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Comment by ClikeX | Hacker News Reader

As someone from the Netherlands, this is bonkers to me. I just log in to the tax site, review what they've already filled in for me, and submit.

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It is truly insane. Major corporations spent billions to prevent this. The worst part is that for the majority of Americans, the government has already internally prepared their tax return before they even file but again the tax preparation industry spends a fortune lobbying Congress to prevent an automatic filing of taxes.

I think you meant to say they spent billions to create this?

In either case the tax prep industry is a pox on our society. But of course this is America, and replacing a perfectly functioning publicly accessible service with a nightmare of private sector bullshit is the most violently American shit ever.

As an American, it is bonkers to me too. Last year my former employer did not issue me a w-2. I called the IRS to ask them what to do. They said they had all the information but can’t release it to me until after the filing deadline. Instead I was told to use form 4852 to estimate and file an amended return if my estimate was wrong once they give me the numbers they have. Worst part is you can’t efile when you file with form 4852.

Anyway, my point is that for 95% of people they have all the information already and you shouldn’t have to file.

This! I am CPA with a tax practice and it makes me unreasonably angry that the tax prep industrial complex has lobbied our government into making the vast majority of people stress over their tax returns or have to pay someone to prepare a return that is already sitting on an IRS computer. No CPA worth their salt wants to do the simple returns but companies like Intuit and HR Block feed off them.

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