• mindlight@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    As a non US citizen this is just a Robin Williams in Jumanji moment…

    WHAT YEAR IS IT?!?!

    Anyways, welcome to the year of the interwebs.

    Have you got rid of your cheques and faxes yet? 😉

    • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Oh we can file our taxes online, we’re just required to pay massive amounts of money to a corporate middleman to do it.

      • webadict@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Oh we can ___, we’re just required to pay massive amounts of money to a corporate middleman to do it.

        Basically America.

    • theatomictruth@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I still write 2 cheques a year because my water bill can only be paid via physical mail (or in person I guess), I’m pretty sure fax is still common in our medical industry.

      • Confused_Emus@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        What is it with water departments being such Luddites?! Having lived in a few different cities in a few different states, they always seem to be the one utility that’s the biggest pain in the ass to work with. Gotta go down to their city office to start service - make sure to bring a voided check if you want to set up an auto draft to pay the bill because they don’t take cards. Online account management? Nah, the closest they have to an online presence is their About page on the city website.

        WHY?!

      • BakerBagel@midwest.social
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        11 months ago

        I use a check for Rumpke for the same reason, but my checkbook is still useful for when a co-worker brings in their kid’s fundraiser and i can quickly write ine out

    • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      my wife is disputing a Healthcare charge. Went to a specialist 13 times, they reimbursed us 9 times but not the other 4, at a cost of about $800.

      we have to communicate with the appeals center by fax, and wait for their snail mail response.

    • Fermion@feddit.nl
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      11 months ago

      I thought I had gotten rid of cheques, but I had to get a book specifically to get my passport.

    • klemptor@startrek.website
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      11 months ago

      I still write checks, mostly to pay contractors and tip my hairdresser. I wrote a tip for a contractor the other day and made it out to cash. He said that was too old-school and he was afraid the bank wouldn’t accept it!

    • jeremyparker@programming.dev
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      11 months ago

      I’m in the USA and we’ve been able to file our federal taxes for free online for like a decade, I’m not sure what these people are talking about. What’s new here is that this is the IRS’s official tool.

      Previously we had to use an outside service – but it was – and still is – free for normal people/people with normal taxes (eg I have 3 kids and a mortgage and I use it every year). State taxes are another story – that’s usually about $20. And that probably hasn’t changed; state taxes have nothing to do with our IRS.

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Except for the last several years it’s becoming harder to file for free. TurboTax’s free service developed some worse and worse dark patterns every year, where it was very easy to click the wrong thing and end up being charged. Iirc the fact that they provided a free service at all was to keep control of the market and prevent the IRS from stepping in with a service like this. ProPublica did some good investigations on this.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Faxes… No, no we have not gotten rid of them. On the other hand, that means shenanigans are still available!

  • TrippyFocus@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    Just a heads up it’s only available for the following states:

    Arizona California Florida Massachusetts Nevada New Hampshire New York South Dakota Tennessee Texas Washington state Wyoming

    • kautau@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Which is funny considering this is only for federal and not state taxes. Do they say why it’s limited to specific states?

      • Hildegarde@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Most of the listed states do not have state level income taxes. The only exceptions are Arizona and California. The rest of the states have no state level income tax. Alaska is the only state without a state level income tax that isn’t included in this IRS scheme.

        I imagine there is a reason all but two of the chosen states lack a state level income tax.

        • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Massachusetts does. Per the IRS site, the tool won’t help file it, but will lead you to another tool that does.

        • NightAuthor@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          State taxes are probably an additional complication in the calculations that hasn’t been implemented yet for all states. And for those without a state income tax not covered, probably some other state-tax-adjacent thing

      • evatronic@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        It’s a trial program, to work out the major kinks, issues, and problems before rolling it out further to other states.

        It’s also federal-only, meaning you still have to do your state returns. Most of the states in the trial have no state income tax, which makes it an ideal solution for taxpayers in those states.

        Expect it to expand to all 50 states in the coming years, presuming Republicans don’t somehow manage to legislate it into oblivion like usual.

  • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    If you aren’t able to use this new system, a good second option is freetaxusa.com. Free for most filings and dirt cheap for more complex stuff. Also, they are easier to use than TurboTax.

    • Emerald@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      It would probably have better adoption if it didn’t have such a scammy-sounding name.

    • nadiaraven@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      A better idea is to go to irs.gov and use their free file wizard to see which service is free for you. I used 1040.com this year. Last year I used freetaxusa.com, but this year that would not have been free for me due to my change in income. Which service is free depends on your state, income, and income complexity.

      • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        My problem with IRS.gov is they have a history of sending users to sites owned by Intuit. These sites would claim to be free, but would then trick the user into a paid pathway and guide them to an expensive paid checkout. I haven’t been back to IRS.gov since experiencing that.

        I learned later that Intuit (who owns Turbotax) had spent millions lobbying to get that to happen. Since the IRS can be lobbied by corporations to trick users like that, I just don’t trust IRS.gov to be honest.

        • Desistance@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Intuit recently got slapped by a different government agency. I doubt that they will get that privelage again for a while.

        • Gestrid@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          TurboTax discontinued their participation in the IRS Free File program a few years back, IIRC. I don’t think they’ll be listed on the IRS’s Free File website.

          • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Corporations are able to buy their way into an IRS endorsement. There is no reason to trust their links just because a singularly egregious deception has been removed from their site.

            The IRS presented them to the public as a “free option” for years, knowing they were not free. The IRS lied for profit. I have no reason at all to ever trust their suggestions.

            It would be unreasonable for me to return to the same entity that lied to me and ask for more advice.

            • Gestrid@lemmy.ca
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              11 months ago

              The IRS presented them to the public as a “free option” for years, knowing they were not free.

              The only time they’re not free is if you don’t meet the requirements for the Free File Program or you try to use one of TurboTax’s services that aren’t part of the Free File Program.

              I actually used TurboTax for years before they left the Free File Program (supposedly because it was too restrictive in what they could charge for), and I never had to pay a cent. I’ve since moved on to other tax sites that are still part of the Free File Program, and I’ve still never had to pay anything.

              • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Most people who tried to use the program were deceived by Intuit. Intuit settled numerous lawsuits for their lies. Their expensive settlement is why Intuit left the program. Here’s a relevant exerpt from an Ars Technica article on the topic:

                Meanwhile, the federal government and US states have taken action against Intuit for its allegedly deceptive promises of “free” tax filing to lower-income taxpayers. In a May 2022 settlement with all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, Intuit agreed to pay $141 million in restitution to millions of consumers.

                Intuit also agreed in the settlement to stop its “free, free, free” ad campaign. The firm was accused of steering customers away from the IRS Free File program that is free to 70 percent of taxpayers while using misleading ads to promote a separate “freemium” TurboTax product that isn’t actually free for most people.

                Separately, the Federal Trade Commission’s chief administrative law judge ruled last month that Intuit violated US law with deceptive advertising and should be forced to stop promoting TurboTax as “free” unless all conditions imposed on the free offer are immediately and conspicuously displayed to consumers.

                • Gestrid@lemmy.ca
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                  11 months ago

                  I would argue that the IRS wasn’t at fault here, though. Like the article said, people were steered away from the Free File Program, so people having to pay wasn’t a fault of the Free File Program but rather a fault of Intuit’s deceptive practices of marketing their alternative freemium versions of their software.

      • kirklennon@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        Intuit divested the tax product in that sale, which was bought by Block (FKA Square) and is part of their Cash App brand. So it’s still around and still not Intuit.

          • kirklennon@kbin.social
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            11 months ago

            The login process for it is absolutely terrible and requires so much jumping back and forth between the dumb app and my computer, which is where I want to actually do my taxes.

    • CraigeryTheKid@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      that’s who I use! $15 to file state, free federal; I mean that’s pretty close to ‘free’ compared to Turbo/Inuit pushing you close to $100 after all the BS. And freetaxusa keeps my info for subsequent years, etc.

      • Gestrid@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        that’s who I use! $15 to file state

        I’d suggest using the IRS’s Free File Program wizard to find a tax program that’ll do your state taxes for free. You’d save a little money that way. Most tax programs will keep your info for multiple years after your first time using them, too.

        • CraigeryTheKid@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          thanks, but I make too much according to that, which is something else people seem to skip over whenever these “just do it for free!!!” posts come up. You have to make below $80k (AGI) even when married.

          But, again, even if I didn’t, $15 seems pretty fair to me, to avoid having to hunt for the magical free method.

    • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I used it, but then one year it was telling me I owed money. When I double checked on TurboTax, it was the opposite. I went with Turbo Tax. I’ve been wary of FreeTaxUSA since…

      • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Be careful. If software miscalculates in your favor and the IRS figures it out, you’re gonna have a bad time.

      • MindlessZ@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        This is the first launch of the program and they’re still in a pilot phase. It will presumably roll out to more states (maybe all?) Next year

        • Ranvier@sopuli.xyz
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          11 months ago

          According to their website it could roll out to more states as soon as mid March of this year.

        • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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          11 months ago

          Well I don’t reward laziness and this should have been running in the late 90s.

          I guess I’ll just file my taxes when the lazy IRS gets off their asses.

        • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          The IRS doesn’t have anything to do with state taxes though unless they’re also handling your state filing free for you?

          • YerbaYerba@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago

            These states are building online filing systems as well. I think that is why they are included.

  • sunbeam60@lemmy.one
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    11 months ago

    Due to lack of public identity infrastructure, filing taxes online in Britain takes a long time. I mean, at least 10 minutes 😄

    • BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk
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      11 months ago

      It takes at least that long for me to figure out if I was a Lloyds underwriter on the second Tuesday after the third waxing moon every year.

  • sndrtj@feddit.nl
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    11 months ago

    Why did this take the IRS so long where other nations have been doing this for decades?

    • Azal@pawb.social
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      11 months ago

      Turbotax, H&R Block, and the other tax companies are massively wealthy companies that actively lobby to push laws to keep them from being simple. There are states that they have managed to bar the same thing from happening in.

      • Conyak@lemmy.tf
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        11 months ago

        To clarify, TurboTax isn’t the company, it is Intuit. They are pretty shitty when it comes to lobbying congress on this.

        • ExfilBravo@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          They are also the de-facto place for large companies that need automated payroll. So some people (like me) get paid by the same crooks.

          • Conyak@lemmy.tf
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            11 months ago

            They are actually not the de facto for large company when it comes to payroll. I think the majority of their customers at company’s with less than 10 employees. I use to work for Intuit on the Quickbooks payroll product. I left about two years ago but I don’t think it’s changed that much.

    • Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      The other guy linked the answer, but I’m going to explain it anyway:

      In the US, companies have the freedom to bribe lobby our congress members by giving them money that’s totally unrelated to their vote you guys. The reasoning behind that being ok is that the congress official in question is still technically free to vote however they choose despite the money given to them. The reason lobbying works is the threat that the congress person might not get that money next time if they vote against that company’s interests.

      Just so you all know, because our congress members make a government salary of about 150k-250k/year, it’s surprisingly cheap (from a rich company perspective) to lobby them, with lots of payments being in the low thousands. So for obscenely wealthy companies (like intuit), it’s much cheaper to pay just enough guys off to kill a movement than for them to suffer the actual consequences of that movement.

      In this case, intuit’s entire business model depends on American taxes seeming like this mysterious and unapproachable thing that Americans have to pay a third party for in order to not get thrown in jail by the IRS. And given that intuit (and companies like H&R block) rake in billions each year, it’s comparatively pennies to pay off congress officials to keep it that way.

      -> 'Merica

    • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Same reason why our Healthcare system is fucked, it being fucked helps the Insurance Companies make money.

    • ma11en@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Most nations don’t require you to do anything other than check your payslips unless your situation is complex.

      • SirQuackTheDuck@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Ehh, in the Netherlands you need to report all bank accounts, home value, income from salary and contracts and a fuckton more.

        It’s all done via a web app made by the Tax Authority.

        • sndrtj@feddit.nl
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          11 months ago

          And nearly all of that is usually prefilled correctly to the euro by the Belastingdienst.

  • laverabe@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I’m 100% for a simple IRS tax return but what the heck is with this?

    To use Direct File, you need an IRS account with ID.me.

    To get an ID.me account, you need to:

    Take a video of your face

    If you can’t or don’t want to take a video of your face, you can have a video call with an ID.me agent who will confirm that your face matches your identification.

    Is that really necessary???

    • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      It’s the same as going to a bank and letting the teller look at your face. It’s to prevent someone from stealing your identity using a picture of your ID.

      How can they verify the ID is real without physically seeing it? They look up the info but still need to verify that you are the person on the ID.

      • EssentialCoffee@midwest.social
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        11 months ago

        How have they been verifying mailed in tax forms with no pictures for decades?

        Seems like it unnecessarily disenfranchises the poor and the elderly. You have to have access to equipment that can record you and the tech savvy to be able to use it.

      • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        Ok but how come H&R Block doesn’t need to do this? I just give them my IRS PIN and the AGI from last year’s return. The picture shit feels like a poison pill