mozzIRS plans to make its free tax filing program permanent
IRS plans to make its free tax filing program permanent #news #usnews #irs #taxes
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/30/politics/irs-direct-file-free/index.html
ChozoI was pressed for time when filing this year, so I didn't want to experiment with the IRS' new program and just went with FreeTaxUSA since I knew it would be fast and have my data from last year saved. For those who tried the new program this year, how was it?
DrSleeplessI used it last minute and it was easy.
I itemized for the first time this year so I couldn’t use it, but I did fill it out completely as a comparison point to make sure itemizing was worth it. It was pretty painless, not very different from free filing through various other companies.
Great. Other free filing is acceptable. And folks will be kinda used to it from the get go.
I got halfway through it and one of the forms I needed to use was not supported, so I basically wasted my time testing it out. I don’t remember the form, but I felt like it was a basic thing.
I went with FreeTaxUSA as I always do and it was good as always.
I think having to fill out tax forms instead of the government just telling you what you owe is pretty insane and this IRS program does nothing to resolve the actual issue.
That was my issue too. I think it was something with retirement like it didn’t support either 401k or IRA contributions.
I jumped back to freetaxusa since I’ve been using them for years.
Are you guys all sockpuppets, posting from the FreeTaxUSA office or something?
They require you to use a third party, ID.me, to even sign in to use it.
Fuck that.
Without that, I would love to use it.
So you’re completing and filing your taxes by mail, I guess? Or using a different third party, like H&R Block?
The problem is that the actual government is the one requiring me to use a third party company, that is not part of the government, for me to give them information so that the government can verify who I am.
I use FreeTaxUSA, and never had to do ID.me.
It’s an arbitrary requirement, that is stupid in the sense that the GOVERNMENT knows everything about me so WHY should I need to use a COMPANY’S bullshit to verify that?
Tbh worked quite well for me only rough part is I messed up some math at the start so I had to start again
Aint it limited to destitute wage slaves pretty much?
W2 only?
LodraI only have anecdotal info for based on some reading I did last year. As far as I recall, the program and software are new. So they’re slowly building up features for more complicated tax scenarios an in turn, slowly making it accessible to more of the population.
It’s just a matter of time before this is widely available. I read the post title as “we succeeded in this first year’s test and plan to continue the program”.
So I thought to myself, well that's a weird comment. It's nonsensical in a couple of different ways.
So I sort of wondered to myself: Why would someone be so aggressively negative in this specific way about something that almost any normal human being would look at and say "hey that's good," and for such weird and counterlogical reasons?
And so I looked three comments back in your history and said oooooohhhhhhhh okay I get it it all makes sense now.
Normally I would disagree with you, but yeah This Guy is actually probably a plant and a shill, but you guys throw that at so many people who don’t worship the ground Biden walks on that it is hard to trust you
I looked back in my history as an exercise in self criticism, and I found many many recent instances of me arguing with people I'm pretty sure are shills without bringing that accusation into it in any capacity, because usually, it's not relevant and I think just dealing with their arguments at face value is more productive. And then, I found a comment from a few days ago where I called the Biden administration "fuckin assholes" about their support for Israel.
I won't say that back further ago than that, you won't be able to find me accusing someone of being a shill, because you will. I will say something about it in cases like this where it's (a) hilariously obvious and (b) relevant to the conversation on a level that makes bringing it up productive, in addition to dealing factually with what they're saying. But I actually don't say it nearly as often as I think it. I won't speak for how anyone else likes to do their internet arguments, but just as far as my conduct is concerned I'm pretty sure you're just making up a convenient reality that doesn't exist. Both of your main accusations here have nothing to do with the actual reality that exists in the real world.
I'm not sure why you're committed to saying something "rebuttal-like" here, instead of just "yeah that guy's full of shit" without any "but" attached afterwards, athough I have a theory.
(Also, this conversational pattern -- where one person who is pretty clearly a shill expresses a statement, and someone does a rebuttal, and then the first person disappears completely and someone different instantly jumps in and starts conducting the conversation or attacking the rebutter -- happens often enough and is slightly-unusual enough that I think that pattern is worth pointing out, also.)
Doesn’t look like a plant or a shill. Looks like a tankie.
The truth is, I have no idea and I don't think it's all that productive in most cases to try to sort it out or talk about it. I didn't actually say anything at all about what the person was; I simply highlighted flaws in their argument and linked to one of their other comments and let the reader draw their own conclusions. In this case I think they were so self explanatory that I didn't really need to indicate any of what my conclusions were.
But... to deal explicitly with my conclusions, I'll say that in almost every case where there's some kind of weird nonsense-logic, and then poking through the person's history instantly yields some "let's not vote for Biden" advocacy, I do personally tend to draw the conclusion that they're a political shill. If I saw a bunch of geopolitical stuff or extended arguments about Marxism then that would tilt the scales in favor of tankie (although like I say, this is only my private logic about it, not like anything I would present as conclusive, because it's basically impossible to tell.) Going into mainstream political forums and getting real vocal about how people involved with mainstream US politics are supposed to engage with it doesn't strike me as real common tankie behavior.
Going into mainstream political forums and getting real vocal about how people involved with mainstream US politics are supposed to engage with it doesn’t strike me as real common tankie behavior.
Really? Hm. Maybe I’m using it wrong, it seems like that’s a big thing they do. Like we don’t support third parties because we’re terrible liberals who love war, and not because third parties have zero chance and almost always hurt the chance for progressive reforms. (Also ‘liberals love war’ is just Qanon level batshittery, I just can’t)
I classify most of those people as shills. The people who want to talk about communism or anarchism or pro-China/Russia-ism, and lack of any interest or hope for US electoral politics as kind of an outgrowth of that but US electoral politics is not the main thing they are interested in focusing on, I classify as probably authentic tankies.
Like I say, of course, I have no idea. That's just how I write it down in my head.
Fair enough. I just think of “shill” in a context of paid advertiser or, well, useful idiot. Yeah, ok I could see that.
A tankie... Do you even what the term means lol
I didn't say it wasn't good, just highlighted the programs's limitation. U weaved this story around it lol
Let's see if the tax prep lobby will allow them to love beyond pure w2 wage slaves.
So you think it's a good thing, just doesn't go far enough / needs to be extended further in the same direction in the future?
My bigger concern is that it won't happen due to the strong lobby, yes
W is a W, and starting from the bottom makes sense.
But between income restrictions and complexity thresholds...
Why does it have 79k agi limit? What purpuse does this limit serve beyond sending people earning more to paid clowns....
If limit is w2 then just make it w2 jfc
Sure. My question is, why such a concerted effort to look for bad things about such a clear win?
Like would it work the other way? If the IRS was making life more difficult and expensive for everyone making W2 income under $79k, would you be out here saying well I guess an L is an L, but let’s remember it only applies to W2 earners and only some of them and anyway it’ll probably get overturned later on and I want to highlight the program’s important limitations and etc etc, instead of just saying “that’s a bad thing” like a normal person?
It seems your issue is my delivery which is all good but that's how I choose to deliver my message.
I don't provide factually incorrect info, if I do, please correct me.
I have no issue with learning!
78% of Americans make what you call “destitute wages” and live paycheck to paycheck on W2 income.
78% of American taxpayers* only have a w2?
Kinda hard to believe but I guess half does live pay check to pay check.
Despite the downvotes, yes. The IRS should be obligated to put out software that can service everyone, in every tax scenario.
Article says some states may refuse to participate. Well since it’s a program that helps people and provides a free option instead of using a corporate tax preparer, then I assume all GOP states will hate it and call it liberal socialism somehow. Betcha we hear the same argument we get with healthcare … " The libs want to force you to use this and take away your ability to choose"
like hateful racist clockwork
solsangraalGOP rule #1: oppose anything and everything that’s provided at no cost to the end-user if someone somewhere can charge too much money for the same product. and no, instatwitbooksnaptok isn’t included because the end-user IS the product
Texas must be soooo mad they don’t have income tax so can’t really do anything about it.
Nope. Not mad at all about not having state income tax.
Snapzsome states may refuse…
Fucking Hawaii, it’s always Hawaii.
JyekA lot of GOP led states don’t have state taxes anyways. Worst case scenario, people in said states only need taxes prepared for federal anyways.
Texas was one of the states that could participate in the trial. But it is Texas, so I’m not holding my breath that they will continue being cool with it. Fingers crossed though.
As a Texan, there is no state income tax here. Texas can’t say shit.
I want to choose to fund lobbyists working against me to make every April a little bit harder and more expensive :(
Interestingly this is all part of a trump-administration effort to help consumers file taxes without having to pay $100 or whatever to tax filing software companies.
Ahhhhh almost had you with that huh? Almost? no? Yeah okay fair enough. It was a stretch.
JaysynThis program will exist until the next #GOP administration.
Why wait until then? There are plenty of non existent people affected by this that the GOP can help bring to court so the Supreme Justices Mullahs can strike it down.
Taxation is theft. Use Monero.
Libertarianism is stupidity. Use brain.
Oh, I’m most definitely am. I’m using my brain and my knowledge to help teach others to fight the system and defund the IRS and defund the government and burn it all to the ground.
Guess I wasn’t clear enough: use brain constructively, INSTEAD of for stupidity.
Why though? I like public infrastructure. I don’t want toll roads everywhere I go.
Let the states handle it. If the states don’t handle it well and have bad infrastructure, then you are free to leave. Before a state that has better infrastructure. I’d like to see a world where states compete to get new people to move there and have incentive programs for people who wish to leave other states.
SuiXi3Dyou are free to leave
This isn’t true in the slightest. I’d love to leave Texas right now, but I in no way can afford to do so.
I would support community fundraisers to help people get out of situations that are bad for them. So for example, LGBTQ people who live in LGBTQ friendly places could raise money to support others who are currently living in Texas and need to move away.
DrWeevilJammerSo the libertarian solution to eliminate taxes is essentially GoFundMe, where the burden of support for those in need falls only on those who possess both empathy and the financial means to engage in philanthropy?
Everybody has something of value they can contribute to society. So people need to find what that is for them and do that for somebody else. If you’re good at washing dishes, then go wash dishes. If you’re good at painting houses, then go paint houses. The libertarian mindset, at least from what I can gather, is a hand up, not a hand out.
But what if nobody is paying enough to wash dishes or paint houses? Your logic would dictate that they should just find someone else willing to pay them enough, but if literally nobody is paying enough then there are no options.
Without 52%+ taxes people would have enough to live on and save. (15% from your pay, 15% from your salary that your employer takes automatically, 10% sales tax, 12% inflation). I didnt count all the other taxes such as property ad velorem, gas, etc.)
Inflation isn’t a tax. It wouldn’t go away even if you eliminated all taxes.
I don’t know what your income tax rates is but 30% is pretty high, you must make good money!
Inflation won’t go away unless you switch to a currency that doesn’t inflate. And yes, inflation is a tax. It’s just a tax you don’t know you’re paying because it’s hidden from you. Instead of having less dollars in your balance, your dollar just buys less, which is the same thing.
As I mentioned elsewhere in the thread, there are places in the world where it works the way this guy wants it to. Redmond O'Hanlon talked about observing the results, someone falling off a boat and clearly going to drown, and O'Hanlon becoming incredibly alarmed to the people around him, like where is the rescue boat, isn't someone going to do something for him, don't they have some kind of safety in place? And they asked him, who's going to pay for it? Why would someone set up a lifeguarding operation like that for no one in particular just out of the goodness of their heart? And they laughed at his naïveté about how the world operates, as he watched the kid struggling, going further and further away and out of sight as the boat continued without him.
This book looks like it would make an incredible movie
It’s bananas from start to finish
I can’t recommend it highly enough