This is awesome! Now the IRS just needs to send me my already completed taxes that I just verify, sign, and return, like they do in Sweden.
But… why doesn’t anyone think of the millionaires :(
How does that work for businesses and investments? In the UK I don’t have to do anything for taxes with my job, but if the investments in a rental property, or something like that, are over £4000 I have to do the forms.
They give you something to sign. For the majority of people, they just say “Yeah, sounds about right” and they confirm it.
For people with added complexities, they’ll do what they already currently do and add in the details you’re talking about. It’s literally win-win all around except for the tax soft company CEOs.
There’s tax preparation software companies here in Sweden too but almost only businesses use them because most individuals don’t need it.
Intuit seems to be worried. Shortly after this story was published, Rick Heineman, the company’s communications VP, emailed The Verge with an aggressive statement calling the IRS’s pilot “redundant” and “half-baked.”
“The Direct File scheme is a solution in search of a problem,” he wrote, adding that it could end up “costing billions of dollars in taxpayer money.”
“Yeah you morons! Don’t use the free tools that the govt provides you! Pay us to do it!”
hes literally pointing out the problem with their own product…“redundant”,“solution in search of problem”, “costs taxpayers stupid money”.
… dude theres 4 fingers point back at you.
And the last one is flipping him off.
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I’m highly surprised Texas is on that list.
Ditto for TN
Florida is a surprise too.
It’s becuase Texas doesn’t have state income taxes so there is literally nothing extra they need to do to comply. Same goes for Florida and Tennessee, which commenters also mentioned.
Yeah…these hard right states signing on board is making me wonder if they are doing so just to shit on the program and “have a say” on how it goes.
2024 filing season means this coming year to file 2023 taxes, not when you file your 2024 taxes in 2025, right?
Next year, 2024 Tax Filing Season (2023 Taxes)
Direct File is one more potential option from which qualifying taxpayers will be able to choose to file a 2023 federal tax return during the 2024 filing season.
Yes, 2023 taxes being filed in the “2024 filing season” as the IRS calls it.
Holy shit, some nice news from NH. Seems like it’s been a while since we were in the news for anything other than an embarrassment or the election.
In some European countries, paying income tax means that the government sends you a form that is already completely filled out except for your deductions, and you simply verify that it looks good, then you add in whatever deductions you have, and file it.
Because 99% of the work in filing our taxes in America is completely worthless. The government already receives information directly from the same companies who send you all those tax forms. The IRS already knows all the information. Making you input it again is just a way to ensure the maximum number of mistakes.
So the IRS is taking a good first step, but we still have a long way to go to catch up to what people in other countries already have. Instead of making me fill out the forms, and the IRS checks for errors, have the IRS automatically fill out the forms, and I’ll check for errors. In a civilized country, this is something that we should already have.
Intuit must be pissed.
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"According to the IRS, these are the states joining the pilot:
States with state income tax: Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and New York States without state income tax: Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming"There was a massive bipartisan (well POTUS and Dems in Congress) push for this in the second half of the Bush Administration. It lost GOP support after the Republican House Caucus turned on Bush for his path to citizenship immigration reform policy. Intuit and its peers have so much money in this and in lobbying.
Ugh, another example of government overreach. This is just going to make it harder for me to pretend to do taxes for 6 hours. What, do I have to keep the terms of service open to “read” for 6 hours? Who’s going to believe that?
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Complete pipe dream. The government is gonna take their share whether you like it or not, the only thing this changes is that big tac corporations won’t take theirs, too
How do you propose we pay for roads, military, and everything else you use?
You know there are lots of other taxes than just income tax?
Roads and car infrastructure, at least in my area, is paid for entirely through through gas and car insurance taxes, occasionally property taxes if it’s in a municipality. But income tax doesn’t pay a penny for the roads.
Tf I want to pay tax on subsidized dino rot? Sales tax punished poor people, properly structured income tax does not.
Consumption taxes are regressive and affect the poor more than the rich.
EDIT income taxes almost certainly pay for a significant portion if not a majority of the road work in your area.
Downvoted for telling the truth. The original comment is still wrong but “what about the roads” crowd never seems to know that roads are almost entirely funded with gas tax. That’s what the $3.67^9 is for
that roads are almost entirely funded with gas tax
Not even close, only 41% of road spending in the US is covered by gas taxes.
What’s your idea for funding the government?
How about wealth taxes instead. You know, like what we’re already doing with property taxes?
Income taxes disproportionately affect the poorest in society.
Then the solution is to make the existing income tax more progressive than it already is, not just throw it away.
More progressive, close the loopholes, fund the IRS properly so they are actually able to prosecute tax cheats (usually wealthy), set a cap on tax money that can go to the military and outlaw any tax cuts that primarily benefit the top 3 tiers within 3 years of an election.
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Wealth and income are related, but are not the same thing. Wealth is assets while Income is earnings. Wealth could come from saving/investing income, but it can also come from “unearned income” like the appreciation of assets.
I personally don’t support Wealth Taxes because wherever they’ve been implements, they’ve had limited effects. I’ve yet to hear a good plan for how to execute a Wealth Tax and haven’t heard good answers for questions like, “Do we allow for depreciation of wealth?” and if so, “How do we avoid that turning into a tax loophole.”
Either way, wealth and income aren’t the same thing.
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Wealth Tax is just income tax with different increments of tax bracketing.
??
How you gonna pay for roads?
The income tax has dick all to do with roads
You never heard of Federal Highways?
Firstly, three-quarters of highway infrastructure is funded by state investment. Even still, 82% of the entire HTF funding comes from taxes on motor fuel, not income tax.
Second, what you said doesn’t even refute my original comment. Highways and interstates aren’t roads.
Highways and interstates aren’t roads.
🤦♂️
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway
First line defines it as a type of road.
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Income tax is just a fine charged on the company for having employees. It’s not taken from you, it’s taken from them.
Yes because companies never pass on revenue loss to their employees
You can certainly tell you don’t work. Income tax is taken from both you and your employer. Your employer matches what you pay.
That’s not true. Income is taxed against the individual. Employers are required to withhold income taxes in many cases, but it’s not “a fine charged on the company.” It is a tax on the individual’s income, withheld from the individual.
But the end result is the same. You don’t “make 50k, and lose 15k to taxes”, you just make 35k. That’s is. That’s what you make. If you want more, talk to your employer.
But the end result is the same. You don’t “make 50k, and lose 15k to taxes”, you just make 35k. That’s is. That’s what you make. If you want more, talk to your employer.
No, that’s exactly what happens. Have you ever filed a tax return? We’re not debating subjective interpretation here. You make a gross income that is then taxed by the government. The income tax that the government takes is taken from your gross income.
Your employer is taxed on your income by “Payroll tax”, which is a tax against the employer and is not income tax:
Payroll taxes include amounts paid by both the employee and the employer to cover any federal taxes due, while income taxes specifically refer to the amount owed by the employee to cover their individual federal income taxes owed.
Source. I’m not trying to be pedantic – in your original post, you said “Income tax is just a fine charged on the company for having employees” which is objectively not true. Income tax != payroll tax.
Yes, you’re 100% factually correct. However, it’s not useful to complain about an income tax because society benefits from those services. Fundamentally, if you’re unhappy with your take home, you need to complain about your salary. And to accept that, you need to make the mental switch to believing that your pre-tax income is not actually your income.
