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A comment on Killing TurboTax. Parent comment

Re:Killing TurboTax by ISL on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @12:33PM (#26331699)
Somehow, the IRS compares the tax return I submit with what they expected. It is that entire machinery that is in the public interest to be visible and audited by the public.
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Re:Killing TurboTax by nightski on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @01:21PM (#26332383)
The IRS does have income information, but they do not have deduction information. Deductions are mainly where any form of complexity comes in. Without deductions taxes are super easy.
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Re:Killing TurboTax by bluGill on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @12:44PM (#26331869)
You can't FOIA the data they use for your taxes. They have your W2 data, and it was sent to you, but they won't give it to you.
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Re:Killing TurboTax by tacostakohashi on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @01:38PM (#26332568)
Really? You can pretty much always FOIA any records about yourself.

In the case of W-2 data, seems like you can get it as part of a transcript if you want it:

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/transcript-types-and-ways-to...

Of course, you also get a copy of the same W-2 directly, but it doesn't seem true that "they won't give it to you" if you ask them.

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Re:Killing TurboTax by ISL on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @12:57PM (#26332057)
Agreed, but one ought to be able to FOIA the entire pipeline that handles the data. This is especially so given that the results of the pipeline are used for tax enforcement and litigation.
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