4 ms·

But TurboTax does a great job. It’s a good product. Happy to pay for it. Not sure why all of the hate. The problem is the tax system itself, not the software.

micromacrofoot 5y ago
Intuit lobbies the government to keep the tax system complicated so they can charge people to use their software. The majority of the civilized world spends almost 0 time doing personal taxes. Intuit steals our time and money.
- dominotw 5y ago
  > keep the tax system complicated what happened to the original forces that created this mess. I am not convinced that if it wasn't for intuit we would have a simple tax system. > The majority of the civilized world spends almost 0 time doing personal taxes. this isn't actually true.
  - micromacrofoot 5y ago
    > this isn't actually true There are at least 50 countries with less complex taxes than the united states
    - dominotw 5y ago
      ok? What does that have to do with original 'almost 0 time' claim? Also complexity of american tax code didn't come because of turbotax/intuit. Do you really think we have stuff like credits for home improvements, credits for student loan payments ect are in tax code because of intuit? There are politicians right now trying to cram in more and more tax code because those incentives are incredible popular with American public. All this is not because of intuit.
      - micromacrofoot 5y ago
        You got me "almost 0" was hyperbolic, I'll be more specific: In multiple countries personal taxes can be completed with little more than a signature, and most are simpler in general... the US ranks near the bottom in terms of complexity. I didn't say that Intuit caused complex taxes, I said they actively lobby to keep them complicated. Intuit spends millions on lobbying every year (against simplification efforts, as well as efforts for the government to create its own free digital tax filing system) and has recently pulled out of a federal free tax filing program, and are being sued by the FTC for their use of "free" in their marketing and performing bait and switch.
        dominotw 5y ago
        > I didn't say that Intuit caused complex taxes, I said they actively lobby to keep them complicated. they do? I know they lobby against free website. But i don't see why they nee to lobby for complicated tax code since all the tax exemptions and complexity is widely popular with american public. I cant imagine a politican running on removing home improvement exemptions to simplify tax code.
        micromacrofoot 5y ago
        They've specifically lobbied against automatic filing on multiple occasions, spanning several administrations, and they've also lobbied against tax code simplification. Are you engaging in this conversation to seek more information, or in an attempt to defend Intuit? most of these answers are a simple google away.
        dominotw 5y ago
        > Are you engaging in this conversation to seek more information, or in an attempt to defend Intuit? most of these answers are a simple google away. yes i am trying to find how they `lobbied against tax code simplification.` . All the links are pointing to how they lobbied against govt run tax filing system. eg: 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...
_jal 5y ago
> Not sure why all of the hate. .. I take it you have managed to post this without reading nearly every other comment?
et-al 5y ago
> Not sure why all of the hate. You're being facetious, right? They have dark patterns every step of the way to try to get you to pay more and to share your tax information. Their "free" is oftentimes not free. And on top of all this, there are countless articles about them lobbying to maintain the status quo of complicated taxes.
formerkrogemp 5y ago
Intuit has been spending billions to lobby for complicated tax filing process and against the government primarily filling out your forms for you based on data they should already have on hand from mandatory reporting. That's why people hate them so much.
Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
I'm not normally one to say "Bro, read the room", but... Bro. Read the room. The entire comment section answers the question of "why all of the hate".

micromacrofoot 5y ago

Intuit lobbies the government to keep the tax system complicated so they can charge people to use their software. The majority of the civilized world spends almost 0 time doing personal taxes. Intuit steals our time and money.

dominotw 5y ago
> keep the tax system complicated what happened to the original forces that created this mess. I am not convinced that if it wasn't for intuit we would have a simple tax system. > The majority of the civilized world spends almost 0 time doing personal taxes. this isn't actually true.
- micromacrofoot 5y ago
  > this isn't actually true There are at least 50 countries with less complex taxes than the united states
  - dominotw 5y ago
    ok? What does that have to do with original 'almost 0 time' claim? Also complexity of american tax code didn't come because of turbotax/intuit. Do you really think we have stuff like credits for home improvements, credits for student loan payments ect are in tax code because of intuit? There are politicians right now trying to cram in more and more tax code because those incentives are incredible popular with American public. All this is not because of intuit.
    - micromacrofoot 5y ago
      You got me "almost 0" was hyperbolic, I'll be more specific: In multiple countries personal taxes can be completed with little more than a signature, and most are simpler in general... the US ranks near the bottom in terms of complexity. I didn't say that Intuit caused complex taxes, I said they actively lobby to keep them complicated. Intuit spends millions on lobbying every year (against simplification efforts, as well as efforts for the government to create its own free digital tax filing system) and has recently pulled out of a federal free tax filing program, and are being sued by the FTC for their use of "free" in their marketing and performing bait and switch.
      - dominotw 5y ago
        > I didn't say that Intuit caused complex taxes, I said they actively lobby to keep them complicated. they do? I know they lobby against free website. But i don't see why they nee to lobby for complicated tax code since all the tax exemptions and complexity is widely popular with american public. I cant imagine a politican running on removing home improvement exemptions to simplify tax code.
        micromacrofoot 5y ago
        They've specifically lobbied against automatic filing on multiple occasions, spanning several administrations, and they've also lobbied against tax code simplification. Are you engaging in this conversation to seek more information, or in an attempt to defend Intuit? most of these answers are a simple google away.
        dominotw 5y ago
        > Are you engaging in this conversation to seek more information, or in an attempt to defend Intuit? most of these answers are a simple google away. yes i am trying to find how they `lobbied against tax code simplification.` . All the links are pointing to how they lobbied against govt run tax filing system. eg: 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...

_jal 5y ago

> Not sure why all of the hate. .. I take it you have managed to post this without reading nearly every other comment?

et-al 5y ago

> Not sure why all of the hate. You're being facetious, right? They have dark patterns every step of the way to try to get you to pay more and to share your tax information. Their "free" is oftentimes not free. And on top of all this, there are countless articles about them lobbying to maintain the status quo of complicated taxes.

formerkrogemp 5y ago

Intuit has been spending billions to lobby for complicated tax filing process and against the government primarily filling out your forms for you based on data they should already have on hand from mandatory reporting. That's why people hate them so much.

Sohcahtoa82 5y ago

I'm not normally one to say "Bro, read the room", but... Bro. Read the room. The entire comment section answers the question of "why all of the hate".