4 ms·

In the US, the Republican Party has a history of intentionally pushing for cumbersome tax filing as part of encouraging people to hate the idea of taxes in gene

In the US, the Republican Party has a history of intentionally pushing for cumbersome tax filing as part of encouraging people to hate the idea of taxes in general.

belval 5y ago
I don't think it's a Republican thing, the Liberal party and the NPD in Canada are both left-leaning and they have a majority yet they aren't pushing for this. Pretty sure it's just run-of-the-mill lobbying and corruption unfortunately. A typical "think of the jobs!" type of thing.
- monetus 5y ago
  I wouldn't say its not a republican thing, just also a many other people/groups thing. You're right, just wanted to emphasize that.
- dwohnitmok 5y ago
  What parent is referring to is not just lack of pushing for it, but active campaigning against automatic filing. Not a "think of the jobs" but "automatic filing is intrinsically bad." See e.g. http://reason.org/files/ba148cd5babdda39f9ebb43b336b01d4.pdf http://reason.org/files/ba148cd5babdda39f9ebb43b336b01d4.pdf
- heavyset_go 5y ago
  Republicans and the Liberal party in Canada are both neoliberal when it comes to their economic policies, they mostly only diverge on social issues and social services.
- slavik81 5y ago
  It kinda already had been addressed. SimpleTax was released as donationware and the CRA introduced NETFILE and Autofill. Filing a return today is way easier than in, say, 2011. Buying TurboTax has been unnecessary for a decade.
- stainforth 5y ago
  Your counter to is that the politicians in a different country with an entirely different governmental evolution didn't arrive at the same thing?
throwawayboise 5y ago
That's why I do my taxes manually and mail them in. I want it to be as painful as possible.
- abledon 5y ago
  haha, have it done all automatically in SimpleTax, then download the PDFs, run a custom character-to-messy-handwriting transformer on all filled fields, then print out the paper forms and mail them in
- imtringued 5y ago
  At some point the tax system will be so painful that filing your taxes manually will be considered to be as severe as physical assault.
- paulmd 5y ago
  nice one, letting the government hold onto your refund for an extra month is really sticking it to the man!
justin_oaks 5y ago
I've heard that too. And the idea is disgusting to me. I assume those who genuinely espouse this idea are those who are rich enough to have an accountant do all their taxes for them. Is it really necessary to "encourage" me to dislike taxes? Is not the money leaving my pocket sufficient? I've also heard Republicans claiming that IRS-provided tax bills/refunds is equivalent to a tax. I guess the implication is that the government is going to intentionally charge you more. Having to use TurboTax or someting like it is equivalent to a tax, but it's paid to a corporation instead of the government. If I had to choose between my money going to the government and Intuit, I'd choose the government.

In the US, the Republican Party has a history of intentionally pushing for cumbersome tax filing as part of encouraging people to hate the idea of taxes in general.

belval 5y ago

I don't think it's a Republican thing, the Liberal party and the NPD in Canada are both left-leaning and they have a majority yet they aren't pushing for this. Pretty sure it's just run-of-the-mill lobbying and corruption unfortunately. A typical "think of the jobs!" type of thing.

monetus 5y ago
I wouldn't say its not a republican thing, just also a many other people/groups thing. You're right, just wanted to emphasize that.
dwohnitmok 5y ago
What parent is referring to is not just lack of pushing for it, but active campaigning against automatic filing. Not a "think of the jobs" but "automatic filing is intrinsically bad." See e.g. http://reason.org/files/ba148cd5babdda39f9ebb43b336b01d4.pdf http://reason.org/files/ba148cd5babdda39f9ebb43b336b01d4.pdf
heavyset_go 5y ago
Republicans and the Liberal party in Canada are both neoliberal when it comes to their economic policies, they mostly only diverge on social issues and social services.
slavik81 5y ago
It kinda already had been addressed. SimpleTax was released as donationware and the CRA introduced NETFILE and Autofill. Filing a return today is way easier than in, say, 2011. Buying TurboTax has been unnecessary for a decade.
stainforth 5y ago
Your counter to is that the politicians in a different country with an entirely different governmental evolution didn't arrive at the same thing?

throwawayboise 5y ago

That's why I do my taxes manually and mail them in. I want it to be as painful as possible.

abledon 5y ago
haha, have it done all automatically in SimpleTax, then download the PDFs, run a custom character-to-messy-handwriting transformer on all filled fields, then print out the paper forms and mail them in
imtringued 5y ago
At some point the tax system will be so painful that filing your taxes manually will be considered to be as severe as physical assault.
paulmd 5y ago
nice one, letting the government hold onto your refund for an extra month is really sticking it to the man!

justin_oaks 5y ago

I've heard that too. And the idea is disgusting to me. I assume those who genuinely espouse this idea are those who are rich enough to have an accountant do all their taxes for them. Is it really necessary to "encourage" me to dislike taxes? Is not the money leaving my pocket sufficient? I've also heard Republicans claiming that IRS-provided tax bills/refunds is equivalent to a tax. I guess the implication is that the government is going to intentionally charge you more. Having to use TurboTax or someting like it is equivalent to a tax, but it's paid to a corporation instead of the government. If I had to choose between my money going to the government and Intuit, I'd choose the government.