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randon31415 ,

One of the promises I wish he would have kept. Back when presidents actually did some of the things they promised.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/18/provide-option-for-a-pre-filled-out-tax-form/

raptir ,

This would be a lot funnier without the last two panels.

moshtradamus666 ,

Recently in Brazil we basically just have to hit a button on a web application. It's definitely a little more complicated if you are a business owner.

Honytawk ,

In Belgium its almost completely hands-off

It gets calculated for you, although you can check it if you like to make sure.

It usually is correct, in which case you don't have to do a thing.

egonallanon ,

Likewise in the UK for standard wage workers. Only gets more complicated if you have investments outside and ISA or multiple sources of non-labour income.

Telodzrum ,

Knowing the correct solution and knowing whether or not a solution is correct are not the same thing. Doesn't really apply here, but it's important to remember.

irreticent OP ,
@irreticent@lemmy.world avatar

Brushing your teeth regularly will help prevent cavities. Doesn't really apply here, but it's important to remember.

Telodzrum ,

One is completely unrelated. Care to try again?

irreticent OP ,
@irreticent@lemmy.world avatar

Calm down and learn to take a joke.

Telodzrum ,

Jokes are funny. They subvert expectations or play on words and phrases.

Ioughttamow ,

Soooo quirky

Zoboomafoo ,
@Zoboomafoo@slrpnk.net avatar

Well I liked it!

morphballganon ,

You are correct that it doesn't apply here. So why say it?

Telodzrum ,

It’s relevant, just not on point.

TeamDman , 
0..9999999 | Where-Object { Test-ValidTaxReturn $_ } | Select-Object -First 1
Telodzrum ,

dude just casually in here solving p=np

Mickey7 , (edited )

I never understood why there wasn't a federal web site where you input your gross based on W2. Then check off boxes for special deductions like kids. And wamo here's what you owe. But if our tax system was simple and stupid than thousands of people at IRS wouldn't have jobs. Too bad. Let them find other jobs.

cerement ,
@cerement@slrpnk.net avatar

it’s corruption lobbying by TurboTax

PunnyName ,

The IRS are the good guys.

TurboTax and HR Block are the ones making it a shitfest.

DragonTypeWyvern ,

Good guys, no. Workers doing a job with no more malice than anyone else, sure.

cerement ,
@cerement@slrpnk.net avatar

“thousands of people at IRS wouldn’t have jobs”

or they could start going after the actual tax cheats (wealthy and corporations) instead of hassling regular workers barely scraping by

helpImTrappedOnline ,

The IRS is (supposedly) under funded. That's (supposedly) why they can't actually go after the rich people and business. They can't afford the legal fees.

The reason there's no federals site is corporate lobbying. You see if there was federal site, business like Turbo Tax and HR Block would fail. They convinced the government "let us take care of the online platform", the gov said "okay, but as long as you make a free service for low income people".

Then the corps branded the free version a different name, burried it and advertised the paid one. Then they filled the service with all kinds of dark patterns to get people to pay for crap they don't need. Government hasn't done anything about it.

TheLowestStone ,
@TheLowestStone@lemmy.world avatar

I had to decline "upgrading" to a paid tier 6 times while filing NY taxes through HR Block this year.

thessnake03 ,

Try freetaxusa.com the only fee I've ever been charged is $15 to file state taxes. Fed is free.

Apepollo11 ,

As a Brit, I always assumed the American system worked like that because of freedom or something.

cerement ,
@cerement@slrpnk.net avatar

well … if capitalism means freedom, then … yes?

isles ,

I will die for my freedom to be fucked over by corporations.

RedditWanderer ,

All employers report income and deduct taxes from paychecks directly, so the government knows how much you have paid.

What they don't know is if you've won a lottery, sold a service or have someone bunking at your place paying rent. This you need to declare yourself.

In the UK the rule is: we will assume you have nothing else, please let us know if you have additional income

In the US (and Canada) the rule is: we will assume you have a lot of shit, please let us know even if you don't have additional income.

The US system stems from Conservatives having nothing other to run on than "people are going to grift and if you're an honest employed american you have nothing to worry about". Which is a measure that mostly affects the poor and those who don't know the law.

The same reason healthcare was tied to employers. They convince people nothing could go wrong because only those working should have healthcare. Which we can all see is insane but looks good on paper.

cerement ,
@cerement@slrpnk.net avatar

(lottery is probably a bad example – both US and Europe, lottery winnings are more heavily tracked and reported than sales or income tax)

Kalkaline ,
@Kalkaline@leminal.space avatar

If by freedom you mean incessant bribes/lobbying from Intuit, HR Block, and other tax companies to keep it confusing, you're right.

jordanlund ,
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

It should be super simple... We have all the math to make it happen, just take the correct amount out of people's checks and leave them the fuck alone.

Don't put your hand in my pocket 26 times in a year then come to me at the end and go "(Blush), sorry, I took too much/too little."

Take the right amount, leave me the fuck alone.

Gigan ,
@Gigan@lemmy.world avatar

just take the correct amount out of people’s checks and leave them the fuck alone.

Isn't this how it works for most people with a W2? It only gets complicated when you start adding dependents or starting side businesses.

jordanlund ,
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, no.

cerement ,
@cerement@slrpnk.net avatar

they take the appropriate amount out but they don’t “leave me the fuck alone” – you still gotta fill out all the paperwork and file your taxes

pretty much every other country in the world, come tax season, just sends out a receipt for you to sign …

PunnyName ,

Thanks TurboTax and HR Block.

skullgiver , (edited )
@skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl avatar

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    cerement ,
    @cerement@slrpnk.net avatar

    … sort of … we can do it for free now instead of having to pay a tax preparer but there’s still the matter of having to fill out all the paperwork – we haven’t reached the stage of the rest of the world of just signing the pre-filled tax bill

    WraithGear ,
    @WraithGear@lemmy.world avatar

    Oh yea, it comes with a 14 page PDF in small print that tells you what each field contains using the most obtuse verbiage. Then with a simple click of a button it does simple arithmetic to calculate all the numbers you plug in. But you don’t have any help on deductions. Is a thrift savings plan a Roth? Depends on when the savings plan gets taxed. Is it taxed? When i put money in or pull money out, but before or after i turn retirement age, which goes up every few years. Input all the taxes you didn’t pay by buying things online. Does livelihood depend on tips for some ungodly reason? Hope you did well because the government kinda just averages a guess how much you should be tipped. For the love of god don’t add BA though BH unless something you would know when if so. And that’s the 1040ez

    HiddenLychee ,

    Not if you take any form of assistance, make any purchases for a business/education, get income from multiple places, work in multiple states, have health insurance, or even received tax credit from a previous year where the government took too much.

    essteeyou ,

    It only gets complicated when you have dependents? Like a massive percentage of all adults...

    PunnyName ,

    Thank companies like TurboTax and HR Block. They're the ones who make it hard.

    zarkanian ,
    @zarkanian@sh.itjust.works avatar

    You can thank the politicians that TurboTax and H&R Block bought. They aren't innocent here.

    deegeese ,
    @deegeese@sopuli.xyz avatar

    I can’t vote out a corrupt politician from another state, but I can vote with my dollars and Intuit will never get another dime from me.

    magnusrufus ,

    We could consider those politicians employees of TurboTax and H&R Block just with extra steps

    Dark_Arc ,
    @Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg avatar

    It's a little more complicated because of itemization.

    The standard deduction should be pretty simple. For people that give a bunch of money to accountants ... you're probably better off just taking the standard deduction anyways. But eh maybe not.

    In theory itemization is a good option, it does save me some money, and there's very little way for the government to know that I e.g. donated to X and that reduces my tax burden by Z. My neighbor tells me back in the day you could itemize a lot more stuff, but those days are gone.

    Definitely support the IRS providing some free tax filling software at the very least. There's really no reason electronically filing should cost all the money it does to go through e.g. TurboTax and scare you with the up selling to protect you from audits or XYZ thing.

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