H&R Block and Intuit Lobby Against Free and Simple Tax Filing (2017)

Re:H&R Block and Intuit Lobby Against Free and Simple Tax Fi... by tialaramex on Monday January 21, 2019 @03:06AM (#18958603)

Ugh. Last year HMRC (the UK's equivalent of the IRS) sent me half a dozen cheques correcting mistakes in taxes. My employer changed some details in their compensation package and messed up somewhere.

It's automatic. Some system or human reviewer goes "Hey, this item is wrong" and then the machine re-calculates that and issues a new statement, but it also queues up any subsequent re-calculates and those may take a few days extra.

If they owe you money you get either a direct credit or cheque, if you owe them a small amount it's added to your next year of taxes, if you somehow owe a large amount you have to arrange how you'll pay.

For me the goal is to minimise paperwork, not minimise amount paid. I have money, I don't want to spend time doing paperwork (and no I don't want to hire somebody else to do it). So the US system would be intolerable.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:H&R Block and Intuit Lobby Against Free and Simple Tax Fi... by Ntrails on Monday January 21, 2019 @08:23AM (#18960192)

I still remember receiving a tax refund for my holiday work in first year of uni, the tax code had been wrong. It arrived some 4 years later when I was in full time employment.

I mean, it was a cheer-bringing cheque - but at the same time I found the timing somewhat sub-optimal...

[ Parent | on HN ]