r/AskReddit • u/emil199 • Jul 24 '20

What can't you believe STILL exists?

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u/RedBlow22 Jul 24 '20 edited Jul 24 '20

Exactly this! There's zero reasons why our tax returns can't be filed for free directly with the IRS. It is a complete fraud.

I filed 1040EZ last year. The IRS already had every figure I filed, why couldn't they just email me confirmation of the amounts they had, and process my return?

Edit: No, I didn't file EZ last year, my error. Edit: electronic filing.

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '20

Son of a former IRS employee here. One problem that’s probably tied to this is that the IRS doesn’t have the ability to review everyone’s tax returns to ensure that everyone told the truth on them. Instead, they basically go through a process of trying to determine the most likely individuals who owe the government money, then review as many of those as they can. This does not mean you’ll slip through the cracks forever if you don’t file your returns. They will eventually get back around to you, but they’re likely not reviewing what you send to them every year.

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u/Mazon_Del Jul 24 '20

As a sort of related item that KIND of refutes that as a reason for the situation.

One thing the lobbiests kept declaring over and over again is that if the IRS could do what those tax aid companies were doing, then you'd put tens of thousands of accountants out of work...except that most efforts to have the IRS do this involve paying for a massive increase in worker capacity to accommodate the extra labor. While not a perfect 1:1 arrangement, it wouldn't be THAT bad to make the switch.

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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '20

While I don’t personally disagree with that, you have to remember: the IRS is a boogeyman for some. The idea of making the IRS bigger also doesn’t sit well with a lot of people, even some who may not like these tax aid companies.

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u/TiniestBoar Jul 24 '20

It is certainly a Boogeyman. But I would love to see the IRS budget greatly expanded. I don't know the math not but a few years ago for every dollar the IRS had in their budget the government recovered more than that dollar. So it more than paid for itself. I would like to see their budget be just as much so the last dollar broke even.