Taxes!

Would you rather have feudalism or capitalism? Let's assume for the sake of judgment, this is America and there's no 3rd option.

― sarahell, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 10:35 PM (forty-four minutes ago) Bookmark

artificial distinction - in america, one and the same

1. just consider the whole thing taxable income and have the university gross up the amount is receiving. university bears the burden here.

2. don't allow people to deduct losses. silly

3. cost/basis rules are insane and this is a good example of why they should be done away with

sure if the inheritance is something that generates income like commercial real estate rather than a simple asset or cash then things get complicated for the recipient. i'm sure that's a nightmare in other countries too to be fair.

as an incremental change: there is absolutely no reason [*] why the federal government cannot mail out provisional tax returns in february that assume the only reportable income a person has is income that the payer has already reported to the IRS (W-2, 1099-INT/MISC, etc.) and they're going to take the standard deduction. the recipient then either signs it and they're done, or they file a new tax return that includes all their other income the government doesn't know about and non-standard deductions.

[*] there is of course a reason. it's intuit.

xp to myself for 3, just have the company report the basis directly to the irs. why introduce a self reporting element here? madness

right. unless an individual has business income, they should basically not be corresponding with the IRS. it's totally possible to design a redistributive/progressive tax system that incentivizes things deemed desirable (having kids, installing solar panels, whatever) that works like that. they manage it all over the world.

p.s. eliminate the mortgage interest deduction.

I need to go back and re-read all of this since it bookmarked in a weird place, but I hate how taxes in the US are so archaic that it written to assume one partner (the LADY person) in a marriage does not work.

And also, I can't imagine that the US is different in this regard (yes I can) but we need these convoluted tax codes and deductions and reporting requirements because Americans are assholes who think they know better and want to hide their income and still feel like they are patriots who aren't breaking the law.

p.s. eliminate the mortgage interest deduction.

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Tuesday, March 13, 2018 10:41 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this

I under pay the government, just enough to avoid penalty. I prefer to save money myself throughout the year. So I owe a lot this time of year, which I HATE paying. I mean, I love taxes, they are great, but still sending over that money hurts me in the feelings area.

see these comments for a window into the attitude toward users that exists at intuit:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16585473#16586234

here's two quotes from people who (claim to have) worked there

Second, the fact that Quickbooks is so awkward and inconsistent to use isn't a UI problem, it's a feature. This is an important lesson in designing software that people use for their jobs. When you make elegant, intuitive software that almost anyone can use in short order, it stops being an impressive item to put on a resume. And it stops being a barrier to entry for competing professionals. Software like Quickbooks that's hard to use correctly becomes a selling point for bookkeepers and almost accomplishes the same purpose (though to a lesser degree) than professional licensing organizations...it limits the competition and keeps the rates they can charge high.

and

There are psychological phenomena in play that make an existing, market dominant piece of software more successful and harder to displace when it's objectively harder to use when that software forms the basis for someone's job.

And it's important to realize this because this is counterintuitive to what those of us that create software for a living have been taught. We're taught to think like you. We're taught to make software that delights our users and is as easy as possible to use. But understanding a specific set of circumstances when that approach is destined to fail can be important.

I filed our returns today.

ME: maybe the "crumbs will keep coming" with the new tax bill, as ronna mcdaniel claims
TAXES: $3,000, up from a $15 refund or so

Milestones of imperial decline: the IRS’s computer system crashes on Tax Day.

— Doug Henwood (@DougHenwood) April 17, 2018

fucking hell, I went from owing >$250 last year to owing $3000 this year, with only an $800 increase in AGI this year. Christ.

Yeah. The mandatory reductions in withholding from the 2017 tax legislation forced our 2018 taxes owed above $1000, so we'll also owe a penalty of some kind. Unless I can place some kind of withholding on our Social Security we'll probably have to move to estimated quarterly taxes, because our one non-SS pension's W-2 already claims zero exemptions, which maxes out its withholding. Fuck that noise. Filing once a year is bad enough.

good god. I guess it's the witholding reductions plus the elimination of the personal exemption and the famous blue-state fuck you cap on SALT deductions that fucked me this year, and presumably for years to come.

aimless, i though you could ask for additional withholding on your w-4 even with 0 exemptions?

i was fortunate to calculate my taxes in december and realize i was going to owe, so i made an estimated payment before the deadline in january. it's so fucked up. i owed an extra $1000 or so and had to increase my withholding a lot this year. so i got a fake pay bump last january and now i'm poor, even though i am under the SALT cap so i still itemize.

and over the standard deduction, i mean

and my AGI went down this year because of retirement contributions. there's no way to win.

Unless I can place some kind of withholding on our Social Security

you mean above the standard amount they withhold if you say you want taxes withheld? (i think it's 10%?)

IRS giving a 3 month extension on paying taxes owed. They haven't official extended the filing deadline yet.

California has extended the filing deadline and payment deadline until June 15th

Stimulus payment checks: No information available yet
At this time, the IRS does not have any information available yet regarding stimulus or payment checks, which remain under consideration in Congress. Please do not call the IRS about this. When the IRS has more specific details available, we will make it available on this page.

The IRS is a great source of passive-aggressive content

Soooo how's it going for everyone.

Interesting thing I learned -- there's an IRS app that you can use to track refunds etc.; it also serves as a non-texting authenticator, which is a good idea:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs2goapp

And another tax season upon us here in the US -- and yesterday I learned about something important:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/01/irs-will-soon-require-selfies-for-online-access/

The title is clickbaity but accurate -- here's how I summarized it elsewhere for some colleagues:

I wanted to alert everyone about an upcoming change -- which honestly should be getting more publicity that I've seen -- regarding access to one's IRS account and more besides. This article -- Krebs is very much a known name in the information security field, this isn't some rando! -- goes into thankfully patient detail, but in essence the IRS has entered into an agreement with the privacy/identity firm ID.me, which at some point this summer will be the sole way you can access your IRS account online. I'll add that setting up an ID.me account, as I did last night in response to all this, will also cover access to your Social Security account online as well as, as needed, your VA account if you have served in the military. I should note that my experience setting up my ID.me account and then linking everything to the IRS and Social Security was much smoother than the article author's experience, but as he notes, no matter what, the process does involve using a driver's license, state ID card or passport, as well as a biometric element, namely a face scan. This might not be for everyone and Krebs himself is clear about what issues he has with it, so I encourage a careful reading of the article.

But as he concludes: "Over the years, I’ve tried to stress the importance of creating accounts online tied to your various identity, financial and communications services before identity thieves do it for you. But all of those places where you should “Plant Your Flag” conduct identity verification in an automated fashion, using entirely static data points about consumers that have been breached many times over (SSNs, DoBs, etc). Love it or hate it, ID.me is likely to become one of those places where Americans need to plant their flag and mark their territory, if for no other reason than it will probably be needed at some point to manage your relationship with the federal government and/or your state. And given the potential time investment needed to successfully create an ID.me account, it might be a good idea to do that before you’re forced to do so at the last minute (such as waiting until the eleventh hour to pay your quarterly or annual estimated taxes)."

the IRS actually currently uses KBA (the thing where you get a handful of multiple choice questions where one is the name of a street you lived on 25 years ago, so a bit different from the SSN DoB basics), and requires specific info from a prior year tax return ... you don't have to have an IRS account to make estimated tax payments ... in fact, you can mail a check postmarked as of the deadline and they will count it as paid on that date with no penalty. ... sorry, i should totally avoid this thread.

Filed last night.

Not filing till April. I know I'm not getting a refund (I'm a full-time freelancer who refuses to pay quarterly taxes) so fuck 'em.

enjoy your penalties, Phil!

i’m finally catching up on all my years of not filing as an expat and it’s filling me with a profound sense of relief and well-being

Haha yeah I'm in a similar boat except I was mostly "volunteering" for my expat years so only filed for the last one, reported no income.

How's everyone doing. (Filed last week, IRS confirmed receipt, state's being a little sluggish but it can happen.)

Filed in mid-March. I lead a life of life of leisure.

All of California (except for a few outlying counties) have a federal extension until October because the storms constituted a disaster ... so, no rush here

I owe $2300

(i am entering into a payment plan)

Filed last month. Got a nice refund because my old career cratered ($310 in revenue last year) and I still have the same business expenses. I asked my tax guy how long I can pretend to be a DTP/design person claiming losses before the IRS says "no you're a bartender now" -- he said four years, which was reassuringly specific.

I ended up owing for the first time in forever, because I made a fairly basic and stupid mistake when it came to estimated tax payments. My business partner and I switched to a salary system this year to build up some savings for future endeavors, leaving some of our money in the bank each month. But when I made my estimated payments I only counted the money we'd actually disbursed, rather than our actual total business income — stupidly forgetting that the IRS doesn't care which account money is sitting in, you still have to pay taxes on it. So, that was fun.

I figured that out in February, but once I realized we weren't getting a refund I put off filing (and paying) until a few days ago.

I also realized that I think I can claim some bigger refunds from the last few years because of another dumb mistake I've been making — a good argument that maybe I should actually pay someone to do our taxes rather than muddling through on TurboTax. So now I need to spend some time doing that. (Best case, it will offset a chunk of what I just sent them.)

I don't mind paying taxes, but as a small business owner it's pretty complicated!

Guess I better start thinking about doing my taxes

I owe $6 + $10 for my Obamacare plan - that takes TurboTax from free to file to $60 because I owe the $10, so I've got to look at the free filing options this weekend.

I pay somebody to do it because I live overseas and it gets slightly complicated. The child tax credit is netting me $2500 this year after I pay the tax people though, so it is totally worth it to me.

Met this old guy, a friend's father in law, who was complaining about taxes, saying if you live in DC in a $3 million home with two kids in private school that Biden's proposed new capital gains structure imposes an unduly harsh burden. I (in so many words) told him he was full of shit. He apparently literally has a portrait of his Porsche hanging in his house.

Filed in February because I needed my EITC right away. Got $550 back (about a third of what I got last year) and treated it as a fifth paycheck, like I always do.

milo z wrote:

I owe $6 + $10 for my Obamacare plan - that takes TurboTax from free to file to $60 because I owe the $10, so I've got to look at the free filing options this weekend.

I swear I'm not a shill, but I've been using FreeTaxUSA for years with no problem. Federal returns are completely free; they make their money from state income tax returns and optional services. Since my state doesn't have a state income tax, I've never had to pay them a cent to file my returns.

Met this old guy, a friend's father in law, who was complaining about taxes, saying if you live in DC in a $3 million home with two kids in private school that Biden's proposed new capital gains structure imposes an unduly harsh burden. I (in so many words) told him he was full of shit. He apparently literally has a portrait of his Porsche hanging in his house.

So what else did Hugh Hewitt say.

I also realized that I think I can claim some bigger refunds from the last few years because of another dumb mistake I've been making — a good argument that maybe I should actually pay someone to do our taxes rather than muddling through on TurboTax.

After 16 years of Turbotax, I switched to an accountant -- a friend's dad, so he gives me a discount -- and, voila, I'm back to getting returns.

Oh wise soul. (I am a very simple person but getting my yearly return back with all the breakdowns and details is weirdly satisfying if only because so much of it seems based around things I would have never known to look for.)

Douglas Wolk did say as much re getting an accountant way back at the start of the thread, admittedly! Got through the 2000s okay but realized around 2009 I had made a silly mistake and going with an accountant recommended by a friend was the solution, still with said accountant. I remember talking to my dad about it then and he admitted that fairly recently (at the time) he'd done something similar where he realized a good accountant was the best way forward! Live and learn.

I email him three statements at most -- I'm fairly straightforward. But there are deductions and loopholes even TurboTax misses, apparently.

Mine provides a worksheet for a slew of details and expenses I complete and send back, on top of the statements themselves. It means a little work on my part but I've got it down to a science.