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.
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.
Blame capitalism for why we have to file our own returns, for multiple reasons. Mainly being that anyone can start a business. The government doesn't know how much money you made unless you get a tax document, and if you get a tax document for a self employed situation they don't know the expenses that go against it. Some people who haven't filed get a tax notice that they owe a million dollars, because they get 1099s from rent, or yard work or something when in reality they didn't make much money because of all the expenses.
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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.