4 ms·

You're expecting coherency in the American libertarian mindset. There is none. "why should the government control the means of tax filing! I need to be free to

by willdr 3y ago

You're expecting coherency in the American libertarian mindset. There is none. "why should the government control the means of tax filing! I need to be free to pay a private company to do it!"

0xParlay 3y ago
Libertarians who want to pay taxes.. Now there's a powerful lobby. Have you considered starting a think tank with your political acumen lol
MBCook 3y ago
It’s not just that. Remember this is normal in the US. Paper sucks. Tax filing helpers (people/software) have always cost money. “The government sucks” and won’t try to help you. And, oh yeah, ads and tax prep stores everywhere. No one questions it. They don’t like it, but they accept it. Just like so many other things in the US because we’ve never seen anything else.
- refurb 3y ago
  I’ve paid taxes in countries where it pre-filled forms. Guess what I do? I get all my forms together. Look up the numbers on the forms. Double check the entries on the fillable forms are correct. Then I get my paystubs, I check the deductions, double check the prefilled form is correct. So what did it save me over the way US taxes are done? The form prefilled the numbers, that’s it. All the rest is the same. Same collecting forms, same doubling checking math. And why? Because mistakes are made. My employer sent the wrong numbers in, so the prefilled form was incorrect and would have cost me about $1,000 in extra tax. If you want to make tax filing better, make the tax code way more simple. I’ve lived in countries where the tax form was 2 pages with 12 entires. That’s it. Now that is the way to go. I could care less about fillable forms.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - elktown 3y ago
    > So what did it save me over the way US taxes are done? The form prefilled the numbers, that’s it. All the rest is the same. Same collecting forms, same doubling checking math. I'd wager that ~90% of people where I'm from where we have pre-filled tax forms does their taxes in less than 5 min (ah, looks reasonable, click).
    - refurb 3y ago
      That's a good reason why low income people stay low income. It's your money. You'd be smart to spend more than 5 minutes to make sure it's 100% right
      - elktown 3y ago
        Not everyone is a arrogant cheapskate like yourself. The actual reason is that it's 99% of the time correct due to it generally being a well-functioning system proven over time.
        refurb 3y ago
        Easy thing to say when you’re rich. In my case it was $900 difference. I guess I’m not making those fat tech dollars like you where $900 extra is “close enough”. Must be nice. But try and remember not every is rich like you. $900 is the difference between paying rent and being homeless for a lot of people.
        elktown 3y ago
        90% of people in my country means that obviously not all are rich.
        refurb 3y ago
        Then try and have some sympathy for people less off than you.
        3y ago
heavyset_go 3y ago
*Conspiracy hat on* Paying income ta is made into an arduous task so people are likely to vote against taxes or for repeal of taxes instead of being accepted as a fact of life.
- amake 3y ago
  No need for the hat. As I understand, that is an explicit goal of influential political operatives like Grover Norquist and the Americans for Tax Reform (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform)

by willdr 3y ago

You're expecting coherency in the American libertarian mindset. There is none. "why should the government control the means of tax filing! I need to be free to pay a private company to do it!"

0xParlay 3y ago

Libertarians who want to pay taxes.. Now there's a powerful lobby. Have you considered starting a think tank with your political acumen lol

MBCook 3y ago

It’s not just that. Remember this is normal in the US. Paper sucks. Tax filing helpers (people/software) have always cost money. “The government sucks” and won’t try to help you. And, oh yeah, ads and tax prep stores everywhere. No one questions it. They don’t like it, but they accept it. Just like so many other things in the US because we’ve never seen anything else.

refurb 3y ago
I’ve paid taxes in countries where it pre-filled forms. Guess what I do? I get all my forms together. Look up the numbers on the forms. Double check the entries on the fillable forms are correct. Then I get my paystubs, I check the deductions, double check the prefilled form is correct. So what did it save me over the way US taxes are done? The form prefilled the numbers, that’s it. All the rest is the same. Same collecting forms, same doubling checking math. And why? Because mistakes are made. My employer sent the wrong numbers in, so the prefilled form was incorrect and would have cost me about $1,000 in extra tax. If you want to make tax filing better, make the tax code way more simple. I’ve lived in countries where the tax form was 2 pages with 12 entires. That’s it. Now that is the way to go. I could care less about fillable forms.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- elktown 3y ago
  > So what did it save me over the way US taxes are done? The form prefilled the numbers, that’s it. All the rest is the same. Same collecting forms, same doubling checking math. I'd wager that ~90% of people where I'm from where we have pre-filled tax forms does their taxes in less than 5 min (ah, looks reasonable, click).
  - refurb 3y ago
    That's a good reason why low income people stay low income. It's your money. You'd be smart to spend more than 5 minutes to make sure it's 100% right
    - elktown 3y ago
      Not everyone is a arrogant cheapskate like yourself. The actual reason is that it's 99% of the time correct due to it generally being a well-functioning system proven over time.
      - refurb 3y ago
        Easy thing to say when you’re rich. In my case it was $900 difference. I guess I’m not making those fat tech dollars like you where $900 extra is “close enough”. Must be nice. But try and remember not every is rich like you. $900 is the difference between paying rent and being homeless for a lot of people.
        elktown 3y ago
        90% of people in my country means that obviously not all are rich.
        refurb 3y ago
        Then try and have some sympathy for people less off than you.
        3y ago

heavyset_go 3y ago

*Conspiracy hat on* Paying income ta is made into an arduous task so people are likely to vote against taxes or for repeal of taxes instead of being accepted as a fact of life.

amake 3y ago
No need for the hat. As I understand, that is an explicit goal of influential political operatives like Grover Norquist and the Americans for Tax Reform (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform)