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"The IRS currently refers people seeking no-cost filing options to a consortium of companies that provide free e-filing for taxpayers below a certain income lev

by runako 3y ago

"The IRS currently refers people seeking no-cost filing options to a consortium of companies that provide free e-filing for taxpayers below a certain income level. Though 70 percent of taxpayers qualify for those products, fewer than 3 percent of taxpayers use them, according to a Government Accountability Office report." This low uptake absolutely has to be one of the impediments to a rollout of a free IRS-run tax service. The argument is simple: why should we invest resources in expanding our free services when taxpayers don't use what we already make available? Is there data to support the notion that usage would meaningfully increase if we supported 100% of filing cases? (I would expect the opposite to be true; as tax situations get more complex, filers have more incentive and means to hire specialized help.)

elicash 3y ago
It would save taxpayer dollars if we encourage folks filing by paper to do so electronically. Administratively, having the agency staff folks dealing with paper takes much longer.
petsfed 3y ago
This is because every member of that consortium uses some combination of dark patterns and nonsensical restrictions to divert users away from the free option towards their pay options. Propublica did a report on this (linked several times in this discussion) that showed how difficult it was to get to the actually-free version of TurboTax.
akira2501 3y ago
> why should we invest resources in expanding our free services when taxpayers don't use what we already make available? It's not a service. It's an obligation. You want my money? Why do I have to find a "service" to get you to take it? If you've never used one of those services, you should. Some of them have gotten better only very recently, some still look like fly-by-night scam operations that are trying to filch your personal information. The old adage "you get what you pay for" has never been more true. > Is there data to support the notion that usage would meaningfully increase if we supported 100% of filing cases? Yes. The billions of dollars spent lobbying the congress to prevent this very thing from happening.
- runako 3y ago
  > If you've never used one of those services, you should Complex tax situations, likely will be using third-party advisors from here out regardless of what the IRS provides for wage earners.
  - akira2501 3y ago
    That's honestly great for you and your family, but it also probably means your notions on the impediments to welcome uptake of free filing solutions for people outside of this class are out of touch with the actual problems experienced.
    - runako 3y ago
      Personally, yes. But I was using the data from GAO from TFA: > Though 70 percent of taxpayers qualify for those products, fewer than 3 percent of taxpayers use them, according to a Government Accountability Office report. There's something other than "free" and generally blaming lobbyists that's preventing people from using these products. Without understanding that, it may not make sense to roll them out more broadly (although I do think that should be the goal).

by runako 3y ago

elicash 3y ago

It would save taxpayer dollars if we encourage folks filing by paper to do so electronically. Administratively, having the agency staff folks dealing with paper takes much longer.

petsfed 3y ago

This is because every member of that consortium uses some combination of dark patterns and nonsensical restrictions to divert users away from the free option towards their pay options. Propublica did a report on this (linked several times in this discussion) that showed how difficult it was to get to the actually-free version of TurboTax.

akira2501 3y ago

> why should we invest resources in expanding our free services when taxpayers don't use what we already make available? It's not a service. It's an obligation. You want my money? Why do I have to find a "service" to get you to take it? If you've never used one of those services, you should. Some of them have gotten better only very recently, some still look like fly-by-night scam operations that are trying to filch your personal information. The old adage "you get what you pay for" has never been more true. > Is there data to support the notion that usage would meaningfully increase if we supported 100% of filing cases? Yes. The billions of dollars spent lobbying the congress to prevent this very thing from happening.

runako 3y ago
> If you've never used one of those services, you should Complex tax situations, likely will be using third-party advisors from here out regardless of what the IRS provides for wage earners.
- akira2501 3y ago
  That's honestly great for you and your family, but it also probably means your notions on the impediments to welcome uptake of free filing solutions for people outside of this class are out of touch with the actual problems experienced.
  - runako 3y ago
    Personally, yes. But I was using the data from GAO from TFA: > Though 70 percent of taxpayers qualify for those products, fewer than 3 percent of taxpayers use them, according to a Government Accountability Office report. There's something other than "free" and generally blaming lobbyists that's preventing people from using these products. Without understanding that, it may not make sense to roll them out more broadly (although I do think that should be the goal).