Tax Time Again: Any Linux Solutions? 751
vettemph writes "As a Linux user, I've used Intuit's Turbo Tax On The Web in the past, but I don't like paying someone $20 to $30 to submit my forms. For the last few years I've been filling out the forms by hand and mailing them for $0.37 instead. Call me cheap. The IRS has a target of 80% of all taxpayers using e-file in the near future. Does anyone know where the 'free and open' solution is? Do we need to petition the IRS? Currently the IRS seems to be protecting their 'approved e-file partners'' profit margins in the name of a security layer. (I call shenanigans!)" So how will you be doing this year's taxes? I'd settle for a good PDF editor to neatly complete the IRS's PDF forms.
PDFs are there... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:PDFs are there... (Score:2)
thanks!
Re:PDFs are there... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:PDFs are there... (Score:5, Informative)
Adobe cares, albeit just a tiny bit, about platforms other than Windows.
Re:PDFs are there... (Score:4, Informative)
Use Scribus for linux pdfs (Score:4, Informative)
Scribus [scribus.org.uk] is a robust open source desktop publishing app. Editing pdfs is one of its most killer tools.
Free File (Score:5, Informative)
H&R Block Free File (Score:3, Informative)
Intuit "Tax Freedom Project" (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.taxfreedom.com/ [taxfreedom.com]
Select taxpayers under a certain income, or with a student or military status, can use the TurboTax Web edition for free, with a free e-file for their federal return and (if their state participates in the program) one free state tax return.
Re:Intuit "Tax Freedom Project" (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember: it's not the IRS that makes the tax code, it's congress. The complications are so that little congresspeople can get some loophole that they want in there.
Yeah, the IRS can be a pain to deal with, but they have to deal with the convoluted laws passed down by our elected representatives.
Re:Free File (Score:4, Interesting)
You should be very careful about using the 1040-EZ form. Unless you are young and don't make much money (which on
Myself, I use a tax accountant to do my taxes (Local shop with a good reputation). We pay her $300, and she typically finds a more then a thousand dollars worth of deductions that we missed when we practiced on our own (even with TurboTax). Student loans, home loan, children, business expenses, professional education, healthcare expenses, donations to the Goodwill, etc. can really add up. Every year the tax rules change, and can't keep up on all the best loopholes.
Plus, she's gives us financial advice. I was employeed for a year, and we ran up too much debt. Last year we consolidated our Credit Card loans & some professional education loans into a Home Equity Line of Credit. Not only are the rates lower (4% vs 15% for the Credit Cards), but our payments are now tax deductable.
Taxes are such a fucking game.
Check back on Jan 14th (Score:5, Informative)
dual boot (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not all or nothing. Windows is great for stuff like this. Don't let your ideology get in the way of cheap, efficient, widely avaiable software that'll make your life easier.
Re:dual boot (Score:2)
Re:dual boot (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes I could get more computers... but then again a computer + a copy of windows + a tax program... you might as well have a CPA do it for you so you at least have the time free to do something else... the cost sure isn't gonna be different.
Remember... dual boot is only an option on a machine that is 100% a workstation... and when you have linux not many people treat their "workstations" like 100% workstations.
Re:dual boot (Score:2)
Eh? I'm sure Windows runs Turbo Tax just fine -- that's what it's designed to run under, after all.
I don't understand your `all or nothing' comment at all. What's all or nothing?
In the past, Tax Cut and Turbo Tax have run fine on Wine [winehq.com]. As long as they aren't trying to do some really stupid low-level DRM stuff (like Turbo Tax did last year) I'd expect it to still work fine
Re:dual boot (Score:2)
What's even cooler about that approach is you suddenly have a huge library of games available to you. If you ever get bored with Tux Racer...
Re:dual boot (Score:5, Informative)
Re:dual boot (Score:3, Interesting)
Not that deductability matters in small increments like that. A hundred and thirty bucks in software is meaningless for anyone who deducts enough to get over the "standard deduction". It is, after all, just a deduction in income; you save maybe twenty, maybe thirty bucks off your tax bill.
Re:dual boot (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're doing any form of computer consulting and can book even fairly minimal revenue, the deduction is not generally questioned. Of course if you're working for an employer only you generally can't do it.
Hope that helps. I am not a lawyer or tax advisor; check your tax advisor or book for details, etc.
D
Re:dual boot (Score:3, Interesting)
That includes being on-call and having to log in from home, authoring a book, computer training, computer certifications, and so on.
You can also deduct web hosting fees (you test code there to make sure you've learned what you've been studying), ISP fees (you have to have an internet account to log in to work with the computer you're deducting) and more.
Disclaimer: I'm not an attorney or tax preparer, I just
Re:dual boot (Score:3)
I wouldn't deduct most of what you listed (look at pub 529). It is not a business expense because it is otherwise useful (the books and most magazines are useful). As an example, you can't deduct the cost of any dress cloathing that you have to wear to work so long as you could wear it not to work. i.e. coveralls and hard hat are deductable, 3-piece suit, not.
You have to remember thoug
Re:dual boot (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree with your point - but do you really think that taxes would be lower if everyone reported every cent of income and paid the proper taxes on it?
He's balanced out by those who don't know about the existing (or new!) credits and fail to take advantage of them and those who do a bunch of small (individually insignificant, but things can add up!) things that they could take advantage of but don't.
Re:dual boot (Score:3, Insightful)
non free is trouble, mbr drm (Score:5, Interesting)
It may be cheap and easy but it might not make my life easier. Most non free companies have a way of making things miserable for their users and I refuse to fund them.
It was turbo tax's mistaken use of the master boot record for copy protection that put a freeze on any new non free software installation. I don't want tax time to wipe out grub for me. This also rules out using something like crossover office. While it might be easy to repair the damage, I refuse to pay money to be screwed that way or others.
The bottom line is that if I don't trust the bastards with my hardware, why should I trust them with tax records? My bank already sold me out so that my snail mailbox is flooded with Mortage applications. They sent me a form that I have to snail mail back with a signature to opt out of their spam program. What turds. A company that writes out to my MBR is liable to be as fast and lose with my tax information.
My ideology is firmly based in the practical. It does not hurt me to do my taxes by hand and by doing so I avoid many other problems. My avoidance of Windoze has saved me countless hours of upkeep that I used to spend due to bugs, worms and all of it was compounded by stupid shit like the registry. It's problems like this that free software is made to avoid. Non free software is designed to exert control over you and that control almost always spells more hassle than it's worth.
Re:dual boot (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually he said to install Windows to broaden the availability of software to you. For some strange reason, most of Slashdot doesn't understand the idea that having both Linux and Windows around means you can do more stuff than just having either one of them up and running.
Re:dual boot (Score:2)
LOL. nice troll, but try again:
"most of slashdot" are just like you: a microsoft windows user, who may have heard about linux...
Re:dual boot (Score:2)
No, its individual.
web-based tax software (Score:4, Informative)
Installable tax software is so 20th century
Re:privacy (Score:3, Informative)
It's not "for free", it costs money. And, yes, I trust hrblock.com (after checking the certificate) as much as I trust any tax preparation software. In fact, I trust using a web-based tax system from a Linux machine more than I trust an application-based tax system from a Windows machine (where spyware is rampant).
Besides, you're a fool if you assume that "the bad guys" can't get your tax, inc
free file (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.
Tele File (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Tele File (Score:3, Interesting)
Being Danish, the government knows everything (Score:5, Interesting)
Takes me about 15 seconds to do my taxes.
I have NO privacy in my life, but it sure is easy.
Being US, the government knows everything (Score:5, Insightful)
All my earnings are reported, all my tax breaks pre-calculculated, interest reported by the banks. Only thing I have to add are tax deductible donations like Red Cross stuff.
It could Take me about 15 seconds to do my taxes.
I have NO privacy in my life, but it is not easy.
Really, Uncle Sam gets reports from everyone and "voluntary compliance" is a fiction. Even charities have forms to fill out.
My wife thinks they should have a web site that has the forms filled out and a little button, "I agree" or "make changes". The I agree button would take all of no seconds to push and Uncle Sam knows where my money is, so the next screen should present payment options. Make changes should let you enter things they might not know about, which would be rare, or let you file a complaint that a human being actually has to look at.
Re:Being US, the government knows everything (Score:4, Interesting)
Being in business for myself means there's a qualitative judgement for every expense: is it a "business expense"? I have numerous computers, one of which I spent 4 hours in the past year checking my email. Is the purchase of that computer a business expense?
I travelled to the Bay this year, with my kids, to visit the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. During this trip, I met with a potential client. Is this a business trip?
I have many, many times in the past not deducted legitimate business expenses, and purposely paid additional taxes, to "raise" my income in order to qualify for loans when buying property. It's often advantageous to pay a few hundred or thousand to get a property, or qualify for funding for XYZ business loan.
It's a routine - my accountant calls me as soon as he receives our tax stuff for the year and asks me: "More income, or lower taxes?".
Heck, when times were hard, I've even counted borrowed money as income!
I usually have about 100% flexibility - I usually have a 100% range (EG: $75,000 - $150,000 per year) in income I can claim depending on what I decide to call a "business expense".
This year, I'm going for low taxes - my actual income has raised nicely this last year, and I have no particular ambitions to buy real estate. Thus, I want to deduct everything I can think of. I'd write off my kids' allowance this year if my accountant can cook up a justifiable way to do so. Given a simple, written agreement that they sign to "clean Dad's office weekly", I can do so.
If preparing your taxes takes less than a week (by yourself or your book-keeper) you are a wage-slave, and I genuinely feel for you. There's a clear sense of purpose and control when you run your own business - it'd be damn hard to convince me I want a "boss"....
Re:Being US, the government knows everything (Score:4, Insightful)
It works like that in Denmark. When you get your tax form it has an account of taxes paid/due and a password for the tax department web site. If it's complete you won't have to lift a finger, if you have unreported income/deductions you can fill out the form through www, the phone (voice response) or simple snail mail. The privacy implications are staggering, but I try to keep the concerns confined to the back of my mind. Heh.
Anyways, the NO PRIVACY is not completely true, there's privacy enough for lots of untaxed "black work". Ask any dane.
Just this once... (Score:5, Informative)
My little corner of Europe (Portugal) actually has a good e-tax delivery system: since last year, they have a Java application (which works beautifully in Linux, FreeBSD, and OSX) freely available for download on their site. It's as easy as:
1) Download and run the app
2) Fill the nice, easy-to-understand forms
3) Hit the "Check" button, and if all goes well, "Calculate", and "Save".
4) Get the resulting file, submit it through their website
5) Profit!
Zero cost, and very low margin for error. And the cherry on top is: e-submissions have a larger deadline than dead-tree submissions. After they validate everything on their end, you get an official-looking confirmation note in regular mail, and you're done.
Re:Just this once... (Score:3, Interesting)
That's really cool. Something like that would definitely be implementable over here for state tax returns. Maybe (especially in a state such as California, which is in a huge budgetary crisis) actually collecting the taxes they have at the current rate would mean, for instance, less cuts in services. I can't see it happening very soon on the federal level though. For one, the scale is just too vast, which is why there are so many 3rd parties involved. Second, when you buy Turbotax you're basically buying th
If the IRS is anything like the UK Inland Revenue (Score:5, Interesting)
Is it time to blow the whistle on the scam by asking for specs without the fees? Damn right it is. Will they listen? Not unless you can get some mainstream media behind you.
Freedom of Information Act (Score:2)
Re:Freedom of Information Act (Score:3, Informative)
Actually they're nothing to do with the 2005 FIA, neither the DPA 1998 as they affect a financial interest. Yep, if a company can claim to stake a financial interest in not releasing the informaiton it's exempt from the FIA and the DPA. Shocking isn't it?
Re:Freedom of Information Act (Score:4, Interesting)
Some years ago Glen Roberts got hold of the IRS' manual for auditors under the FOIA and published it. (At the time he was running a newspaper and selling books, essentially all based on info he got via the FOIA or his experiences in getting it. It included a "how to" manual for using the FOIA.)
The IRS got him enjoined from distributing the auditor's handbook. (And some agency also got him enjoined from distributing the FOIA "how to".)
I think fallout from that episode ended up limiting how much stuff you could get from the IRS under the FOIA.
Re:Freedom of Information Act (Score:2)
It came into force on the 1st Jan
Re:Freedom of Information Act (Score:2)
As of Jan 1 2005, the FIA comes into force. But its very watered down. So much so that the European Commissioner has strongly criticised it for being one of the weakest implementations in the EU.
Oh well.
Re:If the IRS is anything like the UK Inland Reven (Score:2)
Why do I think you work for the government?
a) You posted as AC.
b) You (almost) sincerely believe that lack of revenue is a valid excuse for not doing your job properly.
TaxAct? (Score:2)
Telefile or TaxAct (Score:4, Informative)
If your taxes are more complex maybe TaxAct will fit the bill. I've used TaxAct a few times, and they were OK. You can do everything on the web and download a finished PDF of the forms. The downside is that it's slow to do it that way. You can also download some software from them to save your data locally, but it's windows only.
Fiduciary Responsibility? (Score:2, Interesting)
Even the French managed this! (Score:4, Insightful)
Here in Finland they know how much you earn anyway since your employer tells them, so they send you a "tax proposal", which is correct for "normal" people and they don't have to do anything other than possibly pay more/get a refund if the deductions their employer made weren't accurate. Anything special (like profits made from sales of stocks and investment funds, assets etc.) you can, depending on your bank, print out the correct forms online which takes a few minutes, return those and that's it. Of course it can get complicated here too, but I manage in less then an hour
I spent $10 (Score:2)
H&R Block TaxCut Standard cost me $15 at the store and has a $5 rebate. I chose it because it isn't TurboTax (I hate Intuit because of previous Quickbooks and TurboTax fiascos). TaxCut Standard doesn't do free e-filing, but it does take a lot of reading and analysis out of taxes. Yes, I have t
Liability (Score:2)
To hell with the IRS (Score:3, Funny)
Just send them a packet of ice tea this April... See if they figure it out.
Re:To hell with the IRS (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:To hell with the IRS (Score:2)
My solution is free and I'll give you the source.
Tell the IRS to kiss your ass.
Shit, I knew I should have posted AC.
Re:To hell with the IRS (Score:3, Informative)
If you don't like it, get your Congressman or Senator to introduce a bill to repeal the 16th Amendment.
Re:To hell with the IRS (Score:3, Funny)
Considering that the Boston Tea Party likely fits the FBI definition of a terrorist act, that may not be such a good idea.
Amendments. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Amendments. (Score:5, Insightful)
So, you still practice slavery? (#13) How about not allowing women to vote (#19), or having your Governor appoint your Senators (#17), or lowering the voting age to 18 (#26)?
Hell, you HAVE to support #27 -- not allowing Congress to raise their own pay during a session!
Are you really sure you want G.W. Bush running for a third term? (#22)
-Charles
Re:Amendments. (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, under the original Constitutional system, the Senators were appointed by the state legislatures. Art. I, Sect. 3, Clause 1.
This was also an extremely good idea. Congress was originally supposed to have two houses: one to represent the general populace of the United States, through directly elected representatives, and one to be a council of all the member states, through senators chosen by those states' governments.
The idea of the Senate wa
We need an open source solution (Score:2)
Could be done in Java.
Or perhaps (soon) using XULRunner.... XUL frontend, JS coded... take advantage of mozilla's cross platform capabilities and webservices functionality. Could even in theory be a Firefox extension!
At a minimum, the IRS should be providing kiosk's for taxes. Diskless monitors/motherboards/keyboards.. Stripped down linux with Firefox...
Turbo Tax Web and privacy issues (Score:2, Informative)
Therefore, I requested to Turbo Tax to remove my user account, which contains a big deal of personal and financial information about me. They simply refuse to do that, as they say they need to keep my information on file.
This is something I do not like, so I just thought I would warn potential Turbo Tax Web [myturbotax.com] users about this privacy issu
Value-Added vs Profit taking (Score:2)
TurboTax for the web sucks (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Taxes? Huh! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Taxes? Huh! (Score:5, Informative)
Taxes are automatically taken out of the paychecks of all but self employed people in the US. The problem is that an employer can't take out the exact amount from your paycheck because we don't have flat tax brackets, and have tax deductions. A part time job in addition to your main one may bump you up to a higher tax bracket. Your employer won't know how many dollars you deducted in mortgage interest, student loan interest, medical expenses and so forth. Most middle class and poor people either get a refund or end up paying a small amount at tax time.
If we had a flat tax or got rid of deductions, then the need to file would be almost nonexistent.
Re:Taxes? Huh! (Score:3, Interesting)
my employer does not know how much interest I paid on tax deductible loans.
My employer does not know how much money I gave to charities this year.
My employer does not know how much I spent on medical expenses (which are deductible)
MY employer does not know how much money I made or lost in investments this year.
And I prefer to keep it that way.
Sales taxes in the U.S. are incredibly complicated. They
Re:Taxes? Huh! (Score:4, Funny)
It means anyone with any real money, brains, or just a compitent accountant, doesn't have to pay any taxes at all. It's a great system, and it works.
Your system is all "fair" and we don't take kindly to that over here in the USA.
Re:Taxes? Huh! (Score:5, Insightful)
Huh? Last time I checked France was a huge part of the EU and while it may seem bizarre to you and your 4 million countryment, I filed just as cryptic tax returns for them over the last 3 years. Guess what, they withhold for Social Security but not Income tax, meaning I wrote a bloody huge check four times every year to pay the tax man.
As far as "your way being better", I'd much rather have everyone write a check to the government every year, maybe that would finally spur the revolution we need. When you don't see it, except as a digit on a check, the tax seems reasonable. Let people write a check for 20% of their earnings and see how fast fiscal conservatives get elected.
While I'm at it, every time I'm in the US something I get really pissed off at is that shops are allowed to advertise a basic tax-exclusive price on goods. Here in the EU it's law that shops have to advertise a VAT-inclusive tax so that when you get to the counter you pay the advertised price, not the price plus 10-20% sales tax. How do you guys put up with that?
How do you put up with paying a 20% tax, in addition to confiscatory rates for social security, income, and property tax? Again, if it were buried in the price, I'm sure we'd gladly pay but since it's obvious, it helps keep government spending down.
A SOLUTION: Open Tax Solver! (Score:5, Informative)
A version for this years US Form 1040 has apparently just been uploaded.
I don't expect one (Score:5, Insightful)
This cannot happen with tax software. If you understand the tax code thoroughly, you're going to easily know exactly which forms to fill out in a specific year. And you would be an accountant, not a programmer.
Basically a programmer isn't going to sit down and write a program to do their taxes because by the time they know how to do their taxes, why would they write a program to do it?
This is why it takes a commercial entity to say "Ok, we have the know-how and the programmers to put this thing together, and we know people will buy it" -- god bless them because I've been using either Turbo Tax or Tax Cut for many of the past few years, and every time it has saved me money.
Certainly these companies can probably increase their sales a bit by making Linux binaries of their software, but don't expect them to give away the source to something they've invested so much $ in and depend on sales of to make money.
Coincidentally, I don't mean this post to be deragotary towards Open Source people, but am I wrong that no one is going to start a project for code that he himself isn't going to use?
Re:I don't expect one (Score:5, Interesting)
If you understand the tax code thoroughly, you're going to easily know exactly which forms to fill out in a specific year. And you would be an accountant, not a programmer.
I know the tax codes thoroughly, and I'm a professional tax preparer and programmer.
Coincidentally, I don't mean this post to be deragotary towards Open Source people, but am I wrong that no one is going to start a project for code that he himself isn't going to use?
I started one [sourceforge.net] a few years ago, when I had a lot more time on my hands (of course my intention was to be able to use it, but as it turns out I just buy my e-file software for now, it's cheaper than writing the software myself). I abandoned it, largely because I suck at writing GUIs (it was basically my first attempt at using GTK). If a few people want to help me try again, I'm sure we could get something done in time for 2005s taxes (even if it's just the 1040-EZ, it'll generate enough interest to move forward). The [irs.gov] specs [irs.gov] are [irs.gov] out there, but the work is tedious. If you're in, contact me at taxman@inbox.org.
Re:I don't expect one (Score:3, Informative)
What if there's a bug?
Then you have the source, and can fix it. You think there aren't bugs in professional tax preparation software? As a tax preparer, I can tell you with certainty there are. In fact, what originally sent me to creating this software was the fact that there were so many bugs in the original e-file software my father and I used that he went back to filing the stuff by hand for his clients (pencil, paper, and calculator).
The initial target market would have to be the tax professional
Incredible amount of work (Score:4, Informative)
This is not even mentioning the fact that we have a lot of integrated accounting systems that interface with it, because those don't interest you.
If you're implying that some community should do this, I just don't see how it can happen. The knowledge is quite specialized and a ton of work is needed on a recurring basis. A LOT of testing must be done. People probably will not be willing to use a system unless there's some liability on the part of the authors.
If you're saying that the government should provide the software, good luck. The states are all WOEFULLY understaffed; with the budget cuts in the last few years, many states have had their taxing agencies practically decimated. Most lost a lot of staff, some lost most of theirs. The remaining staff is hideously overworked, and there's practically zero programmer time available.
What's the incentive for the government to push for something like this? There are already good products on the market, and they don't have to lift a finger to do it. If they did go thorough all that work, they'd be taking business away from companies, and they'd be taking on liability themselves for incorrect programming.
www.taxact.com (Score:5, Informative)
The deluxe edition is only $9.95, and it is more thorough if you have things that can give you tax breaks. I'm doing the deluxe version this year, but did the standard one last year -- I started out thinking I'd print and just do it for free, but then realized that the convenience of e-file for $8 really can't be beat...
Since it's web-based, it works fine from Linux. One problem I had (and I've had with another web site as well): for some bizarre reason, the first screen, with the user agreement, looked entirely blank -- it was really just white text rendered on a white background. Strange. It came up fine in konqueror and firefox though, and once you get past that first screen everything seems to work fine in Mozilla (it did force me to install Firefox though, which is actually a good thing).
Anyway, sorry to sound like an ad, but I like it, and I like that I can use it under Linux. It gives my sense of privacy a bit of the willies, but I think you're pretty well protected by law as far as that goes...
May be free for you... (Score:3, Informative)
Forget "online", forget software... (Score:3, Informative)
Hire a CPA. Seriously . They're going to find a LOT more than a little "questionairre" is going to find by asking you questions.
A highly-skilled CPA (i.e. one who works with technology people) will be able to find places where you can deduct expenditures that your own Intuit and other software can't possibly take into account.
Use your DSL line for sending business emails? That's deductable as a business expense. Power to keep the cable modem and WAP running? Also deductable.
Accept PayPal payments for your Free Software work? That's not income, its a Gift, and deductable. There's a lot more where these come from. Most of them aren't going to be asked on any sort of tax software.
We just finished a website [davidehesscpa.com] for a local CPA here in Norwich, CT. and he's really skilled in these and other areas.
Definately check out your local CPA, before you head into H&R Block or online for some question-and-answer forms and software.
It'll pay for itself in the first year's return. TRUST ME.
The Way Things Actually Are (Score:3, Interesting)
That out of the way, there have been two big assertions made about the way e-file works, with varying degrees of veracity. I will address them each in turn.
Assertion 1.The IRS is prohibited by law from offering a free efile package (either web-based or PC based)
Sort of [irs.gov]: This is a decision that is more or less up to Messers Bush and Snow, not Everson. In general, the US goverment doesn't like to compete against private industry based on two predictions about the goverment product:
Assertion 2.Lobbyists have kept a Free and Open solution from being offered by keeping the specifications secret and only allowing evil corporations to know how to submit returns.
False: The steps and specs are carefully hidden away in the brightly colored Pub 3112 [irs.gov](pdf) and others, such as the equally shiny Pub 1345 [irs.gov] (pdf)(The actual specs for the 1040 are in the dead-tree-only Pub 1346)
Exercise for the reader:
- Get some friends together and write a tax preparation package in whatever language and whatever license you want (No extra credit given for ironically titled packages written in Malbolge or Brainf--- and distributed under the new X11 License). Found an LLC under the laws of your state. File Forms 8832 and 2553 with the IRS to be recognized as a Subchapter S Corporation (as a measure to avoid the hassles and shared liabilities of being a partnership).
- Figure out the mysterious Step 2 (Hint: Getting recognized as an ERO, and coming up with a business model are likely involved)
- Profit!
----Note: If you have an unwavering faith in the idea that the IRS is evil, then you misunderstand. The IRS is a bureau. As a whole, the Service has absolutely no emotional investment in being either kind or unkind to the taxpayer. Everything the IRS does is prescribed in 26 USC by the Congress. If the law says charge a penalty, we charge it. If the law says grant credit interest on late refunds, we grant it. If the law required that each US Citizen send us a chicken in lieu of a 1040 (it doesn't), then we'd collect 'em. All the same to us.
So how will I be doing this year's taxes? (Score:3, Interesting)
So how will you be doing this year's taxes?
I won't. Instead, I'll pay x hundred $ for a kick-ass CPA, like I always do, who already forgot more about the tax laws than I'd ever want to know, who can handle my stock options and separate sole proprietorship and charitable contributions and new house interest and the fact that I just got married but didn't change my withholding . . .
I've come out in the black since I started using to my CPA, and I'll trade money for time any day.
Wrong question (Score:3, Insightful)
Last year I spent hours crunching through my taxes using turbo tax. I tried really hard to get it all right, but in the end, I'm not honestly 100% sure that I did. Well I think the answer is here at fairtax.org [fairtax.org]. Basically it all comes down to 3 words "National Sales Tax". Then the linux software problem goes away
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:2)
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:2)
I don't even know what it costs to go there... I just take my stuff, and if there's a refund I have their charge come out of it.
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:2)
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:5, Informative)
Bottom line is that if they screw up, it is YOUR ass, not theirs. If you use a CPA, then you still have to pay the tax on any mistakes, but penalties, criminal charges, etc. are on the CPA, not you.
Not saying that they don't provide a valuable service, but make sure the person you are dealing with is knowledgeable and understands how much risk you are willing to take.
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:5, Informative)
Four years ago I bought a Jackson Hewitt tax franchise as a hedge against the day when I'm too old to program. I'm 52, work full time as a C++ programmer, and haven't been laid off yet!
I'm not sure about H&R, but as part of our basic price we promise to pay any interest and penalities that occur if we make a mistake. In addition, for a small charge the client can extend that coverage to include up to $5000 in additional taxes that might be levied.
Tax filings are the taxpayers responsiblity even if God himself prepared the return. I'm sure a CPA prepared Al Capone's return, but Big Al is the one who went to jail.
You will notice that H&RB (and Hewitt, et al.) will call themselves "Certified Tax Preparers" or some such nonsense.
I pass a difficult exam (based on the tax portion of the CPA exam)in order to qualify as an Enrolled Agent [irs.gov] which gives me the right to represent clients in audits and in tax court on identical basis as attorneys and CPAs. Of course EA have identical responsibilities with our attorney and CPA friends. See IRS circular 230.
Most Jackson Hewitts have an EA or CPA available to represent client in audits.
All you folks doing the free returns, when you get the letter from the IRS this summer let me help you get amend your return to get you out of trouble.
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:2)
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:2)
I've had a few Sierra Nevadas in me, so I can't remember the name of the other place that's not H&RB, but I took my taxes to them last year. I was a part time student, working full time, taking out about $5k in student loans, and grossing ~$25k.
When I ran it myself, I ended up with about $2k in federal refunds. When they did it, it came out to about $2500. Well worth the $125 I paid them.
I got married in March, and my wife has significant medical expenses, so you can bet your sweet ass I'm go
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:3, Interesting)
(It's said that stalling is an unstated IRS policy; the hope is that you'll give up and let them have the money.)
Find a local tax accountant and develop a relationship. That one incident would've cost
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:3, Insightful)
The reason I ask is that I've always done my own taxes, either by hand (way back when) or with TurboTax or TaxAct. My tax situtation isn't overly complicated but isn't overly simple either (mortgage, small business, investments, etc).
I've never felt like the tax code was too complicated for me to find deductions I was entitled to. All the tax programs ask
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:2)
Thanks!!!
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:3, Insightful)
One of the things I remember from economics courses I took in college a few years back was that taxation tied to sales of goods and/or services is a regressive tax - that is, if the sales tax on a $12 item is $1 (which is approximately what it would be here in Los Angeles), the $1 is a bigger percentage of a poor person's income than it would be of a rich persons. This m
Re:Turbo Tax, AGAIN (Score:3, Insightful)
Even if such a broad, sweeping reform were
Re:hire an accountant (Score:2)
Re:How about... (Score:2)
Re:How about... (Score:2)
Re:I posit a dichotomy (Score:2)
Re:Just remember to itemise and deduct (Score:3, Interesting)
Couple of problems:
1. If you deduct an expense, it doesn't become free, you just effectively get a discount equal to your marginal tax rate. That $250 in purchases might reduce my taxes by $75 if I deduct them, but that still leaves me with a net cost of $175.
2. If you don't have enough qualifying d
Re:ob: write your own (Score:4, Insightful)
One could create open software to calculate taxes and spit out the forms with the appropriate blocks filled in. You would then sign the forms and mail them in the usual 'dead tree' fashion.
But there are so many hoops you have to jump through for your software to be allowed to offer electronic filing that a true open source alternative is simply not realistic. You can't just slap a program together using a certain data structure, throw it up on the net, and announce "Here it is, folks!"
For starters, if Joe Schmuck downloaded the source and recompiled it (whether he made any changes or not), the binaries would then have to be resubmitted and Joe Schmuck would have to then also jump through all those hoops.
The best one could do, given IRS regulations, is created a closed-source binaries only (just like Windows) Linux soloution for electronic filing. And I doubt seriously anyone is going to want to do the aforementioned federal hoop jumping (which includes background checks for some software authoring company employees and/or the company itself) and then give the program away for free.