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rsuri ,

If you lived in a state not listed here, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory, Direct File won't support your tax filing needs.

Ok so here in DC we don't get a voting representative, senators, or that free software other states get. Got it.

Strawberry ,

it's a soft launch of only 13 states. they'll roll it out to everyone next year probably

tatterdemalion ,
@tatterdemalion@programming.dev avatar

Sadly it doesn't support reporting income from independent contracting (yet).

FontMasterFlex ,

I don't understand the praise here. 1040EZ is about as simple as it gets, and it's free to file.

Misconduct ,

Then figure it out because people have been talking about it for a long time.

FontMasterFlex ,

No they haven't. Taxes are easy to do yourself if you're not a dullard.

jj4211 ,

1040EZ hasn't been a thing since 2018.

FontMasterFlex ,

a basic tax return then. don't be pedantic. it's a simple as following some fucking directions. i haven't filed a simple return in almost 20 years so EXCUSE my mistake. The IRS is cancer and shouldn't be praised in any way shape of form.

Waraugh ,

Who are you to call anyone or anything a cancer when you’re so obviously ignorant of basic information, the attitude comes across like an old man yelling at clouds.

Even if they were a cancer it’s not like it changes without improvement. Your entire premise is destructive and useless.

FontMasterFlex ,

Keep defending the hand that holds you down.

OpenPassageways ,

This is great for citizens!

I'm not sure they get bragging rights about a smooth site launch for a tax preparation application when most people don't even have their W2s yet...

We'll see whether this is another healthcare.gov when people actually try to use it, but this is a huge win for people who qualify.

TinklesMcPoo ,

Today is the last day a company has to file and send w2's so most folks should actually have them by now or very very soon.

fruitycoder ,

Thanks Brandon

Honestly I'll hope reservations and congratulations till after we see how it goes, but the fact it's a limited pilot makes me optimistic.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

the fact it’s a limited pilot makes me optimistic

:-/

I've seen far too many good ideas go through a "limited pilot" program, outperform their intended targets, piss off someone in the DC corporate circuit, and get their budgets vaporized by the next Congress.

fruitycoder ,

Yeah small programs are easy to pivot, double edged sword in a political environment

aeharding ,
@aeharding@lemmy.world avatar

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/059aaedc-1c25-4d8f-96cb-10231894fe20.png

sndrtj ,

Why did this take the IRS so long where other nations have been doing this for decades?

brbposting OP ,

Lobbyists - quite disgusting.

Seasoned_Greetings ,

The other guy linked the answer, but I'm going to explain it anyway:

In the US, companies have the freedom to bribe lobby our congress members by giving them money that's totally unrelated to their vote you guys. The reasoning behind that being ok is that the congress official in question is still technically free to vote however they choose despite the money given to them. The reason lobbying works is the threat that the congress person might not get that money next time if they vote against that company's interests.

Just so you all know, because our congress members make a government salary of about 150k-250k/year, it's surprisingly cheap (from a rich company perspective) to lobby them, with lots of payments being in the low thousands. So for obscenely wealthy companies (like intuit), it's much cheaper to pay just enough guys off to kill a movement than for them to suffer the actual consequences of that movement.

In this case, intuit's entire business model depends on American taxes seeming like this mysterious and unapproachable thing that Americans have to pay a third party for in order to not get thrown in jail by the IRS. And given that intuit (and companies like H&R block) rake in billions each year, it's comparatively pennies to pay off congress officials to keep it that way.

-> 'Merica

Crikeste ,

Legalized corruption 😎

Azal ,

Turbotax, H&R Block, and the other tax companies are massively wealthy companies that actively lobby to push laws to keep them from being simple. There are states that they have managed to bar the same thing from happening in.

Conyak ,

To clarify, TurboTax isn’t the company, it is Intuit. They are pretty shitty when it comes to lobbying congress on this.

ExfilBravo ,

They are also the de-facto place for large companies that need automated payroll. So some people (like me) get paid by the same crooks.

Conyak ,

They are actually not the de facto for large company when it comes to payroll. I think the majority of their customers at company’s with less than 10
employees. I use to work for Intuit on the Quickbooks payroll product. I left about two years ago but I don’t think it’s changed that much.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

TurboTax isn’t the company, it is Intuit.

Technically, it was a company that Intuit acquired in '94.

HawlSera ,

Same reason why our Healthcare system is fucked, it being fucked helps the Insurance Companies make money.

h3mlocke ,
@h3mlocke@lemm.ee avatar

Hmmmm 🤔

ma11en ,

Most nations don't require you to do anything other than check your payslips unless your situation is complex.

SirQuackTheDuck ,

Ehh, in the Netherlands you need to report all bank accounts, home value, income from salary and contracts and a fuckton more.

It's all done via a web app made by the Tax Authority.

sndrtj ,

And nearly all of that is usually prefilled correctly to the euro by the Belastingdienst.

Desistance ,

Good stuff. Keep in mind that Intuit fought this for a very long time. But since they finally got stomped, the IRS can do it's thing now.

laverabe ,

I'm 100% for a simple IRS tax return but what the heck is with this?

To use Direct File, you need an IRS account with ID.me.

To get an ID.me account, you need to:

Take a video of your face

If you can't or don't want to take a video of your face, you can have a video call with an ID.me agent who will confirm that your face matches your identification.

Is that really necessary???

UNWILLING_PARTICIPANT ,

You'd think a social insurance number would be enough...

Gabu ,

In a country with proper citizen identification it might be (but even then, doubtful).

fruitycoder ,

Social Security number WAS NOT made to be an ID. It's not a secure unique number, it's just serial.

UNWILLING_PARTICIPANT ,

Oh I didn't know that. It kinda works like that in my country

KevonLooney ,

It's the same as going to a bank and letting the teller look at your face. It's to prevent someone from stealing your identity using a picture of your ID.

How can they verify the ID is real without physically seeing it? They look up the info but still need to verify that you are the person on the ID.

laverabe , (edited )

They can do that with a drivers license like they have for the last few decades.

And they're using a face recognition service from a for profit corporation ID.ME. Not ok. I'll continue to use their freefillable forms option, but if they discontinued that I'll just go back to paper mailing. This is not a step forward.

https://cyberscoop.com/irs-facial-recognition-identity-privacy/

Gestrid ,

I'm pretty sure you're required to provide your driver's license info at some point during the sign-up process, actually. Though it's been a while, so I don't remember for sure.

If it's like I remember, it's to confirm that the person on the ID matches the person who's signing up. Banks do the same when the teller asks for your ID. And so do the people who ask for your ID when you go to vote. It's the same basic process. It's just digital instead of in-person.

EssentialCoffee ,

How have they been verifying mailed in tax forms with no pictures for decades?

Seems like it unnecessarily disenfranchises the poor and the elderly. You have to have access to equipment that can record you and the tech savvy to be able to use it.

UnderpantsWeevil , (edited )
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

How have they been verifying mailed in tax forms with no pictures for decades?

They haven't. Of course, the IRS deals with upwards 1 million potentially fraudulent claims per year. So, at some level, they're trying to avoid exacerbating the problem.

Socsa ,

Ok but how come H&R Block doesn't need to do this? I just give them my IRS PIN and the AGI from last year's return. The picture shit feels like a poison pill

Reddfugee42 ,

Stupid fraud prevention ugh!

Listen folks, if you have a driver license, they already have your face, so settle down.

laverabe ,

countries with no national ID cards and no plans for one: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK. 1

And they do taxes just fine without a Harry Potter like gif of every tax payer.

Privacy reasons aside, TurboTax doesn't require a video clip to file your taxes so this is only raising the technical barrier against the widespread adoption of a simple tax system.

Sl00k ,

I don't mind this being done through the government site, but it shouldn't be done by a third party business.

EnderMB ,

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

    •
    EssentialCoffee ,

    I don't know any American adult who doesn't have a government issued ID. You basically can't do anything without one.

    Gestrid ,

    I imagine that for many Americans, they don't have a government issued id

    That's only the case in a few select cities, like New York. Most other people have an ID of some sort. (And, even if you don't want a driver's license, it's still possible to get a government-issued ID that doesn't let you drive but still verifies your identity.) The US is huge. It takes at least a few days to travel across it. And most of it, especially out in the Midwest, is still pretty rural.

    As for the "two forms of ID", they actually require four types of documents (though some documents can be submitted for two or more of those things; at minimum, you need two documents total), at least in my state, when you first get a driver's license. So most places will simply use your driver's license by itself since it proves that you've already proven your identity. Anywhere that does require two proofs will usually use your social security card and your driver's license.

    DudeImMacGyver ,

    IDs are super common in America, it would be unusual for someone to not have one.

    randon31415 ,

    A video of your face, you say?

    SecretSauces ,
    @SecretSauces@lemmy.world avatar

    For anyone who has filed with it, how much does this return differ from using a company? Is your total return the same or can a tax professional get you back a significant amount more?

    Nobsi ,

    You get as much back as you would if you knew what to claim.

    Socsa ,

    If you have a simple return then it should be identical. There's only one way to fill out form 1040 correctly. Its unclear if this will walk you through itemizing or more obscure deductions like other places do.

    jpeps ,

    Congrats, Americans! It's a long time coming but still a huge deal and I'm happy for you all 😁

    XeroxCool ,

    Good thing Intuit (TurboTax) is fighting so hard to keep the current format super slick and cheaper as a private service rather than a centralized government process. Right up there with disbanding garbage pickup in favor of individually contracted services because [checks notes] 7 overlapping truck routes will be cheaper than 1

    Azal ,

    While... I agree with you on companies like Intuit pulling this is bullshit, depending on the region you're in the trash example used is... not great.

    Speaking in the Kansas City region where City of Kansas City trash pickup is literally two bags allowed, no cans used, often late, the bags tear easily, and with this whole freeze thing they're still behind two weeks out. I live outside in one of those 5 (I'm not kidding, one literally started up last year) overlapping truck routes and it is insanely better. That said, previous town I lived in the town did the trash pickup and they did a good job, got the cans that could be auto lifted and even regularly had large item pickup days for free so even better than where I'm at now.

    Ookami38 ,

    Anecdotal evidence here, too. My experience is the opposite. Never had an issue with my city picking up the trash, putting the can back reasonably, and not randomly skipping my shit. Moved to a different NEIGHBORHOOD, one not directly serviced by the city, and half the time they don't get it, and when they do the can ends up about 10 feet from where it should be, blocking my driveway.

    To make matters worse, presumably my taxes paid for the previous pickup. Now they pay for the previous pickup, AND I have to pay for shit service!

    verdantbanana ,
    @verdantbanana@lemmy.world avatar

    why is it the US is hellbent on making everything a state by state issue but at the same time saying federal law is above state law in such cases like Texas but states with legal cannabis or states with legal abortion are allowed to be above federal

    is the US the United States or not

    make it make sense

    surewhynotlem ,

    make it make sense

    We're a slightly tighter coupled EU with less history of separation. We're states that are united. Not one big ol unified country.

    brbposting OP ,

    Not one big ol unified country.

    What’d the frats chant when we killed Bin Laden? ;)

    surewhynotlem ,

    "more poon now!"

    Holyginz ,

    Frats are probably not the best go to for people educated on the country lol

    PRUSSIA_x86 ,

    IDK why people are downvoting you, that's essentially how it works. Everything is super interconnected now, but it wasn't always that way and the constitution hasn't been updated to reflect it.

    Heresy_generator ,
    @Heresy_generator@kbin.social avatar

    The things that the federal government is responsible for are laid out in the Constitution, everything the Constitution does not place into the responsibilities of the federal government is left to state or local authorities.

    Tenth Amendment:

    Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

    kattenluik ,

    that old thing desperately needs to be rewritten

    Desistance ,

    You trust the politicians of today to rewrite the whole thing? They can't even agree on a budget.

    FlyingSquid ,
    @FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

    Before or after a guillotine is set up outside the place where they're drafting it as insurance?

    XeroxCool ,

    It's 50 states in a trench coat

    Tyfud ,

    50 countries, but yeah

    Reddfugee42 ,

    A state is just another term for a country. The two words never meant something different until our American Union got some people confused.

    Tyfud ,

    That's a fair point. I was mostly sticking to the colloquial usage.

    charonn0 ,
    @charonn0@startrek.website avatar

    The idea of checks and balances on the exercise of government powers extends to even the state/federal relationship.

    LucidNightmare ,

    Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention!

    Pandantic ,
    @Pandantic@midwest.social avatar

    If you lived in a state not listed here, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory, Direct File won't support your tax filing needs.

    lol I guess not for me!

    jh34 ,
    @jh34@lemmy.world avatar

    We're rolling the pilot out in phases, and it is not available to the public yet. It is expected to be more widely available in mid-March.

    Check back mid-march ig

    DrPop ,

    I know it's just a trial right now. The IRS still offers free tax prep through the free file program. The tires of income don't matter.

    GlendatheGayWitch ,

    Tax Hawk is another software that offers free federal filing.

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