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A comment on IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax prep giants. Parent comment

Re:IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with ta... by tivert on Monday May 15, 2023 @02:26PM (#35952480)
> The vast majority of people take the standard deduction, so offering a "here's what we think you owe, but if you disagree feel free to do the full return" form would be a huge efficiency gain.

> Your comment seems like a prime case of perfect being the enemy of good.

And the comments advocating for automatic tax filing seem to be ignoring Chesterton's fence. They seem to be viewing it solely through the lens of revenue collection. However, IIRC, for better or worse, one of the big levers the US government uses to influence individual behavior is incentives implemented via tax policy. It stands to reason that mechanism would stop working if individuals could avoid interacting with the tax rules.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with ta... by Taywee on Monday May 15, 2023 @02:48PM (#35952813)
People care about what they're paying in taxes whether they're manually punching in the numbers or not. For most people, you just put the numbers in the right places when filing taxes, and don't consider the policy implications or causes at that moment, because it makes no difference at that point. You consider those effects when voting.

Removing manual filing won't stop people from voting on tax policy.

[ Parent | on HN ]