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Read the rules in the OP before posting, please.In order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a re-read to refresh your memory! The vast majority of you are contributing in a healthy way, keep it up! NOTE: When providing a source, explain why you feel it is relevant and what purpose it adds to the discussion if it's not obvious. Also take note that unsubstantiated tweets/posts meant only to rekindle old arguments can result in a mod action. |
I'm pretty glad I live in Canada.
We have free (personal use) tax software like studiotax - http://www.studiotax.com/en/
It's a matter of answering a questionaire the first time you enter a tax return, to determine what benefits/deductions apply, then just entering in numbers yearly.
As for deductions, I could fill out a form and not have the income tax auto-deducted from my paycheck, but at the end of the year, I wind up paying a hefty lump sum - If I was planning on investing that lump sum it'd make sense to keep it, but otherwise, I'm fine with getting a nice refund.
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As a single guy filing alone, mine aren't too difficult (as others have mentioned). The last few years I've used 1040ez.com. Haven't seen it (or similar sites) mentioned here yet...is this something I should stop doing?
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On November 03 2017 04:40 mozoku wrote:
I can't imagine how my time invested in building my own Excel workbook (I'd probably build it in R/Python as that's what I use in my job but that's irrelevant) to do my taxes wouldn't be worth more than the $35-$60 I pay for TurboTax annually. How does your CPA dad figure that? Or is he doing it to kill time?
On-topic, My marginal rate would go from 28% to 35% so the plan isn't my favorite, but it's worth it to fix the broken corporate tax system.
I believe he got into the habit years ago, when turbotax was more expensive, and if he does it for a client he might want to make sure he's doing it all correctly without any bugs (turbotax generally has a couple). Plus there may be some obscure deductions to take. Also lets you avoid paying extra for filing state taxes
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Ok, this is pretty funny:
Most Counties Will Have Free 2018 Exchange Plans for Low-Income Enrollees
New analysis from Avalere finds that nearly 98% of counties with exchanges operated by HealthCare.gov will have free bronze plan options for low-income consumers aged 50 earning 150% of poverty or less ($18,090 for an individual or $36,900 for a family of four).
“This year, more than ever, it is important for consumers to shop around and compare their options across metal levels,” said Chris Sloan, senior manager at Avalere. “The dramatically higher subsidies mean consumers could be getting much better deals for bronze and gold plans for 2018.”
In 2018, these highly-subsidized consumers will also have access to free silver plan options in 18% of counties. Further, 10% of counties will have free gold plan options available to individuals making $18,090, or 150% of poverty, per year. While availability of free subsidized options decreases for individuals with higher incomes, 2018 will have a high number of free subsidized options.
Avalere experts link the increased availability of free plan options to the Administration’s decision to end cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurers. This decision has led to substantially higher premium subsidies in 2018, as insurers increase premium levels to make up for the lack of CSR payments.
Source
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On November 03 2017 04:57 Nevuk wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 04:40 mozoku wrote:
I can't imagine how my time invested in building my own Excel workbook (I'd probably build it in R/Python as that's what I use in my job but that's irrelevant) to do my taxes wouldn't be worth more than the $35-$60 I pay for TurboTax annually. How does your CPA dad figure that? Or is he doing it to kill time?
On-topic, My marginal rate would go from 28% to 35% so the plan isn't my favorite, but it's worth it to fix the broken corporate tax system. I believe he got into the habit years ago, when turbotax was more expensive, and if he does it for a client he might want to make sure he's doing it all correctly without any bugs (turbotax generally has a couple). Plus there may be some obscure deductions to take. Also lets you avoid paying extra for filing state taxes
It only costs money to file your state taxes with turbo tax electronically. You can print and mail for them for just the price of a stamp.
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On November 03 2017 04:16 Liquid`Drone wrote:Yes. Norway has a benevolent and competent government and that's the kind of stuff you get then. 
I'd have a lot less misgivings about our government taking over the health insurance and health care system if they were competent at tax policy and the VA system.
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On November 03 2017 05:15 Danglars wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 04:16 Liquid`Drone wrote:Yes. Norway has a benevolent and competent government and that's the kind of stuff you get then. I'd have a lot less misgivings about our government taking over the health insurance and health care system if they were competent at tax policy and the VA system.
In all fairness to the IRS, they are SUPER underfunded. If we funded the IRS like we should taxes would be a lot less of a headache for everyone. Nobody ever wants to be seen as giving them money though so they use useless tech and trying to keep up with america
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On November 03 2017 05:22 IyMoon wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 05:15 Danglars wrote:On November 03 2017 04:16 Liquid`Drone wrote:Yes. Norway has a benevolent and competent government and that's the kind of stuff you get then. I'd have a lot less misgivings about our government taking over the health insurance and health care system if they were competent at tax policy and the VA system. In all fairness to the IRS, they are SUPER underfunded. If we funded the IRS like we should taxes would be a lot less of a headache for everyone. Nobody ever wants to be seen as giving them money though so they use useless tech and trying to keep up with america
On May 11 2017 04:44 KwarK wrote:
[snip]
Honestly though the main priority is funding the fucking IRS. It's criminally underfunded and that allows big entities to systematically avoid meeting their tax obligations because the IRS isn't capable of making them pay. And those tax obligations just get passed down to the people on the street who the IRS can definitely collect from. The run down trucks I see with bumper stickers on them saying "DEFUND THE IRS" are just about the stupidest thing imaginable, these people seem to genuinely believe that it's them who will be beating the underfunded IRS. The less funding the IRS gets the more the tax burden shifts from people with the wealth and incentive to dodge taxes to the people who can't defend themselves.
Right now for every additional dollar we give the IRS they come back with $17 in unpaid taxes that they collected with that dollar. At which point you tell them to keep those $17 and they come back with $289. Rinse and repeat. We should fund the IRS until each additional dollar in enforcement results in less than a dollar in unpaid taxes collected.
Individual taxes, Trump's plan is class warfare. Ending exemptions, ending HoH, ending 10%. And you're right that the tax prep lobby owns DC, we're not getting what we really need which is PAYE.
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Norway28804 Posts
It's hard to develop competent government services when half the population+ is convinced that government services are inherently inferior. This both influences the ability to attract talent and the motivation of people already there. Basically I have no problem accepting that american government services are in fact inferior to Norwegian ones, but I have a huge issue with the idea that government services are inherently inferior, and I think the former isn't ever going to change until belief in the latter does.
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On November 03 2017 05:28 Liquid`Drone wrote:
It's hard to develop competent government services when half the population+ is convinced that government services are inherently inferior. This both influences the ability to attract talent and the motivation of people already there. Basically I have no problem accepting that american government services are in fact inferior to Norwegian ones, but I have a huge issue with the idea that government services are inherently inferior, and I think the former isn't ever going to change until belief in the latter does.
We could play games of who came first: the chicken or the egg all day. The VA is not underfunded, it's mismanaged. The IRS might be both. The legislators that wrote tax law which got interpreted by the IRS are just as culpable. Guess who's writing future single payer laws? We'd be a lot more amenable to government ability if it could be shown in existing areas. Our civil service is exceptionally inferior to the culture and management of most European countries. You might even call that American exceptionalism in the form of government lobbying. I don't think you'll convince anyone that the problem is funding and not mismanagement as the case stands ... it's just as easy to say the extra money would be just as misspent as the last dollars in.
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On November 03 2017 04:07 Danglars wrote:
I'm hoping for the next generation to call BS on current dialogue and build a new one up.
The second tweet just makes an excuse for the indifference out of thin air. Whether the media frames the issue correctly doesn’t affect whether actual racism should be met with indifference. Those who meet it with indifference are making their own choice.
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On November 03 2017 04:35 Aveng3r wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 04:28 Plansix wrote:On November 03 2017 04:25 Aveng3r wrote:On November 03 2017 04:23 LegalLord wrote:On November 03 2017 04:21 Aveng3r wrote:On November 03 2017 04:16 Liquid`Drone wrote:Yes. Norway has a benevolent and competent government and that's the kind of stuff you get then. That must be nice Well it’s not so explicit in the US but you can usually get more money back if you pay more. Yeah I know but you just get your principal back, no interest. Youre essentially giving the government an interest free loan which is bullshit The government also doesn’t charge interest for underpaying taxes as long as you settle up at the end of the year. So it’s a wash. My stance would be that they can have what theyre owed when theyre owed it and not a second sooner, and if youre going to have a system where you receive payments throughout the year, then act like a damn reasonable financial institution and pay your constituents interest on their principal overpayments. I hesitate to call it a wash there because theyre benefiting off of taxpayer overpayments while offering nothing in return. Not charging interest on payments outstanding pre- due-date isnt really a favor to anyone.
As cute as a concept this may sound, I'm pretty sure the overhead that managing such "financial services" would cost you more overall than the interest is worth.
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On November 03 2017 05:34 Doodsmack wrote:The second tweet just makes an excuse for the indifference out of thin air. Whether the media frames the issue correctly doesn’t affect whether actual racism should be met with indifference. Those who meet it with indifference are making their own choice.
The media framing of the issue plays into public perception that it's overblown and mostly made it. The linked story is exactly case in point. First step is to recover credibility, second is to use it to convince the public of real problems.
First step for you might be reading the article and responding substantively if it's bullshit framing or not. A related problem is the left's indifference to their left wing and radical fringe of the left wing misrepresenting arguments for profit.
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On November 03 2017 05:38 Danglars wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 05:34 Doodsmack wrote:The second tweet just makes an excuse for the indifference out of thin air. Whether the media frames the issue correctly doesn’t affect whether actual racism should be met with indifference. Those who meet it with indifference are making their own choice. The media framing of the issue plays into public perception that it's overblown and mostly made it. The linked story is exactly case in point. First step is to recover credibility, second is to use it to convince the public of real problems. First step for you might be reading the article and responding substantively if it's bullshit framing or not. A related problem is the left's indifference to their left wing and radical fringe of the left wing misrepresenting arguments for profit.
If you don't like seeing extreme progressive opinions, maybe don't read ThinkProgress?
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On November 03 2017 05:37 WolfintheSheep wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 04:35 Aveng3r wrote:On November 03 2017 04:28 Plansix wrote:On November 03 2017 04:25 Aveng3r wrote:On November 03 2017 04:23 LegalLord wrote:On November 03 2017 04:21 Aveng3r wrote:On November 03 2017 04:16 Liquid`Drone wrote:Yes. Norway has a benevolent and competent government and that's the kind of stuff you get then. That must be nice Well it’s not so explicit in the US but you can usually get more money back if you pay more. Yeah I know but you just get your principal back, no interest. Youre essentially giving the government an interest free loan which is bullshit The government also doesn’t charge interest for underpaying taxes as long as you settle up at the end of the year. So it’s a wash. My stance would be that they can have what theyre owed when theyre owed it and not a second sooner, and if youre going to have a system where you receive payments throughout the year, then act like a damn reasonable financial institution and pay your constituents interest on their principal overpayments. I hesitate to call it a wash there because theyre benefiting off of taxpayer overpayments while offering nothing in return. Not charging interest on payments outstanding pre- due-date isnt really a favor to anyone. As cute as a concept this may sound, I'm pretty sure the overhead that managing such "financial services" would cost you more overall than the interest is worth.
Oh Ive no doubt that you are correct, I suppose my idea was more a cry for justice without any idea of how to actually get there
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On November 03 2017 04:57 jcarlsoniv wrote:
As a single guy filing alone, mine aren't too difficult (as others have mentioned). The last few years I've used 1040ez.com. Haven't seen it (or similar sites) mentioned here yet...is this something I should stop doing?
If you qualify for it, no you should not stop. If you're not obscenely rich, and only have wage income, there is no benefit to using the other forms.
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On November 03 2017 05:28 Liquid`Drone wrote:
It's hard to develop competent government services when half the population+ is convinced that government services are inherently inferior. This both influences the ability to attract talent and the motivation of people already there. Basically I have no problem accepting that american government services are in fact inferior to Norwegian ones, but I have a huge issue with the idea that government services are inherently inferior, and I think the former isn't ever going to change until belief in the latter does.
Government services are subject to voter whims and politician optics management rather than market discipline. Excluding cases where market forces are poorly aligned with consumer utility, government services are inferior in almost all cases. This has been shown empirically in countless instances as well.
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Norway28804 Posts
On November 03 2017 05:34 Danglars wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 05:28 Liquid`Drone wrote:
It's hard to develop competent government services when half the population+ is convinced that government services are inherently inferior. This both influences the ability to attract talent and the motivation of people already there. Basically I have no problem accepting that american government services are in fact inferior to Norwegian ones, but I have a huge issue with the idea that government services are inherently inferior, and I think the former isn't ever going to change until belief in the latter does. We could play games of who came first: the chicken or the egg all day. The VA is not underfunded, it's mismanaged. The IRS might be both. The legislators that wrote tax law which got interpreted by the IRS are just as culpable. Guess who's writing future single payer laws? We'd be a lot more amenable to government ability if it could be shown in existing areas. Our civil service is exceptionally inferior to the culture and management of most European countries. You might even call that American exceptionalism in the form of government lobbying. I don't think you'll convince anyone that the problem is funding and not mismanagement as the case stands ... it's just as easy to say the extra money would be just as misspent as the last dollars in.
I'm not actually saying it's necessarily a funding problem and in my previous post I tried to portray it as a mentality problem. I am trying to contest the (frequently assessed by americans) notion that government services are inherently inferior, but I totally see why and how it's difficult to change that when I also see it as a self-perpetuating stereotype. I even see self-proclaimed 'liberals' share this belief, and the inefficiency of various american government services serves as proof.
I understand that this list https://www.bi.no/forskning/norsk-kundebarometer/ isn't understandable to other people, but I'm linking it for reference anyway. It's a list over companies operating in Norway according to how pleased people are with it. Number 1, flytoget, is a government owned train company, number 4 on the list is the government owned wine monopoly (only kind of store allowed to sell alcohol stronger than 4.7%). The support for the Wine Monopoly is especially impressive, because quite some people used to push for allowing stores to sell wine and are negative towards the concept of a wine monopoly - but these efforts have largely been halted because it's so well ran and because they have such competent employees. I think it's interesting because these experiences are in direct conflict with the notion that you need competition to create the best service - I think it's possible to achieve even better results through the deliberate installment of a positive, competence-based and customer-friendly mentality
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Norway28804 Posts
On November 03 2017 06:01 mozoku wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 05:28 Liquid`Drone wrote:
It's hard to develop competent government services when half the population+ is convinced that government services are inherently inferior. This both influences the ability to attract talent and the motivation of people already there. Basically I have no problem accepting that american government services are in fact inferior to Norwegian ones, but I have a huge issue with the idea that government services are inherently inferior, and I think the former isn't ever going to change until belief in the latter does. Government services are subject to voter whims and politician optics management rather than market discipline. Excluding cases where market forces are poorly aligned with consumer utility, government services are inferior in almost all cases. This has been shown empirically in countless instances as well.
While I can grant that this largely holds true for the US, I disagree with the notion that it's universally true. You can regard my previous reply to danglars as a reply to you as well.
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On November 03 2017 06:01 mozoku wrote:Show nested quote +On November 03 2017 05:28 Liquid`Drone wrote:
It's hard to develop competent government services when half the population+ is convinced that government services are inherently inferior. This both influences the ability to attract talent and the motivation of people already there. Basically I have no problem accepting that american government services are in fact inferior to Norwegian ones, but I have a huge issue with the idea that government services are inherently inferior, and I think the former isn't ever going to change until belief in the latter does. Government services are subject to voter whims and politician optics management rather than market discipline. Excluding cases where market forces are poorly aligned with consumer utility, government services are inferior in almost all cases. This has been shown empirically in countless instances as well.
Government services can’t fail, unlike the private sector. If the fire department does a poor job, we can’t shutter it or just open up a new one. Same with schools or water treatment. The private sector has an unfair advantage that they don’t provide critical services that the surrounding area relies on to function. And having worked for both, the private sector is just as inefficient. The problem with the US is that we treat government services like for profit industries and destroy them if they fail to meet expectations. So it is never a debate about how to refine or improve. It is a fight to allow the agency to continue to exist.
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EPT
