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How volatile is this to the political winds? As the article makes clear this was largely done with the support of the current incumbent, but what if the next on

How volatile is this to the political winds? As the article makes clear this was largely done with the support of the current incumbent, but what if the next one is more amenable to TurboTax's ideas? That seems to be an ongoing headache in the US with executive branch created programs, courts can just immediately squish them or political winds can change, then they're suddenly gone. Something like this, in order to be permanent, needs congressional approval.

Covzire 2y ago
Not very, absolutely everyone hates doing their taxes and the whole shady process behind it all. The IRS should have to declare what they think you owe before you pay or submit any paperwork, I don't know if that'll ever happen but any baby or big steps towards that reality will win bipartisan support, easily. Just have to get past the conflicted-out members of congress who are truly being controlled by Turbo Tax and other industry lobbyists.
- nomagicbullet 2y ago
  > absolutely everyone hates doing their taxes and the whole shady process behind it all. I like preparing and paying my taxes. > The IRS should have to declare what they think you owe before you pay or submit any paperwork Agree.
- kindatrue 2y ago
  "Not very, absolutely everyone hates doing their taxes and the whole shady process behind it all" That's the Grover Norquist (and Republican) argument for not having IRS Direct File to begin with: if filing taxes becomes easy, people might not hate the IRS and hate taxes. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-fought-free-simple-tax-filing https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax...
  - MisterBastahrd 2y ago
    And it's really because they don't know any poor people. Because if they did, they'd know that filing taxes for low income people with kids is a HUGE bonanza, and they'd work like hell to implement a system where all tax credits were applied to individual paychecks, not lump sums during tax season. It's the one time of the year when their pockets are flush with cash.
MichaelNolan 2y ago
> How volatile is this to the political winds? Very. Had the GOP won the senate in 2022, this would have probably been cut already. Depending on how this November goes the policy could definitely be reversed. > Something like this, in order to be permanent, needs congressional approval. This program did come from Congress. It was apart of the inflation reduction act.
- pavon 2y ago
  > This program did come from Congress. It was apart of the inflation reduction act. The inflation reduction act directed the IRS to perform a study on Direct eFile. Implementing an actual pilot and then expanding to a permanent tool was based solely on executive authority, so either congress or the president could choose to scrap the program in the future. > Inflation Reduction Act §10301(1)(B) TASK FORCE TO DESIGN AN IRS-RUN FREE ‘‘DIRECT EFILE’’ TAX RETURN SYSTEM.—For necessary expenses of the Internal Revenue Service to deliver to Congress, within nine months following the date of the enactment of this Act, a report on (I) the cost (including options for differen- tial coverage based on taxpayer adjusted gross income and return complexity) of developing and running a free direct efile tax return system, including costs to build and admin- ister each release, with a focus on multi-lingual and mobile- friendly features and safeguards for taxpayer data; (II) taxpayer opinions, expectations, and level of trust, based on surveys, for such a free direct efile system; and (III) the opinions of an independent third-party on the overall feasibility, approach, schedule, cost, organizational design, and Internal Revenue Service capacity to deliver such a direct efile tax return system, $15,000,000, to remain avail- able until September 30, 2023: Provided, That these amounts shall be in addition to amounts otherwise avail- able for such purposes
- rqtwteye 2y ago
  It's a huge problem that when the opposition comes into power, they immediately try to revert and undermine what the previous party did. Not because of merit, but just because of partisanship. So you end up with a lot of programs that get started and after a while get repealed or maintained badly. This costs the country a lot of money. The ACA is a classical example. Instead of improving it or proposing a real replacement, they campaign for repealing it and some incantations of "free market" without explaining how patients won't get screwed over even more than now.
foota 2y ago
I think once it's been in place for a year it will be very hard for them to take it away.
- jandrese 2y ago
  Virginia had a dead simple and free e-File system for years. It cost the state almost nothing to maintain and worked wonderfully. The tax companies were able to bribe a few members of the legislature to have it killed with relatively little fuss, and now Virginians pay some of the highest rates for e-filing at the state level.

Covzire 2y ago

Not very, absolutely everyone hates doing their taxes and the whole shady process behind it all. The IRS should have to declare what they think you owe before you pay or submit any paperwork, I don't know if that'll ever happen but any baby or big steps towards that reality will win bipartisan support, easily. Just have to get past the conflicted-out members of congress who are truly being controlled by Turbo Tax and other industry lobbyists.

nomagicbullet 2y ago
> absolutely everyone hates doing their taxes and the whole shady process behind it all. I like preparing and paying my taxes. > The IRS should have to declare what they think you owe before you pay or submit any paperwork Agree.
kindatrue 2y ago
"Not very, absolutely everyone hates doing their taxes and the whole shady process behind it all" That's the Grover Norquist (and Republican) argument for not having IRS Direct File to begin with: if filing taxes becomes easy, people might not hate the IRS and hate taxes. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-fought-free-simple-tax-filing https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax...
- MisterBastahrd 2y ago
  And it's really because they don't know any poor people. Because if they did, they'd know that filing taxes for low income people with kids is a HUGE bonanza, and they'd work like hell to implement a system where all tax credits were applied to individual paychecks, not lump sums during tax season. It's the one time of the year when their pockets are flush with cash.

MichaelNolan 2y ago

> How volatile is this to the political winds? Very. Had the GOP won the senate in 2022, this would have probably been cut already. Depending on how this November goes the policy could definitely be reversed. > Something like this, in order to be permanent, needs congressional approval. This program did come from Congress. It was apart of the inflation reduction act.

pavon 2y ago
> This program did come from Congress. It was apart of the inflation reduction act. The inflation reduction act directed the IRS to perform a study on Direct eFile. Implementing an actual pilot and then expanding to a permanent tool was based solely on executive authority, so either congress or the president could choose to scrap the program in the future. > Inflation Reduction Act §10301(1)(B) TASK FORCE TO DESIGN AN IRS-RUN FREE ‘‘DIRECT EFILE’’ TAX RETURN SYSTEM.—For necessary expenses of the Internal Revenue Service to deliver to Congress, within nine months following the date of the enactment of this Act, a report on (I) the cost (including options for differen- tial coverage based on taxpayer adjusted gross income and return complexity) of developing and running a free direct efile tax return system, including costs to build and admin- ister each release, with a focus on multi-lingual and mobile- friendly features and safeguards for taxpayer data; (II) taxpayer opinions, expectations, and level of trust, based on surveys, for such a free direct efile system; and (III) the opinions of an independent third-party on the overall feasibility, approach, schedule, cost, organizational design, and Internal Revenue Service capacity to deliver such a direct efile tax return system, $15,000,000, to remain avail- able until September 30, 2023: Provided, That these amounts shall be in addition to amounts otherwise avail- able for such purposes
rqtwteye 2y ago
It's a huge problem that when the opposition comes into power, they immediately try to revert and undermine what the previous party did. Not because of merit, but just because of partisanship. So you end up with a lot of programs that get started and after a while get repealed or maintained badly. This costs the country a lot of money. The ACA is a classical example. Instead of improving it or proposing a real replacement, they campaign for repealing it and some incantations of "free market" without explaining how patients won't get screwed over even more than now.

foota 2y ago

I think once it's been in place for a year it will be very hard for them to take it away.

jandrese 2y ago
Virginia had a dead simple and free e-File system for years. It cost the state almost nothing to maintain and worked wonderfully. The tax companies were able to bribe a few members of the legislature to have it killed with relatively little fuss, and now Virginians pay some of the highest rates for e-filing at the state level.