Originally published at: Ron Wyden’s Fight For Free Tax Filing Is A Blueprint For Future Democratic Battles Against Trump
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is gearing up for a fight. Republicans are pushing to eliminate Direct File, a Biden administration program that offers a way for some Americans to file their taxes without paying for preparation services. To Wyden, the effort to eliminate the program is an attempt to “intentionally sabotage basic public services.” “To…
3 Likes
Republicans hate big government but adore rent-seeking middlemen who profit off of “privatization” and “efficiency”: tax prep services, private banks handling student loans, drug testing companies and employment agencies made mandatory for government assistance, etc. Forget a hand in your pocket, it’s a goddamn vacuum cleaner nozzle.
29 Likes
“Under the guise of offering a convenient ‘free-to-file’ alternative preparation service, the IRS asserts itself as the tax assessor, collector, preparer, and enforcer — all in one — when the program is used. This is deeply concerning and a clear conflict of interest,” the letter said. “The IRS has little incentive to ensure hardworking Americans do not pay more than they owe in taxes and may instead benefit from families and small businesses paying greater amounts than they are required by law.
In my personal experience this is complete bullshit. On two separate occasions the last few years, my paid tax preparers made errors not in my favor; those errors were discovered by Massachusetts DOR and the IRS, who issued refund checks.
For decades the republicans have been hamstringing the IRS, in order to protect their wealthy puppet masters. Now they are going to bat for H&R fucking Block.
37 Likes
The Republican Party advances populist policies!! No!! Wait!!
5 Likes
As far as I can tell, tax software is a way for the companies to charge a filing fee while gaining access to your data in the hope of further service or loan business, that’s why the software itself is kept rather cheap.
14 Likes
Intuit.
3 Likes
Seems to me you can set this system up where the paid tax preparers also have to run the numbers using a free system. If they don’t save any money for their client, they do not get paid and they have to go ahead and file the return. They’d quickly sing a different tune with a financial penalty. Pay for performance, not for empty promises.
9 Likes
The motherfucking Republican Fascist party has been undermining basic public services ever since that fucking clown Reagan destroyed student loan programs so he could give the fucking bankers a fat profit. Scumbags.
14 Likes
"On Dec. 10, a group of 29 congressional Republicans sent a letter to Trump that urged him to “take immediate action, including but not limited to a day-one executive order, to end the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) unauthorized and wasteful Direct File pilot program.”
Unless one of the tax prep software companies in owned by a billionaire friend, I doubt Donnie gives a shit.
11 Likes
If it is good for the people, Republicans are against it. General rule of thumb.
16 Likes
I was just getting ready to post this. If it helps people -food stamps and school lunches come to mind- it’s considered wasteful spending.
13 Likes
I wonder how many of the billions of dollars these industries have earned have been funneled back into the pockets of those GOP representatives? Not a small amount, I’ll warrant.
12 Likes
This shows that Wyden is definitely on the side of the angels. It also shows a need for campaign finance reform.Only individuals should be allowed to contribute to political campaigns–no corporations, no PAC’s, no industry groups. And, those individuals should be limited to a reasonable amount (say $10,000) in total contributions. This would eliminate the “pay to play” system we now have. Also, if campaigns were limited to 90 days, the need for millions of dollars would be eliminated. Although I realize that this is a pipe dream (like the need for term limits), but sometimes dreams come true!
13 Likes
There is no more pernicious or well-organized criminal enterprise in this country than the tax prep industry.
4 Likes
A quick Google says “Leading tax prep companies have poured $90 million into lobbying on the Free File Program and other issues since the program’s inception in 2003, a new OpenSecrets analysis found.”
(Source: OpenSecrets.org)
Of course, those are only the “trackable donations.”
@john_adams I think Guardians Of Plutocrats is a far larger and more pernicious, well-organized criminal enterprise than the tax-prep industry.
13 Likes
So far, Trump has not offered a public answer to the letter calling on him to end the program.
Still waiting for the donation and Ass ring-kissing.
5 Likes
Do you remember when then Speaker of the House Paul Ryan made a big deal about the tax bill they were working on in 2017? He held up a post card and said “With this bill you can file your income taxes on a post card.”
That was a Big Lie.
15 Likes
The GQP cut $20B from IRS funding in the latest CR, which was to modernize the IT systems and hire more people, or in GQP land “The IRS is going to buy moar gunz and send jackbooted thugs to stand over you while you do taxes in crayon”
I’m very happy with the current tax system, as its provided my wife with an extraordinary lucrative career. It also drives her crazy and she hates doing our taxes which would be ~$4k prep as they are complex, even though we’re not.
Reform always goes nowhere as the lobbying to protect a provision that benefits someone is always way more persuasive than “we should make it all simpler”
Well, apart from the “lets cut taxes for billionaires” which always go through
14 Likes
We still submit our IRS and New York taxes in pen and ink on paper forms. As far as I can see, it’s the simplest and most direct way of doing it. I told my sister in England that, and she assumed I was joking.
8 Likes