4 ms·

Finally being able to stop paying Intuit $150 every year as a reward for their lobbying against tax code simplification and free e-file is one of the most excit

by bloppe 5mo ago

Finally being able to stop paying Intuit $150 every year as a reward for their lobbying against tax code simplification and free e-file is one of the most exciting possibilities for AI imo

quantified 5mo ago
To have the tax code easily dealt with and returns filed by IRS's own software will be a happy day. At that point maybe most of Intuit's employees can find other jobs.
luis_cho 5mo ago
Here in Portugal, tax comes pre calculated from the government on a free web application. It works very well! I just need to do very small adjustments every year before deliver the taxes.
- rcpt 5mo ago
  In the US every Republican takes the Grover Norquist pledge to always make taxes as salient and as unpleasant as possible. The idea being that it will make voters more anti tax
  - eastof 5mo ago
    I wish this were true but they get paid by taxes. Besides, there are few things more unpleasant than having your hard earned money taken away from you, regardless of how it happens. I don't think it takes fancy paperwork to make people oppose it.
    - iteria 5mo ago
      Once you get habituated to it, it really is easy. When I was younger I was appalled by how much I was losing to taxes. Now I don't even glance at the line items. All that matters is that the end numbers. Hell, if I didn't need to enroll my kid in school which requires a receipt for property taxes, I wouldn't even know that literally 80% of my local taxes to schooling. My property taxes are pretty invisible to me. I don't file, my bank does. It really puts into frame why when a city gets old, they start cutting taxes and squeezing schools. If taxes were filed automatically, honestly, I'd pay no attention at all to them, but having to sit once a year an actually look at the amount I paid, does get me to think about taxes and what they go towards, at least a little.
    - rcpt 5mo ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform#Taxpayer_Protection_Pledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform#Taxpa...
    - phatskat 5mo ago
      I’d wager the money from lobbies and companies like Intuit more than make up for it. Also, republics are “anti-tax” in word and pro-tax in practice, as is the American way. When it comes to particularly republicans, anti-tax is code for removing social safety nets. They want taxes if it pays them, or pays the right contractors, or funds the military etc but when those tax dollars could go to social welfare they suddenly think it’s time to trim the fat.
arwhatever 5mo ago
I used Claude Code to prepare my personal income tax return this year, and so far the IRS hasn’t come after me. Had Claude generate yaml files for the input/source documents, then had it generate code to process the return into output yaml files. Manually typed the results into the IRS Free File Forms website, and was pleased to see that it did some input validation. Had it generate Code modules to match the IRS forms and schedules by name, keeping the nomenclature in code as close as possible to that in the official IRS instructions. Spot checked a whole lot of it and found very, very little of it that needed correction. Stored all of it in git so that I could monitor the diffs as it went along. Maybe the neatest part was when I asked Claude why I wound up owing so much it gave me a list of reasons and dollar amounts in descending order.
- nly 5mo ago
  Still blows my mind that Americans have to do this. In the UK almost nobody needs to "file their takes" and if you do you just do it online without the need for software.
  - awjlogan 5mo ago
    A lot of people in the UK file their taxes (~12 million, roughly 35% of employed adults, not taking into account those unemployed with assets and pensions), but the self assessment is straightforward and very easy to use.
    - crote 5mo ago
      But do they have to? In my country income taxes are automatically deducted. If you've got a single job and don't own large amounts of properties there's a decent chance your tax bill is exactly €0 and that there's no requirement for you to file.
      - awjlogan 5mo ago
        No, you don't have to. If you are employed through a company, stay below £100K income and don't have other income then (generally) you don't need to do a tax return - it's all handled automatically through pay as you earn payroll. However, as shown, a lot of people are self employed, want to claim deductions, have some side income etc. However, for those that do need to, it is really straightforward.

by bloppe 5mo ago

Finally being able to stop paying Intuit $150 every year as a reward for their lobbying against tax code simplification and free e-file is one of the most exciting possibilities for AI imo

quantified 5mo ago

To have the tax code easily dealt with and returns filed by IRS's own software will be a happy day. At that point maybe most of Intuit's employees can find other jobs.

luis_cho 5mo ago

Here in Portugal, tax comes pre calculated from the government on a free web application. It works very well! I just need to do very small adjustments every year before deliver the taxes.

rcpt 5mo ago
In the US every Republican takes the Grover Norquist pledge to always make taxes as salient and as unpleasant as possible. The idea being that it will make voters more anti tax
- eastof 5mo ago
  I wish this were true but they get paid by taxes. Besides, there are few things more unpleasant than having your hard earned money taken away from you, regardless of how it happens. I don't think it takes fancy paperwork to make people oppose it.
  - iteria 5mo ago
    Once you get habituated to it, it really is easy. When I was younger I was appalled by how much I was losing to taxes. Now I don't even glance at the line items. All that matters is that the end numbers. Hell, if I didn't need to enroll my kid in school which requires a receipt for property taxes, I wouldn't even know that literally 80% of my local taxes to schooling. My property taxes are pretty invisible to me. I don't file, my bank does. It really puts into frame why when a city gets old, they start cutting taxes and squeezing schools. If taxes were filed automatically, honestly, I'd pay no attention at all to them, but having to sit once a year an actually look at the amount I paid, does get me to think about taxes and what they go towards, at least a little.
  - rcpt 5mo ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform#Taxpayer_Protection_Pledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform#Taxpa...
  - phatskat 5mo ago
    I’d wager the money from lobbies and companies like Intuit more than make up for it. Also, republics are “anti-tax” in word and pro-tax in practice, as is the American way. When it comes to particularly republicans, anti-tax is code for removing social safety nets. They want taxes if it pays them, or pays the right contractors, or funds the military etc but when those tax dollars could go to social welfare they suddenly think it’s time to trim the fat.

arwhatever 5mo ago

I used Claude Code to prepare my personal income tax return this year, and so far the IRS hasn’t come after me. Had Claude generate yaml files for the input/source documents, then had it generate code to process the return into output yaml files. Manually typed the results into the IRS Free File Forms website, and was pleased to see that it did some input validation. Had it generate Code modules to match the IRS forms and schedules by name, keeping the nomenclature in code as close as possible to that in the official IRS instructions. Spot checked a whole lot of it and found very, very little of it that needed correction. Stored all of it in git so that I could monitor the diffs as it went along. Maybe the neatest part was when I asked Claude why I wound up owing so much it gave me a list of reasons and dollar amounts in descending order.

nly 5mo ago
Still blows my mind that Americans have to do this. In the UK almost nobody needs to "file their takes" and if you do you just do it online without the need for software.
- awjlogan 5mo ago
  A lot of people in the UK file their taxes (~12 million, roughly 35% of employed adults, not taking into account those unemployed with assets and pensions), but the self assessment is straightforward and very easy to use.
  - crote 5mo ago
    But do they have to? In my country income taxes are automatically deducted. If you've got a single job and don't own large amounts of properties there's a decent chance your tax bill is exactly €0 and that there's no requirement for you to file.
    - awjlogan 5mo ago
      No, you don't have to. If you are employed through a company, stay below £100K income and don't have other income then (generally) you don't need to do a tax return - it's all handled automatically through pay as you earn payroll. However, as shown, a lot of people are self employed, want to claim deductions, have some side income etc. However, for those that do need to, it is really straightforward.