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I'm surprised there's no way to generate the "Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return" from JSON. I have the same ~10 forms to enter every year. The IRS a

I'm surprised there's no way to generate the "Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return" from JSON. I have the same ~10 forms to enter every year. The IRS already knows how to import W2s based on SSN, right? There's some kind of data connectivity between employers/HR/payroll systems and the IRS database of somesort. Why can't this be expanded to the top 10 most popular forms so that all of the forms that get sent to both me and the IRS are pre-populated yearly for me? 5498 - retirement contribution 1095-C - health insurance 1099-B - investing 1099-DIV - investing 1099-INT - investing 1099-K - payment processor 1099-MISC - investing 1099-NEC - contractor income 1099-R - retirement/rollover stuff W2 - employer income

fauxpause_ 4y ago
Because of the TurboTax lobbying
- cameron_b 4y ago
  And others, but chiefly this. This is not a technical constraint, it's a lobbying-fueled legal, policy and political constraint. We're keenly behind the ball as technicians on this one.
- jimt1234 4y ago
  I'm gonna respectfully disagree. Sort of. Does Turbotax and H&R Block lobby to protect their businesses? Yes, of course. However, that lobbying is basically meaningless compared to the political pressure from the real beneficiaries of the current US tax system: the wealthy and big corporations who spend, say, $5-million on tax attorneys in order to save $50-million in taxes. That's who ultimately created the US tax system, that's who stands to lose the most from reform, and that's who's gonna work to protect the status quo.
  - ryan_lane 4y ago
    Those are two disconnected things. Turbotax and H&R Block lobbying to stop the IRS from having an auto-file system protects them, and doesn't change anything for the wealthy and big corporations who will continue to pay accountants to dodge taxes.
refurb 4y ago
You could, but the data can be a mess and often needs interpretation. I wouldn't trust the numbers to be pulled directly. 1099-K - you could easily be sent a 1099-k that includes money that shouldn't be included in your return 1099-B - it's not unusual for cost-basis to not be included, so you need to calculate a bunch of numbers from your 1099-B before entering into your tax return 1099-R - depending on the distribution you took, it may be taxed or not taxed depending on other information not included in the form I mean, it would save you the trouble of entering the numbers, but it doesn't solve the problem that there is a good chance the numbers aren't correct.
- jjnoakes 4y ago
  A huge majority of folks wouldn't need to bother, and the rest could make changes if they are needed.
  - refurb 4y ago
    I highly doubt it since the 1099-K reporting for any payment platform transfer over $600 is only delayed. That's going to impact a lot of people.
    - brewdad 4y ago
      I've met one person in my entire life that has to deal with a 1099-K. I've met a lot of people and have been around for a handful of decades.
      - refurb 4y ago
        You realize they changed the rules this year, but delayed implementation? The threshold used to be $20,000/200 transactions, but it's going to $600 for even a single transaction. Your friend sends you $1000 for a shared vacation? That's a 1099-k. Your roommates send you $1000 as their share of the rent? That's a 1099-k. Sell your car for $5,000? That's a 1099-k. None of those are actually taxable, so you need to sift through the 1099-Ks you receive to see which ones need to be reported and which ones don't.
misssocrates 4y ago
That's not everything. They want everything and want you to think they have everything so you provide everything.
- lxgr 4y ago
  It's not exactly a secret what they get in terms of automated reporting from employers and financial institutions, though. Why do I have to mail them, on paper no less, the same forms all over again?
  - knodi123 4y ago
    > Why do I have to mail them, on paper no less, the same forms all over again? I mean, you don't.... I haven't mailed a piece of paper to the IRS in about a decade.
    - lxgr 4y ago
      Are you talking about e-filing? For some reason, I don‘t seem to qualify – so it‘s off to the post office for me.
      - knodi123 4y ago
        Weird, I thought everyone qualified, although I've certainly never looked into it. Sorry! It's definitely a stupid system, no matter how you slice it.
      - SilasX 4y ago
        You might be thinking about filing directly on the IRS site, which has an income threshold? There are free filing services, like FreeTaxUSA that I use.

fauxpause_ 4y ago

Because of the TurboTax lobbying

cameron_b 4y ago
And others, but chiefly this. This is not a technical constraint, it's a lobbying-fueled legal, policy and political constraint. We're keenly behind the ball as technicians on this one.
jimt1234 4y ago
I'm gonna respectfully disagree. Sort of. Does Turbotax and H&R Block lobby to protect their businesses? Yes, of course. However, that lobbying is basically meaningless compared to the political pressure from the real beneficiaries of the current US tax system: the wealthy and big corporations who spend, say, $5-million on tax attorneys in order to save $50-million in taxes. That's who ultimately created the US tax system, that's who stands to lose the most from reform, and that's who's gonna work to protect the status quo.
- ryan_lane 4y ago
  Those are two disconnected things. Turbotax and H&R Block lobbying to stop the IRS from having an auto-file system protects them, and doesn't change anything for the wealthy and big corporations who will continue to pay accountants to dodge taxes.

refurb 4y ago

You could, but the data can be a mess and often needs interpretation. I wouldn't trust the numbers to be pulled directly. 1099-K - you could easily be sent a 1099-k that includes money that shouldn't be included in your return 1099-B - it's not unusual for cost-basis to not be included, so you need to calculate a bunch of numbers from your 1099-B before entering into your tax return 1099-R - depending on the distribution you took, it may be taxed or not taxed depending on other information not included in the form I mean, it would save you the trouble of entering the numbers, but it doesn't solve the problem that there is a good chance the numbers aren't correct.

jjnoakes 4y ago
A huge majority of folks wouldn't need to bother, and the rest could make changes if they are needed.
- refurb 4y ago
  I highly doubt it since the 1099-K reporting for any payment platform transfer over $600 is only delayed. That's going to impact a lot of people.
  - brewdad 4y ago
    I've met one person in my entire life that has to deal with a 1099-K. I've met a lot of people and have been around for a handful of decades.
    - refurb 4y ago
      You realize they changed the rules this year, but delayed implementation? The threshold used to be $20,000/200 transactions, but it's going to $600 for even a single transaction. Your friend sends you $1000 for a shared vacation? That's a 1099-k. Your roommates send you $1000 as their share of the rent? That's a 1099-k. Sell your car for $5,000? That's a 1099-k. None of those are actually taxable, so you need to sift through the 1099-Ks you receive to see which ones need to be reported and which ones don't.

misssocrates 4y ago

That's not everything. They want everything and want you to think they have everything so you provide everything.

lxgr 4y ago
It's not exactly a secret what they get in terms of automated reporting from employers and financial institutions, though. Why do I have to mail them, on paper no less, the same forms all over again?
- knodi123 4y ago
  > Why do I have to mail them, on paper no less, the same forms all over again? I mean, you don't.... I haven't mailed a piece of paper to the IRS in about a decade.
  - lxgr 4y ago
    Are you talking about e-filing? For some reason, I don‘t seem to qualify – so it‘s off to the post office for me.
    - knodi123 4y ago
      Weird, I thought everyone qualified, although I've certainly never looked into it. Sorry! It's definitely a stupid system, no matter how you slice it.
    - SilasX 4y ago
      You might be thinking about filing directly on the IRS site, which has an income threshold? There are free filing services, like FreeTaxUSA that I use.