Best free tax software for 2016
Both want to make it as painful as possible for you to do your taxes yourself. The anti-tax activists think that if taxpaying is too easy, voters will be less likely to resist the federal government’s growth. H&R Block and Intuit want to make it difficult for you to file on your own.
But on this issue, their interests are aligned. Grover Norquist wants to cut taxes wherever possible. H&R Block and Intuit love taxes-that’s how they make their money. Fighting alongside H&R Block and Intuit are anti-tax activist groups like Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. They and their employees also have contributed more than $500,000 this cycle to congressional candidates, political action committees, and parties.Īnd tax politics make strange bedfellows. Why would lawmakers want to stop the IRS from simplifying tax filing? Here’s a clue: H&R Block has spent $3.4 million lobbying the current Congress, and Intuit-the maker of TurboTax-has pitched in an additional $3.1 million. The bills before the Senate would block the IRS from implementing either reform. Free online tax preparation and pre-populated returns would go a long way toward bringing our individual income tax system up to speed (literally). In the United States, by contrast, the average taxpayer spends eight hours-and $110-filing personal income taxes each year. In European nations with pre-populated returns, taxpayers routinely report that it takes 15 minutes or less to comply with their annual filing obligations. Other countries adopted similar innovations long ago. A second and even more pioneering possibility is “pre-population”: the IRS could allow you to begin the filing process with an already filled-out return rather than making you enter each item of information from scratch.
The first is free online tax preparation paired with electronic filing: The IRS could offer an easy-to-use product that assists you in completing your tax return, then allows you to submit your return online-all at a price of $0.
The other cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee in late June, with a floor vote likely this summer.Īt issue are two innovations that, if adopted by the IRS, would radically reduce the time and expense incurred in filing federal income tax returns. One is pending in the Senate Finance Committee. The House of Representatives has passed two bills in recent weeks that seek to stop the IRS from simplifying the tax-filing process. The real action on tax filing right now is happening on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, where Congress is working hard to ensure that doing your taxes remains a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. The move was nothing more than a publicity stunt-as a number of commentators noted, the administration achieved its postcard-sized ambitions only by requiring millions of Americans to submit supplementary worksheets that actually complicate the task of tax preparation. The Trump administration unveiled a “ postcard-sized” tax form late last month that will supposedly make it easier for Americans to do their own taxes.