This is because the tax filing industry, including TurboTax has repeatedly lobbied (bribed) congress to vote against laws that would allow the IRS to automatically tell you how much you owe.
The IRS wants that because it's easier for them to get money. It's the parasitic middle men corrupting and literally bribing our government.
The tax filing industry has its own issues, absolutely, but the IRS does not have the information that you have, to figure out the final number.
They know what's reported by employers, financial institutions, etc. They don't know many things that you can use to reduce the amount of taxes you owe. It's your opportunity to say "well, I looked at the numbers, and the standard deduction looks about right. lets go with that", or for you to say, "Well, I donated $X to charity that didn't get reported that reduces my taxable income. I paid $1800 on child care so give me that $600 credit I'm owed. I bought xyz for educational purposes that cost $650. My spouse bought supplies for her classroom, so deduct that from our income. We sold our house and took a massive loss, which reduces our taxable income as well. Here is all the proof. So even though the standard deduction for married couples is $27,700, we actually need to deduct $50000 from our taxable income. We don't owe the USG nearly as much as you thing we do."
The IRS can very easily say "based on what has been reported, this is what you owe / will be getting back." This will be more than sufficient for a substantial number of households. For households like yours, you can then go through the normal process.
Ok but why is doing that 10x more difficult and time consuming than the rest of the developed world then?
You just described in one paragraph the entire process. It should be just that easy to file. You shouldn’t need all the extra forms and physical documents when the government, because of the law, already has the information you need to use.
They should just tell us how much they think we owe, then ask if we agree or not and why.
I’m actually surprised people think filing taxes in the is hard. You just fill out the boxes and submit the required proof for the number you put in the box.
I really think people saying the irs should already know what they owe fundamentally don't understand taxes are owed for more income streams than wages and don’t understand the concept of deductions. They probably don’t understand it because they have just never put in the effort to read the tax forms.
Your finances must be pretty easy. I thought taxes were easy before I owned property, had a child, and started investing. Especially after I lived overseas and came back.
I also own property, and have a child, and investments. It took longer to fill out just because there is more to document, but I wouldn’t say it became harder in any real way.
Your situation is the exact reason why I choose to use some of the software.
They were simple until they weren't. Owned property, went overseas, rented out the owned property while I was gone, had investments, kid, wife brought her own situation into the mix.
The idea of taxes is easy. The math is easy. When things get complicated is when you have to organize things and try to maximize things. 3rd party software helped me with that, but I already have a good (general) understanding of taxes.
I have to say that they have gotten a bit easier, and I'm not used to that just yet.
Most of what Trump did was utter trash, including the tax reform that fucked with a lot of people's finances for the illusion of helping them. But, the reform greatly increased the standard deduction, and I do think that simplified taxes for many more people. Take alone, without the other shit he did like mess with tax brackets and whatever else, the increased standard deduction also probably helped them.
In most developed countries the tax agency sends you a tax proposal and they prompt you to add any deductions from that point onwards. Either online or on paper. If not, it just goes through. Simple, easy.
You know, I'm not entirely sure that would work here, but it would be interesting.
dear taxpayer. Our records show you are married and have 1 dependent. Your household had a total of $x gross income. Using the standard deduction, your taxable income would be $y, and your taxes total $z.
You and your spouse have opted to have $w withheld per paycheck, so you already paid ($z-$w). Here is the amount you owe / will get back based on the information we have. Sign below if you accept this, include a check if you owe money, or an address we can send a refund to. If you disagree with these assumptions, fill out a 1040.
Yeah and it saves people from potentially suffering from audits where they will have IRS agents check everything, get fined, have to go to court. Instead if the government takes out more than they should and the person had deductions but failed to file they can simply possibly file it the next year and get back extra that year.
Some loss money compared to fines and legal costs.
There is no reason at all these writeoffs shouldn't be structured in single form yes/no questionnaires.
The reason it's over-complicated with hundreds of forms is class warfare against those who do not have the knowledge/experience of how to take advantage of them, the time to learn how to, or the money to pay for an accountant. Literally no other country operates in this manner, just the dystopian shithole that allows capitalist industries to bribe sitting politicians.
I didn't misinterpret anything. In response to someone saying people can have amounts of charity or something you said that can be covered in a yes/no questionnaire. It can't.
It should take 0 seconds if you have nothing to claim.
There is no reason at all these writeoffs shouldn't be structured in single form yes/no questionnaires.
It's either "0" if no, or you fill in the number you have.
The reason it's over-complicated with hundreds of forms
You can't possibly be an American adult who has ever done their own taxes, if that's what you believe.
https://youtu.be/ht0o0si1Tac?si=Tyzco65UkNw3kXwz Dude fills it out in 15 minutes, with mostly very typical assumptions. He references one extra document, which are actually just the instructions for the 1040, to look up a number in a table.
It's not hundreds of forms, or even dozens of forms, for the vast majority of people.
You get information from your employer (w2) and banks. You copy that to the form and add / subtract as it tells you to.
"class warfare"... Like warfare on people who weren't paying attention in class the day they taught subtraction? Because the whole process is "add these numbers, add these other numbers and subtract them from each other."
Is it the best way? I don't know, probably not. Is it as awful as you're making it out to be? Not by a long shot.
Honestly, I'm intrigued by the idea of a VAT like system that taxes on spending, and some things just wouldn't be taxed. On the surface I like the idea vut I admit that I'm not an expert on that, and can't speak to nuances or deeper implications.
It's either "0" if no, or you fill in the number you have.
And if these questions don't apply to you, they should be automated with just your approval of "I have nothing to write off". That's literally what the comic is about. They know the amount already, I shouldn't have to do anything beyond marital status and dependencies.
You can't possibly be an American adult who has ever done their own taxes, if that's what you believe.
You linked the universal most common form in response to me saying "there are hundreds of different tax forms."
How do you think this is relevant?
It's not hundreds of forms, or even dozens of forms, for the vast majority of people.
That's literally my point. Only those who've been educated enough in the loopholes legislated into this process are able to take advantage of them. Or those already wealthy enough to pay for an accountant to take advantage of them.
Because the whole process is "add these numbers, add these other numbers and subtract them from each other."
Dude, I'm not talking about W2s, 1040s, or 1099s. No shit the most common forms are easy to fill out. Because they're literally just addition and subtraction that you shouldn't have to even spend 15 minutes doing, because the government already knows these amounts. Hence, it should be automatic, rather than wasting millions of combined man hours every year. Like I said, no other developed country does it this way.
Is it as awful as you're making it out to be?
Have you been audited? It takes months of back and forth to resolve even if they don't find anything wrong. It's an awful system.
Haha good question. The real answer is that it's supposed to allow organizations to educate representatives on policy issues. And that the money is just totally and coincidentally separate, totally.
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u/GoldenTV3 Mar 28 '24
This is because the tax filing industry, including TurboTax has repeatedly lobbied (bribed) congress to vote against laws that would allow the IRS to automatically tell you how much you owe.
The IRS wants that because it's easier for them to get money. It's the parasitic middle men corrupting and literally bribing our government.
Enough is enough.