5 ms·

I'm not going to claim they are easy, but they are accurate (they have a Do The Math calculation button). Even if you mess up, the IRS will typically send you a

I'm not going to claim they are easy, but they are accurate (they have a Do The Math calculation button). Even if you mess up, the IRS will typically send you a response noting where their calculations diverged from yours and offer to automatically adjust. (Which denotes the absurdity of this exercise for most taxpayers because the IRS already has all the information it needs to complete your taxes).

jxramos 4y ago
Yah you have to be confident of the values you’re plugging in. Do the math is for the simple in-form formulae. Some of the raw data you put in comes from worksheets etc you fill out on your own. You may benefit from a gist I’ve kept around with some tax urls for free tools out there https://gist.github.com/jxramos/08ea6af443dae5a251f0a5b21ee5e80f https://gist.github.com/jxramos/08ea6af443dae5a251f0a5b21ee5...
rtpg 4y ago
Accuracy here is probably about classification? Like “am I really putting this in the right box?”
geoelectric 4y ago
Wonder what the minimum information you could put in, and how accurate it'd have to be, to get that response. It'd be cool if you could lifehack your way into getting the IRS to do your taxes just by sending something obviously wrong that they'd autocorrect into the final product! Then we'd be roughly on parity with more sane countries that just send you a tax bill.
- thebradbain 4y ago
  Ah, the classic game of “Does this mistake get me free tax preparation or jail time”
- davchana 4y ago
  Well, one way to answer the minimum is, one has to report every 0.49 dollars of income, even if the bank who paid did not report it to IRS. Agree, most countries (including India) simply opens their portals, you sign in, check all numbers, report anything missing like income or deduction, and press the final Enter.
- roflyear 4y ago
  IRS is very understanding, but I wouldn't suggest this. I have gotten plenty of letters from the IRS and they are always stressful. The IRS has always responded in a really positive way, so it is really worth talking to them (well, unless you think you may be in real legal trouble... I guess "don't talk to the cops" applies here too...) if you're in the situation where you think "oh, yeah I messed up" or "oh, yeah they messed up" it's probably best to just reply... but yeah if you think it is serious talk to a tax attorney... (not an accountant, which isn't a tax attorney). The "they messed up" for me was a crypto thing, where I actually took a small net loss, and didn't file (because you don't need to, for capital losses, from my understanding, though I guess you should) and they thought I took some insane gain b/c of the $ value of the trades. I just mailed them the trades, said "I didn't submit the form for this b/c I didn't think I needed to for a loss" and they said "yay, thanks, see ya" a bit later. Positive experience.
Rury 4y ago
They actually don't have all the information they need in every case, as not everything is reported to the IRS. But yeah, they already have the majority of information, particularly the most impactful information, and for the majority of people, all of the information that they need. Anyhow, I'd imagine in any case it is still useful as a way to validate information.
IgorPartola 4y ago
Yup. I suppose they can use the cell phone tracking to figure how many miles you’ve put on your personal vehicle and use AI to figure out how many were business use miles. /s In reality only if you take standard deductions and only get paid with a W-2 can they actually figure it out. But I agree that overall the process is messed up.
- joxel 4y ago
  So the reality is that they could automatically calculate taxes for >>50% of households?
  - IgorPartola 4y ago
    Except they don’t know who they can and can’t do this for, so the entire exercise is a bit useless.
    - joxel 4y ago
      Not for the >>50% of people who they know. The IRS just mails you their projection and you can amend it if necessary. It clearly is less work for the citizenry.

jxramos 4y ago

Yah you have to be confident of the values you’re plugging in. Do the math is for the simple in-form formulae. Some of the raw data you put in comes from worksheets etc you fill out on your own. You may benefit from a gist I’ve kept around with some tax urls for free tools out there https://gist.github.com/jxramos/08ea6af443dae5a251f0a5b21ee5e80f https://gist.github.com/jxramos/08ea6af443dae5a251f0a5b21ee5...

rtpg 4y ago

Accuracy here is probably about classification? Like “am I really putting this in the right box?”

geoelectric 4y ago

Wonder what the minimum information you could put in, and how accurate it'd have to be, to get that response. It'd be cool if you could lifehack your way into getting the IRS to do your taxes just by sending something obviously wrong that they'd autocorrect into the final product! Then we'd be roughly on parity with more sane countries that just send you a tax bill.

thebradbain 4y ago
Ah, the classic game of “Does this mistake get me free tax preparation or jail time”
davchana 4y ago
Well, one way to answer the minimum is, one has to report every 0.49 dollars of income, even if the bank who paid did not report it to IRS. Agree, most countries (including India) simply opens their portals, you sign in, check all numbers, report anything missing like income or deduction, and press the final Enter.
roflyear 4y ago
IRS is very understanding, but I wouldn't suggest this. I have gotten plenty of letters from the IRS and they are always stressful. The IRS has always responded in a really positive way, so it is really worth talking to them (well, unless you think you may be in real legal trouble... I guess "don't talk to the cops" applies here too...) if you're in the situation where you think "oh, yeah I messed up" or "oh, yeah they messed up" it's probably best to just reply... but yeah if you think it is serious talk to a tax attorney... (not an accountant, which isn't a tax attorney). The "they messed up" for me was a crypto thing, where I actually took a small net loss, and didn't file (because you don't need to, for capital losses, from my understanding, though I guess you should) and they thought I took some insane gain b/c of the $ value of the trades. I just mailed them the trades, said "I didn't submit the form for this b/c I didn't think I needed to for a loss" and they said "yay, thanks, see ya" a bit later. Positive experience.

Rury 4y ago

They actually don't have all the information they need in every case, as not everything is reported to the IRS. But yeah, they already have the majority of information, particularly the most impactful information, and for the majority of people, all of the information that they need. Anyhow, I'd imagine in any case it is still useful as a way to validate information.

IgorPartola 4y ago

Yup. I suppose they can use the cell phone tracking to figure how many miles you’ve put on your personal vehicle and use AI to figure out how many were business use miles. /s In reality only if you take standard deductions and only get paid with a W-2 can they actually figure it out. But I agree that overall the process is messed up.

joxel 4y ago
So the reality is that they could automatically calculate taxes for >>50% of households?
- IgorPartola 4y ago
  Except they don’t know who they can and can’t do this for, so the entire exercise is a bit useless.
  - joxel 4y ago
    Not for the >>50% of people who they know. The IRS just mails you their projection and you can amend it if necessary. It clearly is less work for the citizenry.