Would this even matter if the tax-prep industry hadn't successfully lobbied against a free government-prepared return system?
https://www.propublica.org/article/filing-taxes-could-be-fre...
https://www.propublica.org/article/filing-taxes-could-be-fre...
EDIT: This has received multiple downvotes and I'm surprised this was a controversial opinion. Do people genuinely think that industries in a capitalist society won't act in their own self interest regardless of the negative repercussions to society as a whole?
Yes, TurboTax will make more money thanks to their incredibly effective lobbying efforts, but the price is that all Americans have a somewhat worse experience filing their taxes each year. This compounds over hundreds of millions of taxpayers and most importantly, is completely unnecessary.
If I managed to somehow convince the government to pass a law that everyone has to pay me 1$ every year, that would clearly be in my economic interest, but nobody would argue that that would be a good thing.
Lastly I highly doubt that TurboTax is employing hundreds of thousands of people.
The point of my post isn't to excuse the lobbying. It is to blame the lobbying on the people who could actually curtail it as well as recognizing that almost everyone would do the exact same thing that the tax prep industry is doing given their situation.
>Yes, TurboTax will make more money thanks to their incredibly effective lobbying efforts, but the price is that all Americans have a somewhat worse experience filing their taxes each year. This compounds over hundreds of millions of taxpayers and most importantly, is completely unnecessary.
Almost every law is going to make someone worse off in some way. I don't think it is reasonable to expect that every lobbying organization needs to weigh every possible outcome. Even if they did, they are inherently biased. Judging the ultimate outcomes is the job of the politicians being lobbied.
>Lastly I highly doubt that TurboTax is employing hundreds of thousands of people.
I was speaking about the industry as a whole and not specifically TurboTax. H&R Block itself balloons up to over 90k employees during tax prep season. [1] You can maybe nitpick depending on what exact definition you use for "job", but there is little double that hundreds of thousands of people are employed in the tax prep industry over the course of the year.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%26R_Block#Corporate_affairs
Should I not blame clothing companies for contracting out to sweat shops? We should absolutely blame companies that are acting against the country's interests. Not all unethical behavior is illegal.
No, but you should also not expect a large company to run itself out of business for ethical reasons. If Nike uses sweatshops Reebok's only options are to follow suit or go under. Making unethical behavior illegal or at least unprofitable is the only option in a free market society.
>Every other industry would do or is currently doing the exact same thing
You are of course free to blame whoever you want, but if you call out the clothing industry for these behaviors while also working in the tech industry which is notoriously guilty of nearly identical problems with its international workforce, I would certainly call you hypocritical.
Either way, I think a more appropriate path to actually fixing the problem isn't to shame the people with the bad behavior. It is to work to make that behavior illegal. This specific example is more difficult than the tax prep issue due to it involving other nations. However there are certainly trade regulations that could be put in place to disincentivize poor labor conditions for companies who wish to access the American market.
Did they really change? [1] When you rely on public outrage as a motivator, the changes are only as permanent as the public is attentive and motivated.
[1] - https://www.forbes.com/sites/siminamistreanu/2020/03/02/stud...
> Some brands including Adidas, Bosch and Panasonic told ASPI they had no direct contractual relationships with the suppliers indicated in the report, but no one could rule out a link further down their supply chain.
Our society has come a long way on this issue. Of course more progress is needed and all of these companies know this connection is a liability.
If you think lobbying the government should be illegal, maybe you should lobby the government to get that changed.
It would obviously also be reasonable to blame the government for allowing it and lobby to have the laws changed, but it is entirely appropriate to blame someone for doing something that's legal but wrong. "It's technically not illegal" might fly in the courtroom (and I stress might), but it doesn't and shouldn't fly in the court of public and private opinion.
The first step in breaking the cycle is forming public opinions that differ from the law. I chose "stealing cars" as an example because it's easy to judge independently from the law and therefore illustrate why the "it's OK because it's legal" line of thinking creates a problematic loop that makes it difficult to fix bad policy.
So we should blame all of the car thieves for stealing cars? That's what I've been advocating for all along!
Much of society participates in the lobbying side at some level. I don't think it is appropriate to single out specific instances of lobbying as immoral or to shame all of society for participating. We should instead be focusing on the one side of the equation that is easiest to change, the politicians.
Part of Intuit's $80 billion market cap depends on taxes continuing to be hard to file directly with the IRS.
https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-reforms-free-file-pro... (IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete With TurboTax)
I wouldn't want government anywhere near that. Especially when the government can shut down whenever theres a dispute. No thanks
But, the tax rules are changed _by the government_.
I'm no saying I think the government built program will be the best one out there, but nobody is saying it needs to be the only option - just that the IRS should be allowed to help it's constituents.
States are going to have to coordinate with Federal ?
Just play that out. What a mess.
No more than they already do. I have to file my state and federal returns separately today (and I don't think that's different for anyone who has to pay state income taxes). It's easier because my state (WI) defers to the federal government for a lot of tax rules, but that's entirely a local decision.
If the federal government decided to make it easier to file your federal taxes they could just do it. There's no need to coordinate with the states (and I wouldn't expect them to).
Right, but you're looking for a one service solution to look after all that, state and fed included, organised by fed. If that is what you're looking for it's already done, just not by the government, HRBlock TurboTax and others, my point is, if it was for the government(FD) to look after, it would be a nightmare, they wouldn't do it as well.
It works in other countries because as you're paid you're taxed on your income. That doesn't fly when you have multiple jobs, with each state having their own tax system, I'm not saying its good or bad or even that it CANT be done, I'm just saying I would prefer a company who gets paid to do it, to make sure its done right.
Also it seems to me we don't have much to lose. Our choices were: pay intuit or give our personal information to creditkarma to do god knows what with. Now we don't even have that.