4 ms·

>You already know what I owe or don't owe. No, they don't. They don't know if you acquired a dependent or lost one. They don't know if you are entitled to an

>You already know what I owe or don't owe. No, they don't. They don't know if you acquired a dependent or lost one. They don't know if you are entitled to an EV credit. They don't know if you are landlord with rental income and expenses. They don't know if you donated to charity. The list goes on and on. > If taxes were simplified, Americans would be willing to pay more Any support for that claim?

orf 4y ago
The tax authority doesn’t know if you’re a landlord? That hard to believe.
- PopAlongKid 4y ago
  Suppose I make your acquaintance and end up renting my second home to you starting next month. How would the IRS know anything about that? Even if they know I was a landlord in a prior year, they still have no way to know how much rent I received during the year, or what my expenses were.
  - orf 4y ago
    Because you have a contract, and that contract would be registered? And if you don’t have a contract, that’s a recipe for abuse of rights and tax evasion.
    - PopAlongKid 4y ago
      There is no requirement to have a written contract with a tenant, or to register it with anyone, to be a landlord. The IRS in fact never asks and does not know the identity of your tenants.
      - orf 4y ago
        > There is no requirement to have a written contract with a tenant Sounds horrific > The IRS in fact never asks and does not know the identity of your tenants. Why is that a requirement to registering a contract? You’re just registering the rent, address and length.
WorldMaker 4y ago
> They don't know if you acquired a dependent or lost one. In many cases they do. Births need to be certified at the time. Adoptions and fosters and guardianships have their own paperwork that needs to be filed and sometimes court time. Deaths need to be certified at the time. > They don't know if you are entitled to an EV credit. Cars need to be registered and plated. > They don't know if you are landlord with rental income and expenses. Landlords can already setup income tax disclosure and withholding on rentals at the time of accrual, just about the same as any other job. It doesn't need to be an "April surprise" non-withheld lump sum to the IRS (and it probably shouldn't ever be, but I'm not your CPA). Expense-related tax credits are certainly a complication, but that's probably tax credits that should be simplified anyway. If it was desired to keep them, it would probably make sense to report them as frequently and as timely as income tax withholding is allowed to be. The only real complication to most of the above is that in the current US federal system a lot of the data is state-managed (birth/death certificates, car registrations, etc) and there'd need to be some way to, uh, federate that data in a safe way. But some of that data already needs to be "federated" anyway (SSNs key off of birth certificates).
- PopAlongKid 4y ago
  >a lot of the data is state-managed (birth/death certificates, car registrations, etc) That is a huge, currently insurmountable problem. The states are not likely to just roll over and kow tow to new, intrusive federal tax laws, look at the history of ACA (Obamacare). Further, you don't seem to understand the requirements to be claimed as a dependent. Simply being the birth parent is only one small part, it also requires among other things a determination of residency household and who pays for support. There are a non-trivial number of tax returns filed which falsely claim a dependent (either deliberately or through ignorance), which then causes a lot of grief and delay for the taxpayer who is actually entitled to so claim. And there are more requirements to claim an EV credit beyond simply the registration. I note you didn't respond to the item about charitable donations. I could provide another twenty items that the IRS doesn't know enough about until you tell them if I wanted to take the time, and that still wouldn't be an exhaustive list.
  - 4y ago

orf 4y ago

The tax authority doesn’t know if you’re a landlord? That hard to believe.

PopAlongKid 4y ago
Suppose I make your acquaintance and end up renting my second home to you starting next month. How would the IRS know anything about that? Even if they know I was a landlord in a prior year, they still have no way to know how much rent I received during the year, or what my expenses were.
- orf 4y ago
  Because you have a contract, and that contract would be registered? And if you don’t have a contract, that’s a recipe for abuse of rights and tax evasion.
  - PopAlongKid 4y ago
    There is no requirement to have a written contract with a tenant, or to register it with anyone, to be a landlord. The IRS in fact never asks and does not know the identity of your tenants.
    - orf 4y ago
      > There is no requirement to have a written contract with a tenant Sounds horrific > The IRS in fact never asks and does not know the identity of your tenants. Why is that a requirement to registering a contract? You’re just registering the rent, address and length.

WorldMaker 4y ago

> They don't know if you acquired a dependent or lost one. In many cases they do. Births need to be certified at the time. Adoptions and fosters and guardianships have their own paperwork that needs to be filed and sometimes court time. Deaths need to be certified at the time. > They don't know if you are entitled to an EV credit. Cars need to be registered and plated. > They don't know if you are landlord with rental income and expenses. Landlords can already setup income tax disclosure and withholding on rentals at the time of accrual, just about the same as any other job. It doesn't need to be an "April surprise" non-withheld lump sum to the IRS (and it probably shouldn't ever be, but I'm not your CPA). Expense-related tax credits are certainly a complication, but that's probably tax credits that should be simplified anyway. If it was desired to keep them, it would probably make sense to report them as frequently and as timely as income tax withholding is allowed to be. The only real complication to most of the above is that in the current US federal system a lot of the data is state-managed (birth/death certificates, car registrations, etc) and there'd need to be some way to, uh, federate that data in a safe way. But some of that data already needs to be "federated" anyway (SSNs key off of birth certificates).

PopAlongKid 4y ago
>a lot of the data is state-managed (birth/death certificates, car registrations, etc) That is a huge, currently insurmountable problem. The states are not likely to just roll over and kow tow to new, intrusive federal tax laws, look at the history of ACA (Obamacare). Further, you don't seem to understand the requirements to be claimed as a dependent. Simply being the birth parent is only one small part, it also requires among other things a determination of residency household and who pays for support. There are a non-trivial number of tax returns filed which falsely claim a dependent (either deliberately or through ignorance), which then causes a lot of grief and delay for the taxpayer who is actually entitled to so claim. And there are more requirements to claim an EV credit beyond simply the registration. I note you didn't respond to the item about charitable donations. I could provide another twenty items that the IRS doesn't know enough about until you tell them if I wanted to take the time, and that still wouldn't be an exhaustive list.
- 4y ago