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jadedog · 2803 days ago · link · · parent · post: Filing Taxes Could Be Free and Simple. But H&R Block and Intuit Are Still Lobbying Against It.
I saw this yesterday at Reddit and was annoyed when I read it. The government could be sending pre-filled forms where they have to show their hand instead of making taxpayers guess what was sent in. That would eliminate the guesswork of collecting paperwork to substantiate an item that they already know about and you're fine with. The tax preparation companies can't even come up with a good reason that it would be bad for the taxpayer. To add more insult, 70% of taxpayers are eligible to prepare their taxes for free under an existing government program, but only 2% have used it. Most don't know about it or don't want to take the chance of getting it wrong. If the government sent pre-filled tax forms, that wouldn't even be an issue.