TurboTax maker Intuit spent millions in record lobbying blitz amid threats to tax prep industry::undefined

  • notannpc@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Wouldn’t it be wild if the government just…sent us our refund or our bill? Because they know how much taxes we owe or how much they owe us without needing to play the stupid fucking “gather all your forms” and put it into the right fields game.

    That would also completely solve this problem by eliminating the need for turbo tax to exist at all.

    • hglman@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      For the very rich, its extremely hard to know what they own, filing taxes allows them to hide all the details.

      • max@feddit.nl
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        5 months ago

        So your government could do what the commenter above suggested for 99% of the population. Got it.
        Because that’s what they do in my country. Your income is pre-filled, and most people don’t need to do anything other than double check it and click submit. If you want to get tax breaks for edge cases like uncovered medical care, extra schooling, travel costs as a freelancer, etc., you just follow the mostly easy steps and fill that in.

        • hglman@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          I want the rich to be taxed; the system is broken bc it allows for loopholes. 100% should just get a bill.

          • max@feddit.nl
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            5 months ago

            One doesn’t have to exclude the other. I sense the irony in saying this, being Dutch (whose country is considered a tax haven for the rich and corporations unfortunately), but we don’t have to pay for tax software at least. Worst case, you’ll pay for a tax advisor/accounted if you have a really complicated situation with shit like alimony and wish to squeeze every last cent from it.

          • Dark Arc@social.packetloss.gg
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            5 months ago

            Loopholes aren’t bad, they’re incentives for companies to do certain things rather than hard requirements for companies to do certain things.

            It’s when it’s to such an extreme no or little tax is paid that there’s a problem.

            • bamboo@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              Loopholes also get a bad name because many of them are carved out to target specific people, companies, and demographics in ways that aren’t helpful to society at large.

          • grayman@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Over 90% of tax revenue is collected from less than 10% of the population. Tax the rich is a campaign lie. It already happens. About 50% of adults pay net 0% or get out more than they put in.

            The middle class is shrinking and the wage gap is getting worse partly because of the progressive tax system. Only the top 0.1% have the ability to not care about taxes. And even if you taxed them at 100%, they have the tools and money to avoid paying taxes on the vast majority of their wealth.

            • hglman@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              Tax as a wealth transfer is exactly how to close the gap between rich and poor. You can see the picture but you have misunderstood how the elements relate. Not allowing the 0.1% to escape taxation is exactly what has to happen.

        • hglman@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          You’re missing the forest for the trees. There are plenty of ways to encourage actions without coupling them to taxes. Make the tax code simple, and put the complexity in the systems that deal with people.

  • TORFdot0@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I don’t have a complex tax return but I’d rather pay an accountant to file my federal return for me than give these companies my business.

    Whenever I can efile my return without giving intuit, hr block or other mega corp my business, that will be a great day

    • edric@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Don’t know if they’re a mega corp, but FreeTaxUSA has been great for me. Free for simple federal tax returns.

      • Salix@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        They are part of the Free File Alliance lead by Intuit that lobbied to prevent the IRS from creating their own free tax filing tool.

        Not like we have much choice when it comes to free tax filing until IRS gets their direct file up and running for all.

  • Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 months ago

    They’re scared. If it’s available, fill for free. Ask your representatives to increase the program. Let them burn through their money.

  • kingthrillgore@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    Intuit should try to create something new, as opposed to ride TurboTax for its revenues! They could make a banking app to replace what they did to Mint!

    • thirteene@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I interviewed with Intuit a few months after they purchased mint. When I told them I was using it, they all pretty much said they bought mint to prevent them from taking their market share. Their entire business model is restricted access and lobbying.

      • Jojo@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Gross. But also, isn’t that, like, the capitalism endgame? Good for them, I guess?

        But also gross.

  • gastationsushi@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Tax payers aren’t the customers. Intuit is the customer here and they are buying income streams from politicians. It’s an artificial and unnecessary system.

  • asshole@r.nf
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    5 months ago

    I mean, considering inflation, I expect every year to be a record spending year.

  • Mango@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Wait. What’s wrong with TurboTax? It’s so easy. Why would anyone pay a human instead? Why would a human want to do any of this?

    • Furbag@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      TurboTax lobbys the US Government heavily to keep free alternatives from existing. At one point in time, the IRS was going to allow everyone to be able to report their taxes directly via their website and Intuit and the rest of the tax preparation software developers moved heaven and earth to kill the legislation that would have allowed it.

      So, to answer the question, there’s nothing wrong with TurboTax except for the fact that it’s run by a private company that charges you a fee for something that the federal government could operate for free. If you want to keep paying a 3rd party to send the IRS the information they already have, then the system works just fine.

      • Mango@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Oh wow, what the fuck? How can we have a straight government backed monopoly when we’re teaching kids in school that we’re specifically against that? Probably the same way I was compelled to plea guilty when we’re teaching kids in school that we’re specifically against that. It’s just theatre.

        • bamboo@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          What we do and what we tell our kids we do are often very different

          • Mango@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Timmy, me and your mother tried BDSM last night, so if she has a hard time talking, it’s because she couldn’t stop me from wrecking that throat!

    • sebinspace@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The point is that we shouldn’t have to do taxes ourselves in the first place. The IRS have the necessary numbers, they know what we owe or are owed. Intuit continuously lobby to keep the current system in place, while advertising itself as “convenient”, and it is, but only within the system they helped create and help maintain.

    • Clent@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Are you feeling superior over not filing your taxing?

      The most likely scenario here is that if were you to file, you’d receive a refund. The IRS will happily keep your money.

      However, if you have mucked with your deductions such that you are underpaying, you’re playing a dangerous game.

      As they say, fuck around and find out. In this case the fuck around part will especially unpleasant.

      Hope you maintain cash only lifestyle because they will empty your bank accounts. They will garnish your wages. They will get a their money with penalties and interest.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Don’t forget the 1 year of jail per year of not filing taxes if considered tax evasion. If you cannot pay your taxes they cannot jail you. Aka, file your taxes and don’t pay your taxes and you should be fine. Don’t file or pay and you might get hit with tax evasion eventually. More likely just get hit with an extra 25% of his taxes he didn’t pay as it goes up by 5% a year until it stops at 25.

        • Clent@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I didn’t want to assume based off what little they provided since often this libertarian puffery but their follow up indicates clear intent to evade taxes.

          Not filing is tax evasion a bit of research would alleviate them of any misconceptions on this.

          There only hope is to file all those years and as you noted, ignore the penalties but I see no indication they’ll be doing that anytime soon.

          This type of person is the reason cash app and others are now required to report. And if this fool tries to skirt around by structuring payments under those limits, they’ll fuck themselves in ways only money launderers experience.

          The fact that they haven’t hit the existing limits indicates they are living a life of poverty. They are putting themselves at substantial risk over tiny sums of money. Either that or they are structuring payments, at which point money laundering comes into play and whoever is playing along with them is putting themselves at substantial risk.

        • Clent@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Playing stupid stops working when you hit 18. The IRS doesn’t give a fuck if you can’t keep track of it. They will assume it’s all a taxable event if you cannot prove otherwise.

          Those apps are reporting anything over a certain minimum. When the IRS decides you’re worth going after, they will audit you, they will go back as many years as allowed by law, you will be fucked.

          What you’re doing is tax evasion. There is zero argument otherwise. No lawyer will be able to help you. You will very definitely end up in jail.

          This post is evidence of your criminal intent.

          Your rationale here makes you sound like a sovereign citizen. You certainly don’t sound very wise. Not collecting a last paycheck, because paperwork…damn.

          The IRS won’t call you, they’ll send certified mail and the fucking will start and you will probably continue to fuck aroind and end up prison and from what I’ve read here, you will never recover.