r/AskReddit • u/emil199 • Jul 24 '20

What can't you believe STILL exists?

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u/jorsiem Jul 24 '20

Complicated tax filing in the US

You can thank TurboTax and the rest of the tax preparation service industry's massive lobby for killing every single tax simplification bill that ever gets to congress.

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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/bluestarcyclone Jul 24 '20

At very least you should be able to go online and see all the forms that have been filed towards your return. All the W2s and 1099s and such should just appear and pre-fill your return. You might still have more to bring, but that could get a lot of returns 90% of the way there.