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8 comments

1 Joanne  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 11:00:37am

Yes, god forbid the government could do something to make the whole income tax thing easier for many Americans - and has an added bonus in not just not costing them any money but actually saving them money.

No wonder Grover Fucking Norquist is against it.

2 Destro  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 12:25:09pm

Capitalism!!!

3 EiMitch  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 1:00:29pm

From the link:

Intuit argues that allowing the IRS to act as a tax preparer could result in taxpayers paying more money.

Except the person filing can correct any errors, and the IRS won’t charge them anything for it. (except for the taxes in question, obviously) What a hypocritical strawman argument.

It is also a member of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which sponsors a “STOP IRS TAKEOVER” campaign and a website calling return-free filing a “massive expansion of the U.S. government through a big government program.”

Another stupid strawman. Taxation and tax-enforce isn’t “big government” because its a part of any government. From democratic to autocratic, no state can exist without it.

To digress for a moment: is it just me, or does the “big government” label only ever get applied to things that actually help people? How many of these clownshoes called DOMA “big government”? Or the use of armed drones?

In an e-mailed statement, Intuit spokeswoman Julie Miller said, “Like many other companies, Intuit actively participates in the political process.” Return-free programs curtail citizen participation in the tax process, she said, and also have “implications for accuracy and fairness in taxation.” (Here is Intuit’s full statement.)

In its latest annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, however, Intuit also says that free government tax preparation presents a risk to its business.

Am I crazy, or does that last part sound like an ulterior motive or a conflict of interest or some other such thing?

In 2005, Norquist testified before the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform arguing against return-free filing. The next year, Norquist and others wrote in a letter to President Bush that getting an official-looking “bill” from the IRS could be “extremely intimidating, particularly for seniors, low-income and non-English speaking citizens.”

Well now its 2013. Conservatives are now in favor of intimidating seniors, low-income, and non-English speaking citizens. Problem solved!

A spokeswoman said in an email that Cantor “doesn’t believe the IRS should be in the business of filling out your tax returns for you,” and that the bill was designed to “prevent the IRS from circumventing Congress.”

Wait! How would pre-filed returns circumvent congress? That makes no goddamn sense.

Other advocates point out that the IRS would be doing essentially the same work it does now. The agency would simply share its tax calculation before a taxpayer files rather than afterward when it checks a return.

…

In separate reports, the CCIA and a think tank that Intuit helps sponsor argue that potential costs outweigh return-free filing’s benefits.

Wait, what? How?

Among other things, the reports say that not many taxpayers are likely to use return-free,

Based on the numbers pulled from whose ass?

that new data reporting requirements could raise costs for employers,

You mean the data they’re supposed to report anyway?

and that taxpayers could face new privacy and security risks.

From information thats made public anyway?

Unless the tax code was simplified, the (2003 Treasury) report said, it would add work for employers and the IRS, which would have to process tax records sooner.

I’m sorry. How does doing the same job sooner add work?

In conclusion, opponents of return-free filing are just talking out their asses. The truth is they’ve been bought-&-paid-for by Intuit and H&R Block.

4 Greup  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 1:34:39pm

Im from sweden and the whole “return-free filing,” -style system we have here works like a charm. I have property, stocks, pension plans and spend usually less than 10 minutes checking the numbers. Stocksplits, trading etc might take a bit more to check. We have had the system for about 5-10 years. You get all the info by mail from the workplace, bank, etc and then just check the numbers against whats pre printed. There is also the possibility to correct or add stuff to if you need to ,like certain tax breaks.

If you have a really complex economy you can of cource do the tax return from the ground up, if you wish.

And we also do it online.

5 Joanne  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 3:25:21pm

It’s the same old bullshit:

Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, declined to comment, but a spokesman pointed to a letter he and other conservatives sent this month to members of Congress. The letter says the IRS wants to “socialize all tax preparation in America” to get higher tax revenues.

SOCIALISM! Which, apparently, means that anything that helps people (and not the “Corporations are people, too, my friend” kinds of people)is all evil and all bad and all everything they think they hate.

And what continues to be the saddest thing of all…the brainwashed masses of GOPers who have had 30 years of Rush and nearly 20 of Fox, continue to rail against which will help or benefit them…often at no cost to them. They think if a Dem came up with it, it is automatically evil. Hell, even if a GOPer and a Dem come up with it…that GOPer is going to get primaryied from the loony far right.

Which does nothing but harm the US on a whole.

I am all for free speech if it isn’t all lies and meant to harm the country. And all this bullshit (this doesn’t completely apply here, but…) all the time and all to damage the US. To me, this is screaming Fire in the Theatre. But the theatre is the entire country. It’s appalling.

6 Skip Intro  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 4:05:29pm

It’s not like the IRS doesn’t already have all the information it needs to send you a tax bill as it is. Also, the IRS may be the only entity in the country that actually understands the tax laws.

Personally I’d be happy to pay a couple of hundred more in taxes to save a thousand in preparation time and fees. But just like single payer health care, we can’t have it because there’s a huge special interest that demands keeping the status quo.

7 SpaceJesus  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 4:30:54pm

this would also piss off H&R Block too, and good because they are borderline criminal

8 Skip Intro  Wed, Mar 27, 2013 5:06:44pm

re: #7 SpaceJesus

this would also piss off H&R Block too, and good because they are borderline criminal

No doubt, because their big profit center is making tax refund loans at payday loan company rates.


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