5 ms·

That's really not true and it's important to understand the distinction. They know a lower bound on how much income you should be reporting. They have no idea

That's really not true and it's important to understand the distinction. They know a lower bound on how much income you should be reporting. They have no idea how many dependents you have, houses you sold, charity you donated, foreign income you made, etc etc etc. There are hundreds of other things they don't know which massively affect what you owe. If they got a W-4 for you and you don't report it, yes you're f'd. But they in no way know how much you owe.

add-sub-mul-div 3y ago
In my experience people really love the "The IRS already knows how much you owe" meme and you'll never get much more than downvotes for clarifying the truth of it. In a better world our taxes could be simpler, but for now let's do our taxes the way they do need to be done.
singron 3y ago
Most people have the same filing status and number of dependents as the previous year, just have W2 and 1099 income already reported to the IRS, and take the standard deduction. For most people, they can tell you what you owe. If it's wrong, you can tell them your dependents or filing status changed and get a new form. If you have a weird situation the IRS doesn't know about, you can still do your own taxes, but that's not most people.
BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
> They have no idea how many dependents you have, houses you sold, charity you donated, foreign income you made, etc etc etc. Generally speaking, the government does in fact know exactly what houses you sold and dependents you have. Those are both matters of public record and registered with the state. How do you think cities assess property taxes? And if you think that charitable donations and foreign income make any kind of dent for 99% of all taxpayers, you're living in a very weird bubble. 87% of all filings take the standard deduction in any given year for a reason.
- justrealist 3y ago
  > registered with the state The government is not a single entity. States do not funnel this information to the IRS. > Those are both matters of public record In my state (Missouri) house sale prices are not public record. > 87% of all filings take the standard deduction in any given year for a reason Yes I think everyone would be enthusiastic about submitting taxes that are 87% accurate.
  - BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
    >In my state (Missouri) house sale prices are not public record. That's a weird wrong thing you think. Visit https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm and put in any address in St Louis MO and you'll see who owns it, when it sold, how much it sold for, how much property tax they owe, the bounds of their lot, and more. Here's an example, randomly selected from google maps: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm?parcelId=55400003600&lat=886322.89069&long=1000922.36148&addr=4345+DELOR+ST+ST+LOUIS+MO+63116&CategoryBy=form.start%2Cform.RealEstatePropertyInfor%2Cform.BoundaryGeography%2Cform.ResidentialServices%2Cform.TrashMaintenance%2Cform.ElectedOfficialsContacts&firstview=true#address-search https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm?par... This is standard. > Yes I think everyone would be enthusiastic about submitting taxes that are 87% accurate. I'm going to ignore this obvious bad faith trolling.
    - vel0city 3y ago
      That's tax assessed values, not necessarily the actual sale amounts. The assessed value of my house has never been the same as my actual purchase price.
      - BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
        > That's tax assessed values, not necessarily the actual sale amounts. Scroll like 12.5 more pixels. The next section immediately below tax assessed value says "Sales Data" and includes a column for "Sale Price".

add-sub-mul-div 3y ago

In my experience people really love the "The IRS already knows how much you owe" meme and you'll never get much more than downvotes for clarifying the truth of it. In a better world our taxes could be simpler, but for now let's do our taxes the way they do need to be done.

singron 3y ago

Most people have the same filing status and number of dependents as the previous year, just have W2 and 1099 income already reported to the IRS, and take the standard deduction. For most people, they can tell you what you owe. If it's wrong, you can tell them your dependents or filing status changed and get a new form. If you have a weird situation the IRS doesn't know about, you can still do your own taxes, but that's not most people.

BugsJustFindMe 3y ago

> They have no idea how many dependents you have, houses you sold, charity you donated, foreign income you made, etc etc etc. Generally speaking, the government does in fact know exactly what houses you sold and dependents you have. Those are both matters of public record and registered with the state. How do you think cities assess property taxes? And if you think that charitable donations and foreign income make any kind of dent for 99% of all taxpayers, you're living in a very weird bubble. 87% of all filings take the standard deduction in any given year for a reason.

justrealist 3y ago
> registered with the state The government is not a single entity. States do not funnel this information to the IRS. > Those are both matters of public record In my state (Missouri) house sale prices are not public record. > 87% of all filings take the standard deduction in any given year for a reason Yes I think everyone would be enthusiastic about submitting taxes that are 87% accurate.
- BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
  >In my state (Missouri) house sale prices are not public record. That's a weird wrong thing you think. Visit https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm and put in any address in St Louis MO and you'll see who owns it, when it sold, how much it sold for, how much property tax they owe, the bounds of their lot, and more. Here's an example, randomly selected from google maps: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm?parcelId=55400003600&lat=886322.89069&long=1000922.36148&addr=4345+DELOR+ST+ST+LOUIS+MO+63116&CategoryBy=form.start%2Cform.RealEstatePropertyInfor%2Cform.BoundaryGeography%2Cform.ResidentialServices%2Cform.TrashMaintenance%2Cform.ElectedOfficialsContacts&firstview=true#address-search https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/address-search/index.cfm?par... This is standard. > Yes I think everyone would be enthusiastic about submitting taxes that are 87% accurate. I'm going to ignore this obvious bad faith trolling.
  - vel0city 3y ago
    That's tax assessed values, not necessarily the actual sale amounts. The assessed value of my house has never been the same as my actual purchase price.
    - BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
      > That's tax assessed values, not necessarily the actual sale amounts. Scroll like 12.5 more pixels. The next section immediately below tax assessed value says "Sales Data" and includes a column for "Sale Price".