3 ms·

How does this relate to the Tax Filing industry in the US. Is this really a “public option” for everyone to file their taxes? I hope so… Next step: Just send m

How does this relate to the Tax Filing industry in the US. Is this really a “public option” for everyone to file their taxes? I hope so… Next step: Just send me a return I can sign off on, while still giving me the option to file my own if I like.

HarryHirsch 2y ago
It's not - anyone with nonstandard deductions or a 1099 form (read: gig workers) was not eligible and the data shows it. 141,000 households from states with 150 millions total population, what a rousing success! In the upcoming years the week-kneed government is going to work with more states and gradually expand the complexity of returns. It's not useful at the moment, and looking over the press release won't be for a few more years. And then there's the state return, which is not free. The federal government gets a few brownie points, but the tax preparation industry still gets its pound of flesh. It's really unimpressive, it's politics that no one is better off with.
NovemberWhiskey 2y ago
>Is this really a “public option” for everyone to file their taxes? No; this is really an MVP. It doesn't work for people with certain types of income (including gig workers), for higher incomes, for cases where you need to itemize deductions etc etc
CuriousCosmic 2y ago
It's an MVP for that. Eventually the goal is that it pulls in all the different forms and edge cases of the tax code but it's not there yet. Currently it's just basic "W-2, (maybe a 401k), and basically nothing else" but the trial was also intentionally limited to a small portion of the tax base to keep the project from biting off more than they could chew for the first year. But yes in the next ~5-10 years as long as the next admin doesn't cancel it, this will probably be a default "public option" for everyone.

3 ms·

How does this relate to the Tax Filing industry in the US. Is this really a “public option” for everyone to file their taxes? I hope so… Next step: Just send m

by nielsbot 2y ago

HarryHirsch 2y ago
It's not - anyone with nonstandard deductions or a 1099 form (read: gig workers) was not eligible and the data shows it. 141,000 households from states with 150 millions total population, what a rousing success! In the upcoming years the week-kneed government is going to work with more states and gradually expand the complexity of returns. It's not useful at the moment, and looking over the press release won't be for a few more years. And then there's the state return, which is not free. The federal government gets a few brownie points, but the tax preparation industry still gets its pound of flesh. It's really unimpressive, it's politics that no one is better off with.
NovemberWhiskey 2y ago
>Is this really a “public option” for everyone to file their taxes? No; this is really an MVP. It doesn't work for people with certain types of income (including gig workers), for higher incomes, for cases where you need to itemize deductions etc etc
CuriousCosmic 2y ago
It's an MVP for that. Eventually the goal is that it pulls in all the different forms and edge cases of the tax code but it's not there yet. Currently it's just basic "W-2, (maybe a 401k), and basically nothing else" but the trial was also intentionally limited to a small portion of the tax base to keep the project from biting off more than they could chew for the first year. But yes in the next ~5-10 years as long as the next admin doesn't cancel it, this will probably be a default "public option" for everyone.