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You don't have to pay. https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-forms https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form... As for "h

You don't have to pay. https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-forms https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form... As for "having most of your tax information", they don't. They know your reported income. You see that on your W2s/1099s/etc. What they don't know is whether or not you had a kid this year, or whether you lost a kid this year, whether you got married or divorced, if your spouse is claiming the kids this year or not, the number or amount of your charitable contributions, whether you have deductible mileage expenses, or a million other things.

klausa 1y ago
This argument could be put in a museum as a perfect illustration of the "Perfect is the enemy of good" maxim. Would just relying on the information from your employers cover all possible edge-cases? No. Would it dramatically simplify the process for (tens?) millions of people? Absolutely.
- Amezarak 1y ago
  The number and type of people living in your household is not an edge case. It applies to almost everyone, has huge tax impacts, and the IRS doesn’t know.
  - array_key_first 1y ago
    The argument is that you don't need a third party like Intuit to get this information. The IRS could get it themselves - they choose not to.
    - ffffgov 1y ago
      They can’t. Because IRS IT has been starved, beaten and abused for 20 years. If they had the resources and leadership, all of this could be possible via MOUs and better data access/normalization from the mainframes.
      - array_key_first 1y ago
        I agree, but IMO this is a choice. Not a fact of life.
- terminalshort 1y ago
  The info that the IRS has from your employer is maybe 5 boxes on your return. Literally takes a few minutes to take the info from your w-2 and put it on a 1040.
  - wildzzz 11mo ago
    If it's so easy, why is the IRS unable to do that? Why must I retype all of the information that they already have? If there's anything they don't have, I have zero issue tying that in myself.
beej71 1y ago
I use free fillable forms. There are zero people on the planet who insist they are remotely as easy as Direct File.
- projektfu 1y ago
  The error messages are also wonderful, as they come a day or two after you submit, and are basically the output of XML schema validation.
isleyaardvark 1y ago
Do these other countries described above know whether you had a kid or got divorced?
- deanmen 1y ago
  Yes, in many European countries dependents and marital status changes are registered in a national civil registry, which the tax authority can query directly. Countries like the U.S., Canada, the U.K. cannot easily do that without huge data-sharing reforms.
- fragmede 1y ago
  Even the US knows that you've had a qualifying event, they're just being stubborn.
  - vel0city 1y ago
    The federal government doesn't always know if you've had a child or if you've died. Not even specifically the IRS, but its possible for you to have a child and never involve any organization that reports to the federal government.
    - fragmede 1y ago
      It is absolutely possible, just as there are tons of other exceptions that Direct File wouldn't cover. The point is that there's a golden happy path that many people trot along where things could just be easy.
BrandoElFollito 1y ago
In France the web site asks you if your household details changed. No? 2 more clicks and you are done. Yes? 2 + nr of changes clicks and you are done. Took me an extra 5 seconds when my son left. You can make your taxes as complcated as you want but for 95% of the population foling taxes takes a few minutes.
- Amezarak 1y ago
  Filing a 1040 in the US is also very easy and takes a few minutes and can be done for free. Another factor most people are ignoring is that state taxes are filed at the same time and each state has its own separate system. These third parties let you fill in and file both at the same time. It would be nice if the US gov did this too but it requires a total restructuring of the American system, and Intuit’s lobbying has nothing to do with why it hasn’t happened or for that matter why the tax codes looks like it does.
  - dpark 1y ago
    > Filing a 1040 in the US is also very easy Not for most people. It’s a giant pain in the ass if you have bank accounts and want to file correctly. If all you do is plug in your w-2 and pretend that’s your whole tax return and you don’t care about anything except the standard deduction, sure. That’s not correct for most people. > state taxes are filed at the same time and each state has its own separate system Can we stop pretending like this is a problem insurmountable for the federal government? This idea that TurboTax can make this work but the government can’t is absurd.
    - Amezarak 1y ago
      That is correct for most people. 90% of people according to the IRS take the standard deduction. Interest income from your bank account comes on a 1099 and it takes 30 seconds to add onto your 1040. I do it every year.
      - dpark 1y ago

klausa 1y ago

This argument could be put in a museum as a perfect illustration of the "Perfect is the enemy of good" maxim. Would just relying on the information from your employers cover all possible edge-cases? No. Would it dramatically simplify the process for (tens?) millions of people? Absolutely.

Amezarak 1y ago
The number and type of people living in your household is not an edge case. It applies to almost everyone, has huge tax impacts, and the IRS doesn’t know.
- array_key_first 1y ago
  The argument is that you don't need a third party like Intuit to get this information. The IRS could get it themselves - they choose not to.
  - ffffgov 1y ago
    They can’t. Because IRS IT has been starved, beaten and abused for 20 years. If they had the resources and leadership, all of this could be possible via MOUs and better data access/normalization from the mainframes.
    - array_key_first 1y ago
      I agree, but IMO this is a choice. Not a fact of life.
terminalshort 1y ago
The info that the IRS has from your employer is maybe 5 boxes on your return. Literally takes a few minutes to take the info from your w-2 and put it on a 1040.
- wildzzz 11mo ago
  If it's so easy, why is the IRS unable to do that? Why must I retype all of the information that they already have? If there's anything they don't have, I have zero issue tying that in myself.

beej71 1y ago

I use free fillable forms. There are zero people on the planet who insist they are remotely as easy as Direct File.

projektfu 1y ago
The error messages are also wonderful, as they come a day or two after you submit, and are basically the output of XML schema validation.

isleyaardvark 1y ago

Do these other countries described above know whether you had a kid or got divorced?

deanmen 1y ago
Yes, in many European countries dependents and marital status changes are registered in a national civil registry, which the tax authority can query directly. Countries like the U.S., Canada, the U.K. cannot easily do that without huge data-sharing reforms.
fragmede 1y ago
Even the US knows that you've had a qualifying event, they're just being stubborn.
- vel0city 1y ago
  The federal government doesn't always know if you've had a child or if you've died. Not even specifically the IRS, but its possible for you to have a child and never involve any organization that reports to the federal government.
  - fragmede 1y ago
    It is absolutely possible, just as there are tons of other exceptions that Direct File wouldn't cover. The point is that there's a golden happy path that many people trot along where things could just be easy.

BrandoElFollito 1y ago

In France the web site asks you if your household details changed. No? 2 more clicks and you are done. Yes? 2 + nr of changes clicks and you are done. Took me an extra 5 seconds when my son left. You can make your taxes as complcated as you want but for 95% of the population foling taxes takes a few minutes.

Amezarak 1y ago
Filing a 1040 in the US is also very easy and takes a few minutes and can be done for free. Another factor most people are ignoring is that state taxes are filed at the same time and each state has its own separate system. These third parties let you fill in and file both at the same time. It would be nice if the US gov did this too but it requires a total restructuring of the American system, and Intuit’s lobbying has nothing to do with why it hasn’t happened or for that matter why the tax codes looks like it does.
- dpark 1y ago
  > Filing a 1040 in the US is also very easy Not for most people. It’s a giant pain in the ass if you have bank accounts and want to file correctly. If all you do is plug in your w-2 and pretend that’s your whole tax return and you don’t care about anything except the standard deduction, sure. That’s not correct for most people. > state taxes are filed at the same time and each state has its own separate system Can we stop pretending like this is a problem insurmountable for the federal government? This idea that TurboTax can make this work but the government can’t is absurd.
  - Amezarak 1y ago
    That is correct for most people. 90% of people according to the IRS take the standard deduction. Interest income from your bank account comes on a 1099 and it takes 30 seconds to add onto your 1040. I do it every year.
    - dpark 1y ago