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It's not really an answer to TurboTax, because it's not good enough. I'll continue to pay Intuit for now. It's relatively speaking a small price to pay for some

It's not really an answer to TurboTax, because it's not good enough. I'll continue to pay Intuit for now. It's relatively speaking a small price to pay for something done well.

nextworddev 3y ago
What is an example of something that TurboTax does better?
- andrewmcwatters 3y ago
  State taxes as well. The IRS didn't partner with individual states for this initiative. They also don't have limits on interest income or household income, which make this worthless for people who file high income returns.
  - metadat 3y ago
    Your comments set off my spidey senses; they don't pass the sniff-test for a trustworthy, well-informed, pro-Intuit stance, especially on message board catering to tech. Intuit practices the classic rent-seeking behaviors endemic to late stage capitalism. Who is this helping? They also actively lobby against tax reform because it's an existential threat to their cash cow.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - tiltowait 3y ago
      Luckily, it’s easily confirmed[1]. The IRS service is only available in a few states, to people with very simple returns. I don’t see anything about an income limit (which may be a misunderstanding/conflation with the “free file partner” program). Even though my own tax situation is pretty simple, I’m specced out of the pilot system because mine is slightly more complex than dead simple. (For the record, I don’t use TurboTax. I think Intuit is a bad actor, and I am very pleased that the IRS will now finally offer this basic, no-brainer service. However, the new system just isn’t there yet, so people aren’t crazy for continuing to use TurboTax even if they live in one of the pilot states.) [1]: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-f...
      - andrewmcwatters 3y ago
        There are a few different income limits that make you ineligible. https://directfile.irs.gov/income https://directfile.irs.gov/income
rpdillon 3y ago
This is correct. According the article: > Direct File isn’t perfect—the program is available in only 12 states, and it isn’t able to handle anything beyond the simplest tax situations—but it’s a glimpse of a world where government tech benefits millions of Americans. In turn, it is also an agonizing realization of how far we are from that reality. According to directfile.gov, those states are: Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, and Wyoming. I have no great love of Intuit, but this is not ready for prime time.
- andrewmcwatters 3y ago
  I'm getting tired of posting here on HN at all, honestly. It's just a bad experience. Anyone can see TurboTax is clearly a better product. But whatever, sure the IRS releasing a product with a $1,500 interest income limit better than TurboTax? You might as well just file your taxes on physical paper and mail it by snail mail.
  - rpdillon 3y ago
    I understand your frustration. Folks will tend to respond confidently in ways that align with their beliefs, often without reading the source or consulting any external material. They'll just say whatever. And those are the hard-working ones. Lazy disagreement just arrives as downvotes. One way I've found to mitigate this is citing specific quotes and sources (that they should be aware of already if commenting), which often mitigates this effect, but commenting is nevertheless fraught. It basically amounts to defensive writing a lot of the time. I keep coming back because I do think there are a bunch of us who do read, have expertise, and are here because we're curious and want to learn from others. But wading through the noise comes with that, sadly.
    - andrewmcwatters 3y ago
      Thank you for your words. I appreciate you taking the time to reply. Those are some good thoughts, and I like your source-based strategy in particular.

It's not really an answer to TurboTax, because it's not good enough. I'll continue to pay Intuit for now. It's relatively speaking a small price to pay for something done well.

nextworddev 3y ago

What is an example of something that TurboTax does better?

andrewmcwatters 3y ago
State taxes as well. The IRS didn't partner with individual states for this initiative. They also don't have limits on interest income or household income, which make this worthless for people who file high income returns.
- metadat 3y ago
  Your comments set off my spidey senses; they don't pass the sniff-test for a trustworthy, well-informed, pro-Intuit stance, especially on message board catering to tech. Intuit practices the classic rent-seeking behaviors endemic to late stage capitalism. Who is this helping? They also actively lobby against tax reform because it's an existential threat to their cash cow.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - tiltowait 3y ago
    Luckily, it’s easily confirmed[1]. The IRS service is only available in a few states, to people with very simple returns. I don’t see anything about an income limit (which may be a misunderstanding/conflation with the “free file partner” program). Even though my own tax situation is pretty simple, I’m specced out of the pilot system because mine is slightly more complex than dead simple. (For the record, I don’t use TurboTax. I think Intuit is a bad actor, and I am very pleased that the IRS will now finally offer this basic, no-brainer service. However, the new system just isn’t there yet, so people aren’t crazy for continuing to use TurboTax even if they live in one of the pilot states.) [1]: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-f...
    - andrewmcwatters 3y ago
      There are a few different income limits that make you ineligible. https://directfile.irs.gov/income https://directfile.irs.gov/income

rpdillon 3y ago

This is correct. According the article: > Direct File isn’t perfect—the program is available in only 12 states, and it isn’t able to handle anything beyond the simplest tax situations—but it’s a glimpse of a world where government tech benefits millions of Americans. In turn, it is also an agonizing realization of how far we are from that reality. According to directfile.gov, those states are: Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, and Wyoming. I have no great love of Intuit, but this is not ready for prime time.

andrewmcwatters 3y ago
I'm getting tired of posting here on HN at all, honestly. It's just a bad experience. Anyone can see TurboTax is clearly a better product. But whatever, sure the IRS releasing a product with a $1,500 interest income limit better than TurboTax? You might as well just file your taxes on physical paper and mail it by snail mail.
- rpdillon 3y ago
  I understand your frustration. Folks will tend to respond confidently in ways that align with their beliefs, often without reading the source or consulting any external material. They'll just say whatever. And those are the hard-working ones. Lazy disagreement just arrives as downvotes. One way I've found to mitigate this is citing specific quotes and sources (that they should be aware of already if commenting), which often mitigates this effect, but commenting is nevertheless fraught. It basically amounts to defensive writing a lot of the time. I keep coming back because I do think there are a bunch of us who do read, have expertise, and are here because we're curious and want to learn from others. But wading through the noise comes with that, sadly.
  - andrewmcwatters 3y ago
    Thank you for your words. I appreciate you taking the time to reply. Those are some good thoughts, and I like your source-based strategy in particular.