Tax preparation industry alarmed over plan for IRS free tax-filing system

Re:Tax preparation industry alarmed over plan for IRS free t... by somenameforme on Friday March 31, 2023 @02:24AM (#35383391)

I think there are kind of two sides barking at each other when both largely agree on the same things. While there are a handful of people on some extreme of anti/pro tax stuff - perhaps anarcho-libertarians or communists - nearly everybody falls somewhere in the moderate middle. And here I think everybody would obviously agree that some taxation is necessary for the functioning of a country.

The question is how much? Federal revenue in 2022 was $4.9 trillion. That's more than $37,000 per household in America. The median household income in the US is $71,000. [1] So I think these sort of data are what "really" draws the dividing line. Is $37,000 per household enough to ensure the functioning of a country? Is the problem more with a lack of money, or more with how that money is being spent?

[1] - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N

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Re:Tax preparation industry alarmed over plan for IRS free t... by brewdad on Friday March 31, 2023 @02:41AM (#35383506)

Your figures are meaningless in a world where the top 1 percent of households control half the wealth. The median household is not paying anywhere near $37,000 in federal taxes. My household is in the top 5-8 percent and didn't pay that much.

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Re:Tax preparation industry alarmed over plan for IRS free t... by samus on Friday March 31, 2023 @03:07AM (#35383671)

Splitting the federal revenue across household doesn't make sense since a lot of these taxes are collected from companies as well. Also, in the presence of a progressive taxation rates splitting it across the number of households makes it even worse.

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Re:Tax preparation industry alarmed over plan for IRS free t... by somenameforme on Friday March 31, 2023 @06:29AM (#35384924)

You're misunderstanding the point. When the government collects an average of $37,000 per household, that means they are also spending an average of $37,000 per household (actually substantially more, but let's stick to ideal scenarios for now). Ought that be enough money ensure the functioning of a country?

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Re:Tax preparation industry alarmed over plan for IRS free t... by samus on Friday March 31, 2023 @12:11PM (#35389262)

That's hard to tell without comparisons to other countries. Also, my gut feeling is that most of that spending trickles down back to those households. A lot goes into social security, healthcare, and defense, which drive huge part of the US economy and maintain competitive advantages for it across the world.

My point still stands that the $37k per household are just an illustration, as the tax base are not just households, and that a lot of what US foreign policy achieves is to the benefit of a very few of those households.

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Re:Tax preparation industry alarmed over plan for IRS free t... by XorNot on Friday March 31, 2023 @03:19AM (#35383751)

This is all irrelevant. If more funding for the IRS increases tax revenues (which it does, at a rate of $7 for each $1 last I checked) then that's revenue coming from taxes which are legally owed and not being paid.

If you are paying taxes as you legally are required too, then they are higher then necessary because other people are cheating the system.

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