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A comment on Would You Let the I.R.S. Prepare Your Taxes? (2015). Parent comment

Re:Would You Let the I.R.S. Prepare Your Taxes? (2015) by jjeaff on Monday August 13, 2018 @03:07PM (#17752704)
They really don't have even close to all the data. The irs will generally have income numbers, as those generally must be reported through 1099k, 1099, and w2, etc. But they have no information on your expenses, depreciation, etc.

So they only know your revenues, not your expenses. And this applies for business as well as personal.

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Re:Would You Let the I.R.S. Prepare Your Taxes? (2015) by dionidium on Monday August 13, 2018 @03:57PM (#17753097)
This is like when people say, "I don't know anybody who voted for the other party!"

Lots and lots and lots of people don't have any expenses. They don't itemize. They don't want, have, or need any of the stuff you're protesting about. They have a job. And that job reports their income to the IRS. End of story. Case closed. That's it. That's their entire situation.

You're imagining another kind of person, but I'm not talking about that other kind of person.

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Re:Would You Let the I.R.S. Prepare Your Taxes? (2015) by lowercased on Monday August 13, 2018 @04:24PM (#17753328)
To put it another way, there's little reason to not (extremely) simplify something for, say, 60% of the population, just because it's going to remain complicated for the remaining 40%.
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Re:Would You Let the I.R.S. Prepare Your Taxes? (2015) by jjeaff on Thursday August 16, 2018 @02:44PM (#17777438)
If your entire situation is a W-2 and the standard deduction, then the 1040ez is a breeze. You can fill it out online and submit for free in 15 minutes.
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Re:Would You Let the I.R.S. Prepare Your Taxes? (2015) by kelnos on Monday August 13, 2018 @03:47PM (#17753015)
Sure, but more than half the population doesn't itemize, and doesn't end up reporting expenses, depreciation, etc. Some people would need to provide supplemental information to the IRS, sure, but that's a minority of people.
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