this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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FTC judge rules Intuit broke law, must stop advertising TurboTax as “free”::Intuit plans appeal, slams FTC's "predetermined decision."

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[–] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago (7 children)

The fact that the govt has the balls to tell me to figure out how much I owe them is hysterical. Especially when they supposedly know (at least roughly) how much I should owe

[–] M500@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think the irs is piloting its own tax filing software this year.

I think it’s still in beta, but it’s a step in the right direction.

[–] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was gonna say some snarky shit about govt software being ass but I think you’re right ultimately. It’s not perfect, it’ll probably suck, but it’s better than letting people like turbo tax profit off something we legally have to fucking do and is complicated for most people to do.

There are lots of other free options to help file out there however, I will say that.

[–] M500@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago
[–] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cant wait to try that. Real tired of the bullshit of dealing with tax prep software companies. Their bullshit, fake smiley happy cheery "were looking to do what we can to save you the most money". My ass they do.

[–] M500@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Yeah, it’s so tiring figuring it all out. And I messaged an accountant that wanted like $700 to do my taxes.

What the hell!? I’d rather just make a mistake and over pay too much.

[–] Hikiru@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Companies like TurboTax bribe politicians to not pass laws that would require you be told how much you owe

[–] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wow, I’d never heard of this. Was there a specific story or article you read about this or did you mean that loosely

[–] sfbing@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Google for "Intuit lobbying."

It's not literally bribery; it's corporate America at work. Effectively bribery, IMHO.

[–] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lobbying is brain aids I don’t understand what it’s legitimate purpose is

[–] babatazyah@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There can be value in lobbying. But this ain't it.

[–] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Is there though? I feel like your “businesses” decision to push for laws should be done as an individual citizen like everyone else. Idk again I don’t really see their point personally

[–] allthelolcats@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Here is a great NPR podcast on it. But basically they tried it in California, people liked it, TurboTax didn’t and lobbied against it. They sent you how much you owed and you could verify it, confirm, and send it back super simple.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/04/03/709656642/episode-760-tax-hero

[–] ObviouslyNotBanana@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah in Sweden we just get the information and have to sign it or correct faults in their calculations (things they couldn't have known etc). Takes 5 minutes for most people and can be done in the phone with digital identification.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

UK ex-pat here. I was self employed. You typed in the numbers of what you earned, what you spent, hit send. That's it. The American system is so fucked.

[–] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

This is basically what we do also but we have a bunch of other fields and whatnot for other services and so on and so forth.

It’s just more bs paperwork to trip up poor people on and let rich people navigate through.

[–] ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why is the US like this? I'm not from there and am very confused... how is it the citizen's responsibility?

[–] tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most people in the UK don't think about tax, it just happens without their input.

If you have a small business or something more complex there are forms, but they're not that complex.. you mostly just tick boxes.

The US sounds like a dystopian nightmare the way they talk about tax.

[–] ElPussyKangaroo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Ifkr?! How tf do I have to calculate what I owe you? Especially when YOU are setting the rates! Wtf?!

[–] r00ty@kbin.life 5 points 1 year ago

I think in most of Europe (speaking from UK here) if you have one job then it's on the employer to sort your tax out. You get a form at the end of the year to add any other other gains (including benefit in kind etc). If you owe more they adjust your tax code next year to cover it. If they owe you they send a cheque, and then I have to remember how to deposit such ancient technology.

[–] triptrapper@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

IRS: Guess how much you owe.

Me: $20,000?

IRS: Nope!

Me: Okay how much do I owe?

IRS: You have to guess!

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think the idea is that if you do it and they do it, when they match, they can assume they are both right, and when they don't, they can compare and update their side or suggest/demand correction on yours. And if things look fishy, have a closer look at everything with an audit.

[–] PeachMan@lemmy.one 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Okay, how bout they do the math, I check their work, and if I disagree I let them know? And what if that process didn't involve a bunch of complicated bullshit rules, and what if I didn't have to put money into garbage tax companies' pockets?

I have one source of income and I am not rich. I don't have a trust, or investments, or multiple jobs. My taxes should be simple as hell, easy to file, and free.

[–] stevedidWHAT@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Interesting counterpoint to an already interesting point!

🍿 🍿😃

[–] Rolder@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago

I feel that taxes should just be automatic unless you do unusual things like own a personal business or trade a lot of stocks or some such. Doing taxes for those makes sense since you need to write off business expenses and similar