3 ms·

American legislators seem to loooove "means testing" every government-provided service. Maybe it's a misguided version of that?

brocklobsta 3y ago
Agreed, but I don't see this as a service as much as a tool to perform a mandatory task. I don't WANT to do my taxes, I am forced to. At least don't deny me a tool because I pay the government a higher share of my income.
mountainofdeath 3y ago
It's probably more-so that above a certain income threshold, your tax return becomes exponentially more complex. Free-file is useful when all you have is 1-2 above-board wage earning jobs, maybe with a 1099 contract job where the employer is nice nice enough to pre-fill the form out for you. Once you start dealing with non-trivial amounts of dividends, interest, securities, partnerships, real-estate, you really do need a professional to keep things organized.
- brocklobsta 3y ago
  I get that, but why use income as a proxy for complex tax items? A W2 that takes home 400k using standard deduction for example is easier than someone self employed with several deductions that makes 100k.
- runako 3y ago
  > above a certain income threshold, your tax return becomes exponentially more complex For some people. A person working a single job as a programmer earning $300k in straight W-2 income (no RSUs, etc.) does not have more complex taxes than a person earning $100k from a combination of their podcast + a few rental properties. There's no logic to means-testing this kind of service, where there would be for feature-testing (i.e. "Does all your income come from your job?").
  - whimsicalism 3y ago
    RSUs don't really complicate anything, they are straight W-2 income.
    - astrange 3y ago
      If you sell them it gets more complicated because your broker is for some reason forbidden from reporting the correct cost basis even though they know it.
- whimsicalism 3y ago
  I make a lot more than that, but as long as I remain a simple W2 earner it is still ridiculously easy to file taxes and I shouldn't be charged extra for it.

brocklobsta 3y ago

Agreed, but I don't see this as a service as much as a tool to perform a mandatory task. I don't WANT to do my taxes, I am forced to. At least don't deny me a tool because I pay the government a higher share of my income.

mountainofdeath 3y ago

It's probably more-so that above a certain income threshold, your tax return becomes exponentially more complex. Free-file is useful when all you have is 1-2 above-board wage earning jobs, maybe with a 1099 contract job where the employer is nice nice enough to pre-fill the form out for you. Once you start dealing with non-trivial amounts of dividends, interest, securities, partnerships, real-estate, you really do need a professional to keep things organized.

brocklobsta 3y ago
I get that, but why use income as a proxy for complex tax items? A W2 that takes home 400k using standard deduction for example is easier than someone self employed with several deductions that makes 100k.
runako 3y ago
> above a certain income threshold, your tax return becomes exponentially more complex For some people. A person working a single job as a programmer earning $300k in straight W-2 income (no RSUs, etc.) does not have more complex taxes than a person earning $100k from a combination of their podcast + a few rental properties. There's no logic to means-testing this kind of service, where there would be for feature-testing (i.e. "Does all your income come from your job?").
- whimsicalism 3y ago
  RSUs don't really complicate anything, they are straight W-2 income.
  - astrange 3y ago
    If you sell them it gets more complicated because your broker is for some reason forbidden from reporting the correct cost basis even though they know it.
whimsicalism 3y ago
I make a lot more than that, but as long as I remain a simple W2 earner it is still ridiculously easy to file taxes and I shouldn't be charged extra for it.