{"id":90666,"date":"2019-04-14T16:03:07","date_gmt":"2019-04-14T20:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbachnet.wwwmi3-ss40.a2hosted.com\/index.php\/"},"modified":"2024-01-15T13:03:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T18:03:57","slug":"tax-day-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/tax-day-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax Day 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tax<\/a>Just in time for Tax Day 2019,<\/strong> the gooberment takes another step backward<\/strong>. ProPublica<\/a><\/em> reports<\/a> that the so-called Taxpayer First <\/strong><\/a>Act is<\/b>\u00a0making its way through Congress<\/strong>. Included in the Taxpayer First Act<\/a>, is a law that would prevent the IRS from creating its own online system of tax filing<\/strong>. A companion Senate bill with the same provision was introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-IA<\/a>, and Ron Wyden, D-OR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TurboTax,<\/a>If the tax agency created its own program, it would threaten the tax perpetration industry\u2019s profits. Companies like Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and H&R Block have lobbied for years to block the IRS<\/strong> from creating such a system. Hefty lobbying spending and campaign contributions<\/strong> by the tax preparation industry have fueled the efforts to block modernization of the way Americans file their taxes.<\/p>\n

Intuit and H&R Block are blocking change<\/h3>\n

Intuit and H&R Block<\/strong> have poured a combined $6.6 million<\/strong> into lobbying related to the IRS filing deal and other issues. Rep. Richard Neal, D-MA<\/strong><\/a>, led the effort to pass the bill, received $16,000 in contributions<\/strong> from Intuit and H&R Block in the last two election cycles.<\/p>\n

\"zero<\/a>Gizmodo<\/a><\/em> describes<\/a> how the free, zero-effort tax system works in Japan, which employs a withholding tax system<\/a>. If you\u2019re gainfully employed, your employer just deducts however much you\u2019re supposed to pay and files for you. Most people get a postcard from the Japanese equivalent of the IRS in spring that shows them how much they earned, how much they owe, and how much was withheld. Any adjustments just automatically show up in your paystub at the end of the fiscal year. It took a minute and a calculator to check the government math.<\/p>\n

This could be in America too. Those annoying W-2 forms your company mails you are also sent to the IRS. The same goes for investment tax forms, 1099s, and all the other official paperwork. The IRS could use these new-fangled computers and the Intertubes<\/a> to pre-fill out your taxes and send them to you online. You can go with the goobernment’s version or file your adjustments.<\/p>\n

rb-<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Merica!\"<\/a>So it’s 2019 Amazon<\/a>, Google<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and who knows who else<\/a> knows everything about me. I can use my smartphone to socialize<\/a>, buy a car<\/a>, order a pizza<\/a>, talk to my plants, or check my umbrella<\/a> but I can’t file my taxes online because of lobbyists. Merica!<\/em><\/p>\n

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