@Alice They don't need to. If you work for someone else, most countries just tax your income automatically, no paperwork involved. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@Alice Because this is the first year that overtime is not taxed, the companies are not required to break out that information. I am not digging out all of my stubs to figure that crap out.

@Alice I think this would work for many people but my taxes are a little bit more complex, but not very complex, and there are many things that the fed govt is unaware of:
• Our medical bills (high enough for use to enter deductions.
• My charitable contributions (around 450 books and cat stuff on top of financial stuff)
• Any errors made by companies that fill in their forms incorrectly
• Cost of running my sidegig.
• Some questions that my accountant answers reveal that Turbotax got them wrong

@Alice Because - (tax & consulting) powerful industry lobbies.

@Alice Canada has been introducing automatic tax filing slowly. It’s helping to provide social programs to more people with little to no income (and easier tax returns).

@Alice

My complaint about taxes isn't that I have to pay. It's that I have to take an exam. Every year, I fill out the form and send it in. Every year, they send me a grade denominated in the extra money they say I still owe them.

If they already know what I owe them, why do I have to fill out the form? So they can fine me for getting the wrong answers?

Other countries just send you a bill or a check. Why not us?

@Alice To enrich the tax prep industry.

I do my own taxes. Every year I look for a way to e-file. Every year I find no way to do it, and mail in the tax forms.

There are PDFs that you can fill out with an editor and print. That is what I do. Why cannot you upload the PDFs?

There are online fillable forms, but they do not cover all the forms I need.

So you can either pay a tax preparer or mail in the forms. They do this on purpose to punish anyone who will not pay the toll.

@Alice

Don’t.

@Alice I know this is tongue in cheek but you really don't have to fill out the forms. If you tell them to, the IRS will calculate your taxes for you and send you a bill or refund. The obvious problem with this is that they are not going to be knowledgeable (or care) about your deductions, making your tax bill much higher than if you complete the return yourself.
https://polaristaxandaccounting.com/irs-substitute-for-return-sfr/

I’m fully capable of filling out my tax info on my own, but the autistic urge within makes me second guess the wording in almost all of their questions, so this is my annual shout out to Mr. Tuttle who is my friend's dad who has been preparing my taxes for years for a nominal fee.

If you're in the US and looking for a reliable tax preparer with reasonable fees, Mr. Tuttle is the best.

All I ask is that you be a good person who doesn't ask him to do anything shady.

You can probably also just call him Jerry, but I've known him since his daughter was in high school so he will always be Mr. Tuttle to me.

@Alice I remember the first couple of years in sweden and being stunned at getting an sms from the swedish tax auth saying reply yes or no to the basic return based on my employers reporting

@Alice To ensure companies like Intuit maintain their $100B+ market cap.

@Alice to make you hate taxes more. it's ideological

@Alice Stay where you are. Agents of Intuit will arrive soon.