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Why couldn't the FSF just develop such software on their own? You don't even need to make it complicated and walled-garden with eFile, just have the program en
by AdamJacobMuller 4y ago
Why couldn't the FSF just develop such software on their own?
You don't even need to make it complicated and walled-garden with eFile, just have the program end up with a printable PDF that you mail to the IRS.
Want to incentivize the IRS to open their eFiling system so someone like the FSF can eFile or make their own ? Just send 10,20,30m paper 1040 forms. That will quickly cause the IRS to want alternatives. This will never work for a simple reason.
The problem, as I see it, is that people misunderstand what value online eFilers offer their customers.
I could have gone on TurboTax website the day I got my W-2, filled out their forms and "get your money in as little as 1 minute," deposited directly into their bank account where you get a virtual debit card. Regardless of your opinions about that scheme, many people are very attracted to it and in my hypothetical paper filing logjam scenario it might take 6 months and legislation to resolve it, nobody wants to wait for their refund, not even for the week or two it takes the IRSs normal ACH, I want it in 1 minute! This is (part of) the real perceived value from companies like TurboTax. Is the FSF going to fund advances like this? Of course not.
The other half of the value proposition from them is protection against mistakes. Again, regardless of the actual utility of these claims, some people are very afraid of making seemingly minor errors on their tax return and being faced with a huge tax bill with huge fees and fines and penalties. Yes, I know that the IRS is actually a semi-reasonable organization and for the average filer the chances of having something like this happen is effectively nil, but, people are attracted to the security of those protection guarantees. Is the FSF going to back their software with a similar liability promise?
- calvinmorrison 4y agoWhy? because the reality is these are NOT technical issues. It's easy to recruit developers to make the next best editor. It's another to get them to read tax law.
- bluGill 4y agoI can read tax law, but the problem is you get a month between when the IRS release the rules and when you have to be done - and correct. The big companies put in a lot of work to enter all the rules in the month, and then even more work to validate they are correct. That is boring work that needs to be done every year. If you get something wrong it is the users who find out when the IRS rejects their forms. While it isn't a big deal for that to happen to one person, it is still annoying, and if there are lots of users who hit the same typo that is a lot of annoyed users. The FSF just doesn't have the ability to do a good job with tax software.
- jdmichal 4y agoUp until a couple years ago, I used to do my taxes myself. I would just open Excel and start doing one line at a time. The value that goes on the form was the left-most column, and cells to the right of that would be for additional values and calculations. Worksheets and schedules became additional sheets within the workbook. Any change to a value would automatically propagate through the entire thing.
- yieldcrv 4y agoI sometimes get into a new area that gets ahead of my understanding and then after the CPA and tax counsel does it one year, then I know how to do it future years and its back to the excel spreadsheets for me