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Comment by OskarS | Hacker News Reader

Just, as a person outside of the US: the idea that you would need an accountant at all for a private person that isn't a billionarie, is like, crazy.

I have a reasonably simple personal economy and it takes me all of five minutes to file my taxes in Sweden. My parents have a much more complicated setup (small private business, own a couple of properties, several deductions, etc.) and it basically is pretty straight-forward for them as well, certainly they don't need an accountant.

TurboTax, Intuit and anti-tax Republicans has really fucked with the US expectation of how complicated taxes needs to be.

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As a person who lives inside the US, I'm perfectly happy that the government doesn't have perfect information about me, and that I can spend $100 on an accountant who will help save much more money on taxes

> I'm perfectly happy that the government doesn't have perfect information about me

Yes, keep telling yourself they don't (for what it matters)

In fact if you get a W2 the IRS already have it

If all your income is in a W2, then sure. I have a business that's about the second simplest corporate structure (I'm a single-member LLC, which is probably only slightly more complicated than a sole proprietorship). It would take very little imagination to come up with funny games one could play if one were inclined to evade taxes (I'm not, and I don't)

Just think what someone with a gazillion dollars, some trusts, and "charitable foundations" could do.

Which means your cries for privacy only apply for rich people and you're okay with that because you have some money.

With the risk of sounding a bit redundant: privacy is important for private stuff

But if by law something needs to be known by the government: just go for it

A silly analogy: your medical info is private, but it's in your best interest that a condition like 'diabetic' or 'allergic to something' have a lower level of privacy

> With the risk of sounding a bit redundant: privacy is important for private stuff

> But if by law something needs to be known by the government: just go for it

This seems a bit flipped, the only reason something needs to be provided to the government “by law” is that we’ve passed a law that says it needs to be. That it is required by law is not a reason for it being required of course, that’s circular. The reason the law was passed is because we decided it was in the public interest for the government to collect that data.

If we decided it was in the public interest to collect more income info about wealthy people, then we could make that required by law. I think the comment you responded to is suggesting that we should change what is required by law.

Your analogy is better. There’s a reason you might be ok with less privacy there.

If you think the ability of have an LLC and claim business expenses differentiates the US from Sweden... you're an American.

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