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IRS halts Direct File and points to other free services
- gnabgib 1y agoDiscussion (337 points, 2 days ago, 242 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45818319 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45818319
- Aeolun 1y ago> To file returns for free through private companies Anyone else thinks that sounds hopelessly optimistic?
- ezfe 1y agoFreeTaxUSA provides free federal tax filing and a nominal fee for state filing. DirectFile would be better but the reality is there are free options.
- spl757 1y agoIs it free as in beer or is it free as in handing freely handing over your PII to a private corporation so they can profit off it and not you?
- tombert 1y agoare there any Free Software tax programs that are kept up to date with tax codes? I would so prefer not to have a for-profit company handling my taxes.
- trollbridge 1y agoI sort of do, except an open source / free software package isn’t allowed to efile. Only a closed vendor can.
- tombert 1y agoI'm not wholly opposed to mailing off my returns; which software package are you referring to?
- trollbridge 1y agoIt's a piece of software I've developed that is not publicly released, but eventually will be and will be AGPL3. A few other people have also written such software. One guy still maintains it and surprisingly wrote a whole IRS / 1040 library in C. Mine is more oriented towards business and employer related taxes, though, than personal / investment sort of tax forms (although it will do the latter). Biggest weakness is it will only support 1 or 2 states because I don't have the resources to make an accurate system for all 50.
- tombert 1y agoI have had perfectly fine luck with CashApp taxes, which is free for both federal and state. I've also been fine with the Jackson Hewitt online tax thing, which I believe was $25 total for both state and federal.
- notyourwork 1y agoThree years using FreeTaxUSA, it’s excellent. First year had some learning curves coming from TurboTax but it’s as good, if not better and not a scam with dark patterns.
- dangus 1y agoFreeTaxUSA is excellent, but we shouldn’t have to use it. Taxes having third party companies being just about the only way to file electronically would be like if you could only vote at selected partner businesses like Walmart or Target and you had to pay to vote for state level candidates unless you went through a process that took twice as long and involved leaving the store and going somewhere else to do it all over again.
- drivingmenuts 1y agoOh, god. Don't give them any ideas.
- notyourwork 1y agoNo disagreement. Republicans got a little stiff in the pants reading your comment.
- biglyburrito 1y agoYep, FreeTaxUSA is what I've been using for the last 5 years. Reasonably priced & their forms are good for my fairly uncomplicated setup (W-2, 1099, a few other miscellaneous forms). Bounced off TurboTax & TaxACT years ago because they were too pricey & pushy about upgrades.
- zachncst 1y agoSure free with constant reminders to upbuy - tack on some audit protection just in case as well. Only 49.99!
- hatsunearu 1y agoI used cashapp's free tax software and it was pretty good. Similar quality to TurboTax but free. I had regular W-2 income, a whole lot of 1040 forms, and an S-1 form from some ETFs.
- DeepYogurt 1y agoWhat a tragedy. I hope it can be revived
- nerdponx 1y agoThat would require the US government to prioritize the interests of the American people over the interests of a few corporations and the wealthy individuals with a significant financial interest in those corporations.
- t1234s 1y agoThey need to end the IRS. Normal working people shouldn't be held hostage by having to comply with a federal agency. Companies shouldn't be forced to act as tax collectors when paying salaries.
- hbrav 1y agoHow, if at all, would you fund the federal government? Are you suggesting you don't think the current way taxpayers interact with the IRS is very functional, or you'd like to actually get rid of having any agency responsible for federal tax collection?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- nerdponx 1y agoOne could imagine a world in which taxes are paid only to the states, which then must all pay to fund the federal government. Not saying it's a good idea, but it would certainly be different from what we have now.
- Incipient 1y agoIn Australia we only pay federal taxes, and get distribute to the various states. The tax is wonderfully simple for us, and I THE MAIN seems to work ok for states. Every now and then one state gets a bit tetchy about it, but it appears to work out OK.
- gdulli 1y agoThis is like saying, "there shouldn't be food". Don't waste our time, of course there has to be food, or else tell us your brilliant vision for how else the world should work instead.
- Aloha 1y agoWho collects taxes then? This is the same rationale I hear from the people who are saying "Abolish ICE" - someone must enforce the rules, if we dont like the rules we should change them.