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You would think there would be more political will for a government to make taxation as smooth and painless as possible for its citizens. I don't hate paying in

You would think there would be more political will for a government to make taxation as smooth and painless as possible for its citizens. I don't hate paying income tax because I "lose" money, I hate it because the process is a massive pain in the ass, and if I make a mistake (how can you not), I risk being fined, or worse. Turbo Tax also provides some kind of service to help you if the IRS comes after you for some errors. One of my friends paid extra for this, him made a simple calculation error in their tax return, the IRS came after him for it, and Turbo Tax didn't do shit because he made the error, not Turbo Tax. So they're giving you the opportunity to pay them extra to cover the cost of their mistakes. I honestly think more people would be willing to pay higher taxes if the process was low-effort for most people. For example, if you work for a company that witholds taxes from your paycheck, you shouldn't have to do anything; either you get a check in the mail if you over-payed, or a bill if you under-payed, and you answer a yes/no question to adjust your W-4 for the next year.

warning26 5y ago
> I honestly think more people would be willing to pay higher taxes if the process was low-effort for most people. TBH I think this is why Intuit has been so successful in their lobbying efforts. A key goal of many politicians is to create tax breaks for the rich, and by making taxes as complicated as possible, they can trick the populace into agreeing to just about anything that would "simplify" the tax code.
- Hokusai 5y ago
  That makes a lot of sense. And it is not just about simplifying, it is also the general disdain against taxes that facilitates tax breaks for the rich.
bitwize 5y ago
Under most conditions, the IRS just wants its money. If you make a mistake on your return, they will notify you by mail and give you a number to call to get things cleared up. If you don't call the number within the allotted time period, and don't pay what you owe in a timely fashion, THEN they start hitting you with penalties. There are plenty of failure modes to this process that could potentially get bad, but in general the IRS wants to give you a chance to settle honest mistakes amicably, and only really "go after" you with tax evasion charges if you persistently avoid filing and paying. They're tax collectors, not cartoon villains. Sauce: Made a mistake on my taxes once, got contacted by the IRS, followed the procedures to correct it.

warning26 5y ago

> I honestly think more people would be willing to pay higher taxes if the process was low-effort for most people. TBH I think this is why Intuit has been so successful in their lobbying efforts. A key goal of many politicians is to create tax breaks for the rich, and by making taxes as complicated as possible, they can trick the populace into agreeing to just about anything that would "simplify" the tax code.

Hokusai 5y ago
That makes a lot of sense. And it is not just about simplifying, it is also the general disdain against taxes that facilitates tax breaks for the rich.

bitwize 5y ago

Under most conditions, the IRS just wants its money. If you make a mistake on your return, they will notify you by mail and give you a number to call to get things cleared up. If you don't call the number within the allotted time period, and don't pay what you owe in a timely fashion, THEN they start hitting you with penalties. There are plenty of failure modes to this process that could potentially get bad, but in general the IRS wants to give you a chance to settle honest mistakes amicably, and only really "go after" you with tax evasion charges if you persistently avoid filing and paying. They're tax collectors, not cartoon villains. Sauce: Made a mistake on my taxes once, got contacted by the IRS, followed the procedures to correct it.