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They are because they have an interest in keeping tax filing difficult and unapproachable, to keep public animus against taxes at its maximum. Coincidentally th
by chowchowchow 2y ago
They are because they have an interest in keeping tax filing difficult and unapproachable, to keep public animus against taxes at its maximum. Coincidentally this is 100% in alignment with the tax prep industry whose entire existence is based on products which solve and handle the complicated tax situation.
- HeuristicsCG 2y agoAs he said, conspiracy theory
- olalonde 2y agoYou're wrong: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1888326592096547245 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1888326592096547245 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886092387098796499 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886092387098796499 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1858872775395426553 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1858872775395426553 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1873796626223161603 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1873796626223161603 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1861824194113343870 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1861824194113343870
- nerdponx 2y agoReforming the tax code and eliminating loopholes is orthogonal to making it easier to file. Closing loopholes doesn't hurt Intuit and H&R Block.
- olalonde 2y agoSimplifying the tax code makes it easier to file.
- nerdponx 2y agoThe 1040 is already really easy to fill out for most people. But you can't just go on the IRS website e-file using the W2 that the IRS already received.
- chowchowchow 2y agoThought experiment: taxes for everyone are $1 but you have to climb to the top of an icy glacier to place a single dollar bill in a collection box. Is it easy to file these taxes?
- olalonde 2y agoNo and hence, it wouldn't be considered "simplifying the tax code".
- chowchowchow 2y agoEveryone pays $1 and $1 only is not simple enough? Can’t please some people.
- ProcNetDev 2y agoNone of those tweets are about tax prep. They are about him personally wanting to pay less taxes. If Elon wanted he could fund an opensouce alternative to Turbotax. I am willing to bet 1k that Intuit's 2024 TurboTax Online and other Consumer Group revenue of $4.4 billion will remain above 4B in 2025.
- olalonde 2y agoSimplifying the tax code is about tax prep. The simpler the tax code, the simpler to file. Though what you say about him wanting to lower taxes is possibly true, none of those posts are about that.
- ProcNetDev 2y agoHow so? You don't pay TurboTax per regulation. You pay them a flat fee to file your taxes. I might buy that line of thinking for a corporation but the direct file program was about individuals. Elon gleefully tweeted about how that had been deleted. That's a direct give away to TurboTax and H&R Block.
- chowchowchow 2y agoI like how the dude you’re replying to is parallelizing being wrong about this in every reply thread.
- scarab92 2y agoYou're solving the wrong problem. The issue isn't direct file vs TurboTax. It's whether most individuals should have to file at all. A few tweaks around employment income and capital gains, and you can do away with filing altogether for most people.
- ProcNetDev 2y agoI am willing to wager that the IRS will continue to exist.
- chowchowchow 2y agoI’m not and these tweets aren’t relevant to what I wrote.
- olalonde 2y agoNot relevant because you exclude Elon Musk from the "they" who "have interest in keeping tax filing difficult and unapproachable"? Because he is clearly not one of them: "Simplifying the tax code will increase productivity", "Crazy idea: let’s simplify the tax code", "The tax code needs drastic simplification!", etc. And he seems to have quite a bit of influence in the Trump administration.
- chowchowchow 2y agoThe people with complicated taxes are rich. Most people have dead simple taxes tax-code wise. W2, standard deduction, dependents, maybe some interest deductions. You’re just being obtuse now. Removing random capital loss carryover loopholes or what have you has nothing to do with mainstream tax prep.
- olalonde 2y agoYou are the one who said tax that filing was "difficult and unapproachable" for the public. What did you mean by that?
- chowchowchow 2y agoThat people don’t know how to do it and thus many pay companies to do it for them. Most of these people’s taxes are extremely simple from a tax code perspective.
- olalonde 2y agoIf it's simple, why don't most people know how to do it?