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johny_joe_1975 ,

As a person who not live in US, I wonder why people need private tax filing like TurboTax ?
As where I live, my employer (the company I work for) do tax filing for me. I just need to sign, agree that they will do my tax filling.

helpImTrappedOnline , (edited )

Funny thing is, in a way our employers already do our taxes, they send everything to the IRS.
We just have to manually input the same data into forms to send to the IRS.
If you get it wrong they'll know and can fine you.
That being said, individuals filing their own taxes does have its place, people have multiple jobs, children, houses, debt, bank intrest earned etc. An employeer should't have to keep track of all that. The individual should just be able to collect all the approiate forms and send them in, not have to transfer info from form w4 to form 1090.

Private tax filing companies like Turbo Tax have heavily lobbied with campaign contributions bribes.

Any attempt to fix the system was blocked. The silver linning (if you can call it that) was they had to make a free version availbe to low income individuals.

However that "free" version is completely burried and not advertised anywhere. They'd rather you use the free version of TurboTax which only free for the basic person with a job, house and maybe a kid. Anything more will cost (my info is a bit outdated and skewed, I'm not really looking at the exact service).

Then it's filled the dark patterns and scare tatics to get you to pay up every step of the way.

Welcome to land of freedom and the illusion of taxation with representation.

pete_the_cat , (edited )

Using this ended being a massive pain in the ass for me. I could file the federal taxes online, but after I submitted it and attempted to file my state taxes online it said I couldn't since I lived in NYC and made more than 75k/yr and I'd have to mail them in since it's impossible to file only your state taxes online due to the IRS' requirements.

I haven't used my printer in years so it was a hassle just to print out 5 pages and mail them half way across the country. It also delayed getting my refund by about a month.

gibmiser ,

Growing pains. States that work with the IRS will be able to (relatively) easily setup a way to receive the information from the IRS in a way that makes the states job easier too. This is a win for everyone except the tax preparing industry.

pete_the_cat ,

Yeah, I just assumed it would work smoothly by now. I've been using TurboTax for the past 7 years and have had no issues, I attempted to save money by doing it this way, but it caused way more headaches for me.

Moobythegoldensock ,

The agency also is inviting all states with a state income tax to sign up and help people file their state returns for free. During the 2024 pilot, tax agencies in Arizona, Massachusetts, California and New York helped people directly file their state taxes.

pete_the_cat ,

If you lived in NYC and made than 75k/year you can't file online using the state's website, and both of those were true for me. I moved out of NYC last June, I live in Florida now. Also, why should I have to go see a tax agent? I should just be able to do it all online myself. I've been doing it for 7 years with TurboTax.

Moobythegoldensock ,

Yeah, and NYC’s cost of living is going to make that the case for a higher percentage of people. These initiatives are really targeting middle and lower income people outside of cities.

Sounds like you’re in that uncomfortable spot where you need to pay to do your taxes but it’s probably not worth it to pay an accountant. Paid software is probably ideal for you, but I personally wouldn’t use TurboTax out of principle just because of how obsessively they lobby to keep the system like this.

TachyonTele ,

Every library has tax forms for free if you're mailing them in.

pete_the_cat ,

I had them already prepared (I attempted to do it via H&R block as well but it was rejected since I had already submitted my federal forms), I just couldn't submit them. Also I moved 1300 miles away in the past year, so I couldn't really do that anyway haha

aeharding ,
@aeharding@vger.social avatar

Sounds like a state problem. It works great in my state. It will get better in time.

pete_the_cat , (edited )

A city problem to be more exact. Since I lived in NYC and made more than 75k in a year I couldn't file online, using the site the IRS directed me to (I've been doing it myself with TurboTax for the past 7 years, and paying for it). Due to the IRS' own rules, you can't file just your state tax returns online, since they're largely the same as the federal taxes. So both are actually at fault.

I live in Florida now so I don't have to pay state taxes, so next year's will be a breeze.

aeharding ,
@aeharding@vger.social avatar

you can't file just your state tax returns online

Then either I’m misunderstanding you, or I’m filing my taxes wrong lol

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