4 ms·

What would be awesome is if the IRS software would automatically prefill all the data and forms sent to it. It would be nice of your W-2, 1099s etc were all inc

What would be awesome is if the IRS software would automatically prefill all the data and forms sent to it. It would be nice of your W-2, 1099s etc were all included and all you had to do was verify the information and enter any income not already reported.

gigel82 3y ago
You mean like they do in ... every other country on earth?
- asia92 3y ago
  Not canada
  - mdtusz 3y ago
    I had high hopes that SimpleTax would have been bought by the CRA, but sadly now it's been absorbed by Wealthsimple instead. Still worth using though and is pretty straightforward and easy to use.
  - mig39 3y ago
    For the last couple of years, my T4, pension, RRSP, and some of my pension forms have all been imported automatically into CRA, and then into Turbotax. So maybe it's an optional thing for some employers? Of course, would be great to just skip the Turbotax portion.
    - xav0989 3y ago
      I think that all employers are now required to input the T4/remuneration information in a way that CRA can machine-process it, which allows them to make it available to third-party systems like TurboTax or SimpleTax. But yeah, for the large majority of us, having the option to skip TurboTax and just use a pre-filled, government generated tax return would be great.
  - worik 3y ago
    Canada does not exist. It is a lie by MSM
- ack_inc 3y ago
  Not in India
wolfgang42 3y ago
> In one possible scenario included in the agency’s report to Congress, the I.R.S. could fill out tax returns with information it already has, like data from W-2 wage statements. For the pilot, however, participants will have to enter their own financial information, the I.R.S. said.
- GreedClarifies 3y ago
  So in its initial form it is indeed a complete waste of tax payers money. Shocking.
  - jacobyoder 3y ago
    Absolutist takes like this never achieve much. Yes, it could be better. But an mvp-type launch that does some things well, without trying to achieve everything on day one, would definitely not be a "complete waste". If successful, it's laying the base for the next iterations of functionality. For a lot of folks, they have one or two W2 forms to enter, and that's it. It's really not that hard. If even a million or so folks get benefit from it to start with, that's great, and we should then build on that.
    - GreedClarifies 3y ago
      The IRS should play try to create an actual MVP. Create an API which allow for efile (which I assume already exists given turbotax) and create an API which allows the download whatever information the IRS has on the tax payer. Then allow companies or open source software to create whatever value add they want on top of these APIs. That sounds like a minimalist launch.
      - dimal 3y ago
        That does not sound like an MVP. Then it’s up to random chance that they create the right API format and then someone makes an app to use said API and doesn’t also use it to steal data from gullible people. You’ve multiplied the number of ways this can go wrong and reduced the chance that anyone would use it.

gigel82 3y ago

You mean like they do in ... every other country on earth?

asia92 3y ago
Not canada
- mdtusz 3y ago
  I had high hopes that SimpleTax would have been bought by the CRA, but sadly now it's been absorbed by Wealthsimple instead. Still worth using though and is pretty straightforward and easy to use.
- mig39 3y ago
  For the last couple of years, my T4, pension, RRSP, and some of my pension forms have all been imported automatically into CRA, and then into Turbotax. So maybe it's an optional thing for some employers? Of course, would be great to just skip the Turbotax portion.
  - xav0989 3y ago
    I think that all employers are now required to input the T4/remuneration information in a way that CRA can machine-process it, which allows them to make it available to third-party systems like TurboTax or SimpleTax. But yeah, for the large majority of us, having the option to skip TurboTax and just use a pre-filled, government generated tax return would be great.
- worik 3y ago
  Canada does not exist. It is a lie by MSM
ack_inc 3y ago
Not in India

wolfgang42 3y ago

> In one possible scenario included in the agency’s report to Congress, the I.R.S. could fill out tax returns with information it already has, like data from W-2 wage statements. For the pilot, however, participants will have to enter their own financial information, the I.R.S. said.

GreedClarifies 3y ago
So in its initial form it is indeed a complete waste of tax payers money. Shocking.
- jacobyoder 3y ago
  Absolutist takes like this never achieve much. Yes, it could be better. But an mvp-type launch that does some things well, without trying to achieve everything on day one, would definitely not be a "complete waste". If successful, it's laying the base for the next iterations of functionality. For a lot of folks, they have one or two W2 forms to enter, and that's it. It's really not that hard. If even a million or so folks get benefit from it to start with, that's great, and we should then build on that.
  - GreedClarifies 3y ago
    The IRS should play try to create an actual MVP. Create an API which allow for efile (which I assume already exists given turbotax) and create an API which allows the download whatever information the IRS has on the tax payer. Then allow companies or open source software to create whatever value add they want on top of these APIs. That sounds like a minimalist launch.
    - dimal 3y ago
      That does not sound like an MVP. Then it’s up to random chance that they create the right API format and then someone makes an app to use said API and doesn’t also use it to steal data from gullible people. You’ve multiplied the number of ways this can go wrong and reduced the chance that anyone would use it.