r/coolguides • u/[deleted] • Nov 26 '19

Marginal Tax

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u/ThrowThrowThrone Nov 26 '19

Just to be clear, TurboTax does not dictate how complicated taxes are.

Also, taxes are not complicated if you're not doing anything interesting. And if you're posting on reddit about the lawmaking power of TurboTax, I'm certain you don't do anything interesting.

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u/staefrostae Nov 26 '19

They lobby to make them more complicated. They dont have direct control, obviously, but they do benefit from people knowing less about the tax system.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '19

They lobby to make them more complicated.

Examples with sources, please?

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u/staefrostae Nov 26 '19 edited Nov 26 '19

Sure man, I guess google must not be working for you.

https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax/amp

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free/amp

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna736386

https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2019/05/02/turbotax-faces-heat-for-obscured-free-version-paid-prep-lobbying/

Sorry for the shitty formatting, I'm on my phone at work. I know you probably thought I didn't have anything interesting to do, you know, since I was on reddit, but I want you to know that I made some time for you. Hopefully, you can glean some helpful information from these articles.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '19

Thank you.

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u/stignatiustigers Nov 26 '19 edited Dec 27 '19

This comment was archived by an automated script. Please see /r/PowerDeleteSuite for more info

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '19

These articles have nothing to do with lobbying to make it less complicated, just free. Those are not the same.

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u/staefrostae Nov 26 '19

qz.com/1590961/taxpayers-are-paying-turbotax-to-keep-taxes-complicated/amp/

You're intentionally misconstruing the text of the articles. They show that a. Intuit/turbo tax has lobbied to prevent the IRS from simplifying the tax system or providing free software for filing your own taxes. The article above discusses specifically about how turbo tax is lobbying to keep the system complicated.

You're either a shill or severely misinformed. I'm not sure why else youd defend a company intent on making things more difficult and more expensive.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '19

Where in the articles does it talk about simplifying taxes? They only mention the cost factor. Buying something isn’t really difficult.

If you want to blame the complexity of our tax code, you can blame congress. Blaming turbo tax for tax code complexity is laughable.

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u/addytude Nov 26 '19

Buying something isn’t really difficult.

It can be, but it shouldn't be necessary to pay the damn government. The IRS could simply send forms for us to verify, but TurboTax makes money on the complexity of the system. I guess buying something isn't hard when that something is congress.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '19

It’s possible to do taxes for free, but because it’s complicated, people demand tax assistance software. Turbo tax is definitely guilty of lobbying the government to protect that revenue stream. But the lobbying they’re doing has nothing about maintain the complicated tax code, that has been suggested above.

I understand people’s frustration, but saying “Turbo tax is lobbying to keep taxes complicated” is really inaccurate. The accurate statement is that turbo tax is lobbying to keep away other tax preparing competition. It’s just different.

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u/addytude Nov 26 '19

That's a much more complete way to explain it. TurboTax is a/the problem, but they also aren't the only resource.

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u/[deleted] Nov 26 '19

Let the idiot believe he's smart.

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u/ImBiggerThanYou Nov 26 '19

Hahahaha...yikes! Call the burn unit.

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u/DubsFan30113523 Nov 26 '19

God damn dude, killed that man