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> 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 Novem

> 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 So you end up with a lot of programs that get started and after a while get repealed or maintained badly.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.
- Alupis 2y ago
  Perhaps people should stop treating the president like a king, and you know, actually pass laws the way our government was designed to work...
  - thatguy0900 2y ago
    Congress honestly seems to have completely shut down as a body able to accomplish anything. The president is all we have
    - gottorf 2y ago
      This is a feature of the US constitutional system, not a bug. It's designed such that things move very, very slowly. If Congress isn't able to pass laws, it probably reflects a division in how the voting populace feels about the subject of such laws. The president may be all we have, but he is constitutionally forbidden from acting like a king. Though, of course, that hasn't stopped presidents from trying.
      - rqtwteye 2y ago
        “ it probably reflects a division in how the voting populace feels about the subject of such laws.” I don’t think that’s correct. There is way too much propaganda coming from the parties to think that voters have made up their minds based on the facts. It’s actually quite hard to get the facts because the media is mostly reporting politics like they report a football match.
      - Alupis 2y ago
        100% Correct. People all too often look at Congress and say "gee, they aren't passing all the things I want them to do, therefore Congress must be broken!" This fails to realize Congress works entirely the way it was designed. As you said, inaction == lack of consensus. Imaging running a country where significant ways of life (influenced by laws) change willy-nilly depending on the flavor of the day? The legal whiplash would be absurd. So, people often look to the president as some sort of king analog, and demand action via Executive Order - then cry foul when the next president undoes the previous one's EO's... it's lunacy and not a good way to run a society.
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> Very To underscore this, the IRS is not an independent agency [1], but a bureau of the Treasury. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_United_States_government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_Un...

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.

Alupis 2y ago
Perhaps people should stop treating the president like a king, and you know, actually pass laws the way our government was designed to work...
- thatguy0900 2y ago
  Congress honestly seems to have completely shut down as a body able to accomplish anything. The president is all we have
  - gottorf 2y ago
    This is a feature of the US constitutional system, not a bug. It's designed such that things move very, very slowly. If Congress isn't able to pass laws, it probably reflects a division in how the voting populace feels about the subject of such laws. The president may be all we have, but he is constitutionally forbidden from acting like a king. Though, of course, that hasn't stopped presidents from trying.
    - rqtwteye 2y ago
      “ it probably reflects a division in how the voting populace feels about the subject of such laws.” I don’t think that’s correct. There is way too much propaganda coming from the parties to think that voters have made up their minds based on the facts. It’s actually quite hard to get the facts because the media is mostly reporting politics like they report a football match.
    - Alupis 2y ago
      100% Correct. People all too often look at Congress and say "gee, they aren't passing all the things I want them to do, therefore Congress must be broken!" This fails to realize Congress works entirely the way it was designed. As you said, inaction == lack of consensus. Imaging running a country where significant ways of life (influenced by laws) change willy-nilly depending on the flavor of the day? The legal whiplash would be absurd. So, people often look to the president as some sort of king analog, and demand action via Executive Order - then cry foul when the next president undoes the previous one's EO's... it's lunacy and not a good way to run a society.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> Very To underscore this, the IRS is not an independent agency [1], but a bureau of the Treasury. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_United_States_government https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_agencies_of_the_Un...