I want Fed govt to come up with a final number based on their data, send me an email/text— I can use any approved payment provider, 1 tap to pay bill & then be 100% square with govt for the year. In unlikely event I want to contest the number, I can appeal following the usual tax return bullshit in a real resolution-biased process. The “invoice” has a well-designed, attractive & easy-to-follow visualization/flow-chart showing how each part of the number was computed. If there’s a President that can kill the paperwork/records burden, I’ll get a novelty plate of their face & put it on the wall like people used to do with FDR
This is pretty much what every other country does
OP really think IRS is for the people, by the people, or Cisco accounting department?
Keep everything else as it is, IDGAF about tax loopholes & any other shenanigans in tax code for this. Eye on the prize, WscU35: Email/text, 1-tap to pay, legally square for the square & nothing else
No thanks, don’t trust the government.
First step is to get rid of deductions, and good luck with that
Maybe not. They generate the number send an invoice w/ a nice-looking/well-designed flowchart showing how they computer it & you 1-tap pay. If you want to deal with deductions contest the number
How would the govt know what securities you sold and what their cost basis was. How would they know your itemized deductions?
You can pay the number they give you based on the data THEY have (1 tap from a email/text) or you can nitpick with your shoebox of receipts
Just make financial companies supply trade info to the IRS. Deductions, it's not possible, but most people take the standard deduction, so even without reducing the number of available deductions, the government would be able to accurately calculate a tax bill for most people.
This is how taxes work in developed nations. The US tax process is run by intuit and they have a good reason not to simplify.
Why do we even have taxes? It’s a madd up construct but illegal entity called IRS
Yeah.. this would work for 70%+ of the population. It's a good start. Special interests won't let it happen and I have too many itemized deductions but it's a solid plan
A large chunk of population pretty much does this. For instance low income folks don’t have to file at all or can do 1040 in about 10 minutes free online
Yes please
okay, you owe $10M, please prove otherwise
also TurboTax lobbies to keep tax codes complex
Bad example: (1) you can appeal with usual tax return song & dance; (2) there’s step by step calculation of the number with assumptions; (3) the number is open to review/contest.