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So, the same reason we can't have the convenience of pre-filled tax returns from the IRS? People need to be able to feel the pain of the taxes they pay, becaus

So, the same reason we can't have the convenience of pre-filled tax returns from the IRS? People need to be able to feel the pain of the taxes they pay, because it might help bring them closer to the ideological conservative viewpoint.

lockhouse 4y ago
Why would ensuring people know how much they are paying in taxes be a bad thing?
- zamadatix 4y ago
  It's not so much the concept that's bad as the proposed execution. Bold the amount that came from tax next to the total on the receipt or similar, it'll have the same effect without requiring people agree it's more important than knowing what the actual price of something is going to be.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  You can do that without making them do all the paperwork. For nearly all taxpayers the IRS already knows how much you owe, and can give you a return that is already filled out. But people like Grover Norquist believe that anything that makes paying taxes easier will cause people to become more accepting of taxation in the first place. So we all need to suffer the pain of filling out a return from scratch, to make sure we have the right attitude towards taxes. Nobody is having the information hidden from them in any case. Even pre-filled from the IRS, it would be right in front of you.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  1) There are other ways to do that that don't annoy people so much. 2) Surveys about understanding of how taxes work, of personal or typical tax burden, and even about whether a given individual believes they were affected by some new high-profile tax law or other (versus whether they actually were...) demonstrate pretty damn conclusively that this approach has entirely failed, anyway.
twblalock 4y ago
If the taxes are just and sensible, you have nothing to fear. If the taxes are silly and ridiculous (which many are), then they should be rolled back and people should know about them. That's not conservative, it's just common sense.

lockhouse 4y ago

Why would ensuring people know how much they are paying in taxes be a bad thing?

zamadatix 4y ago
It's not so much the concept that's bad as the proposed execution. Bold the amount that came from tax next to the total on the receipt or similar, it'll have the same effect without requiring people agree it's more important than knowing what the actual price of something is going to be.
rootusrootus 4y ago
You can do that without making them do all the paperwork. For nearly all taxpayers the IRS already knows how much you owe, and can give you a return that is already filled out. But people like Grover Norquist believe that anything that makes paying taxes easier will cause people to become more accepting of taxation in the first place. So we all need to suffer the pain of filling out a return from scratch, to make sure we have the right attitude towards taxes. Nobody is having the information hidden from them in any case. Even pre-filled from the IRS, it would be right in front of you.
yamtaddle 4y ago
1) There are other ways to do that that don't annoy people so much. 2) Surveys about understanding of how taxes work, of personal or typical tax burden, and even about whether a given individual believes they were affected by some new high-profile tax law or other (versus whether they actually were...) demonstrate pretty damn conclusively that this approach has entirely failed, anyway.

twblalock 4y ago

If the taxes are just and sensible, you have nothing to fear. If the taxes are silly and ridiculous (which many are), then they should be rolled back and people should know about them. That's not conservative, it's just common sense.