraging e-filing when they can't keep track of them properly.

anm89 5y ago

This is like if you were getting violently mugged and you stopped in the middle and said "why would I be mad at the muggers, they are just optimizing their own finances". You can expect people to do what is in their own interest without supporting them. I expect that the muggers will mug me. I don't support them in mugging me. They are an amoral profit seeking company who is screwing you and I over so they can benefit. That doesn't mean it should automatically be illegal, but it's not clear to me why you would like this.

Dracophoenix 5y ago
I read the comment as agreeing with you more than it disagreed. Gp is rightfully mad at Congress and IRS because ,regardless of Intuit's own interests, levying federal taxes is solely a power of Congress. If neither Congress nor the IRS are making tax filing simpler, then either there's some hidden agenda or they're just plain incompetent. They're not victims of anything other than themselves.

hbrav 5y ago

I'm not sure your outrage at the IRS is well-placed. The Taxpayer First Act prevents the IRS from developing a competing tax-filing service: https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-...