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And you pointed out exactly what the problem with the current system is. The rich can pay someone to do the work for them. This saves them time, stress, energy
by rhaway84773 3y ago
And you pointed out exactly what the problem with the current system is.
The rich can pay someone to do the work for them. This saves them time, stress, energy, etc. The poor cannot. They have to do all this themselves and then they’re open to the risk of actually getting something wrong. And the impact of getting something wrong is highly imbalanced. If they get something wrong and end up paying more tax than they need to there will never be a second thought given to it. But if they mess up and pay less taxes than they should they will be hit with a penalty, interest, and even maybe an audit.
And the idea that everyone should be reasonably competent in taxes seems a little ridiculous to be honest especially when no one is taught how to do taxes in any point in their lives.
An alternative might be to teach how to do taxes in school, but at that point the cost of teaching taxation would far exceed the cost of developing this software, never mind the human hours that are wasted.
- ndriscoll 3y ago> If they get something wrong and end up paying more tax than they need to there will never be a second thought given to it. Anecdotally, I messed up copying tax owed from the table a couple years back, and the IRS sent me a letter telling me I made a mistake and overpaid, along with a check for the difference. In any case, a lot of the complication in the tax code comes down to the government incentivizing certain behaviors, so it makes sense that we should put more focus on teaching people to read the rules and find out what those incentives are. Of course a free calculation tool to run simulations could help people to understand those rules, and we ought to make the actual filing more convenient for everyone.
- brewdad 3y agoTrue, the IRS is generally really good about fixing and refunding basic math errors. Had you missed taking a tax credit you were eligible for, there’s approximately zero chance you would have received a similar letter.
- landemva 3y agoAnother alternate is to eliminate the federal personal income tax. W-2 employees would get immediate increase to their take home pay and employers would get out of tax withholding chores. Feds can just increase the already large deficit spending to cover the tax reduction or reduce spending.
- hot_gril 3y agoDeficit spending is already the highest it can be without jeopardizing the Dollar. Sometimes I think about them reducing spending instead, but then my alarm clock wakes me up.