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chris_gerribIt's tax day, which I only know because it's all over the news. I get a refund and have an accountant file my taxes (write-offs from writing, don't ya know) so by the time April rolls around taxes are but a distant memory for me. Even before I got published, I would use TurboTax or Kiplinger's Tax Cut (H & R Block) software and efile, usually in mid-February. So, tax day always catches me a bit by surprise.
At any rate, since I'm thinking about tax day and TurboTax, it was interesting when i read that TurboTax is not your friend. It seems that Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, spends millions of dollars lobbying Congress. What they don't want? "Return-free taxes."
See, for most people (AKA, "those not running a side business like writing") the IRS already knows all of your information. They could either mail you a pre-filled return or direct you to a website where your return is pre-filled. If you agree, sign or click okay, if not, make the changes. But that would seriously cut into Intuit's business (and other tax preparers), so lobbying efforts are expended to kill that idea.
Happy Tax Day!
At any rate, since I'm thinking about tax day and TurboTax, it was interesting when i read that TurboTax is not your friend. It seems that Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, spends millions of dollars lobbying Congress. What they don't want? "Return-free taxes."
See, for most people (AKA, "those not running a side business like writing") the IRS already knows all of your information. They could either mail you a pre-filled return or direct you to a website where your return is pre-filled. If you agree, sign or click okay, if not, make the changes. But that would seriously cut into Intuit's business (and other tax preparers), so lobbying efforts are expended to kill that idea.
Happy Tax Day!
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Date: 2013-04-15 04:09 pm (UTC)In the UK, unless you pay tax at the top rate and have 'odd' tax affairs, you don't file a return. The British version of the W2 actually gives the Payroll dept a code number which will make sure your withholding is correct.
Before they got rid of Mortgage Interest deductions, those were handled at source by the mortgage companies so they didn't get co-mingled with the tax system.