Posted on 04/09/2024 4:27:27 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie
The Inflation Reduction Act created a pilot program that’s finally given Americans a free and easy way to file their federal taxes with the government, and it’s getting rave reviews.
A man holds a sign advertising a tax preparation office for people that still need help completing their taxes before the Internal Revenue Service deadline on April 14, 2010 in Miami, Florida.
Cindy Black of Lynnwood, Washington, has almost always done her own taxes. The 62-year-old nonprofit executive’s situation is straightforward: She only has one or two W2 forms for her employment, sometimes with a 1099 for some consulting work on the side, and her bank interest to report. She’s always figured that it wasn’t worth paying a company like TurboTax or H&R Block to do work she was capable of doing herself.
Naturally, that meant the onus was on her to print out paper forms and set aside hours to complete her taxes each year, following the instructions and hoping she got everything right. It was a process she consistently dreaded, so much so that she typically put it off until right before April 15. In more recent years she’s used the Internal Revenue Service’s free filing options, which offer people who earn under certain thresholds access to commercial tax prep software. These, she says, are “better than the paper ones but still time consuming.” Making her way through the numerous questions—and determining whether she qualified for various credits and deductions—took a lot of work. “It didn’t take a lot less time.” If she owed the government, it meant going through a separate process to either mail in a check or muddle through another online form.
(Excerpt) Read more at newrepublic.com ...
They are not going to streamline the US tax system. They have been talking about this for 40 years. To many vested interests are stakeholders and profit off the burdensome accounting requirements.
The wrote on a single sheet of paper a line for how much you earned, a line for how much you spent, a line of what you had left over and another line that says send it in?
I used to do my own taxes until I retired.
Being retired makes taxes more complex and I now do do [can I say wrt taxes?] estimated taxes [they are NOT quarterly] by myself, but let a pro do the return.
Now that one has to do an AMT adjudication and we have the 0bama NIIT add-on lurking around, there are more forms to file compared to “the good old days.
Gee! Reads like an “advertisement “ for Biden’s IRS, doesn’t it? Just coming up coincidentally in the spring of an election year.
But certainly “not” any sort of campaign assistance from the New Republic to Obama-Bidens campaign at all. Nothing that would a lawfare arrest and trial in New York.
“I worked diligently, and as accurately as possible.”
wise. I do the same as I don’t have the time to deal with IRS audits if I can avoid it. It usually takes me big chunks of two days to get it done.
Cartoonist Jeff McNelly had a single panel cartoon with this on it decades ago. Used to have it on a cork tile in my bathroom.
They take 15-18% and nobody does anything. No forms, no exemptions/exceptions. Butt, then they would have to lay off thousands of armed agents. Can’t have that now. We filed ourselves for the first time in years. If we’re wrong, they’ll let us know. 🤔👍
OMG, I have that somewhere.
It was in a local paper. I literally laughed until I cried the first time I saw it.
Funny thing, not really funny at all, is that the top 1% starts at only $150,000 a year gross. After deductions even those making that much, a small amount really, don't pay a hell of a lot of taxes anyway. Those who make less pay hardly any taxes at all.
This was made very clear to me by my 2nd Lt son when obama raised taxes on those making $250k or more at the time and I was screaming bloody murder swearing I would limit my income. He was totally unconcerned and I demanded to know why! "It does not affect me and does not matter to me." he said. At that point I realized two things. One was that I had failed as a father to raise a very smart or wise son. I am relieved to say that he finally grew out his insanity between 30 and 40. Like bankruptcy, slowly at first then suddenly. He will really become aware when he gets out of the AF and works for an airline about 5 years. I should live so long to see that.
My CPA's secretary owes $32.00 in state taxes this year. Most people don't pay much in the way of taxes and could simply care less about how other people's money is spent so long as they get a piece of it. We have come full circle. de Tocqueville was right. We have reached the point of failure of our once great republic become a rabble and democracy with a populace that can favor itself with self-appropriation from the treasury.
"I have prepared this return as accurately as possible and to the best of my ability and knowledge of the facts. The only thing that I am absolutely certain of is that it is WRONG."
Doesn't take hours to figure out .001%.
[How Would You Like A Good Sock in the Face Fella? Yes No]
LOLOLOLOL
Your post #9 is funny!
The self appropriation from the treasury is so inefficient. Were the government to act as an honest transfer of wealth clearinghouse at 90 % efficiency, that would be much better. However, there is so much pork, grift and greed! I would think the efficiency of government as wealth transfer is way lower than 50 %.
Thanks - great to see this again! I really enjoyed his work and continued to follow him when he drew Shoe for years afterward.
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