Why can't we file taxes directly with the IRS?

[Rick_Kitchen]

The tax companies that will do your federal taxes for free actually calculate your state taxes, but the filing isn’t free. But you can print out the results and then fill in your state forms and file them with the state.

[Chefguy]

@LibrarySpy

There’s no age or income requirement to have your taxes done by the AARP.

I pay H&R Block to help me do my taxes because H&R Block insures their work if I ever get audited. Are there not enough IRS horror stories out there that people care about that?

Ours is fairly straightforward. We just don’t want to have to deal with learning the Oregon tax code.

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]

@Folacin

You know that the government already is doing that right? They have copies of your W-2s, 1099s and various other income forms that you use to file your taxes. They compare the number you report for the various lines to what they think it should be, and if there is a difference (I’m guessing there is a fudge factor in there), they send you a letter asking what’s up.

Here’s a Slate article talking about it.

You mean the IRS doesn’t just take everybody at their word? :smack: Of course I know that. But they don’t know about thousands and thousands of dollars in legitimate deductions I claim each year. If they want to do my return for me and tell me how much I owe, they’re going to have to go through all the receipts and bills I collect all year.

[Lowdown]

OP, you can get all the forms and instruction books at any public library. If you have investments things will be a little more complicated, but everything you need is right there. If you’re able, for example, to assemble furniture from an instructions, you should be able to file your own taxes. It’s not that bad. My only advice would be to grab a couple extra forms if you want to run the numbers twice and check your work.

If all you’ve got is a job and an apartment, doing the paper forms is honestly probably faster than using TurboTax.

[Typo_Negative]

You can use HR Block’s site to efile for free for the EZ Form.

They charge you if you want to efilel for State also.

[Folacin]

@Fuzzy_Dunlop

You mean the IRS doesn’t just take everybody at their word? :smack: Of course I know that. But they don’t know about thousands and thousands of dollars in legitimate deductions I claim each year. If they want to do my return for me and tell me how much I owe, they’re going to have to go through all the receipts and bills I collect all year.

The IRS doing your taxes for you would be optional. I’m guessing for the majority of people, the standard deduction is the way to go. That’s where it makes sense. My folks used to do taxes, and mom would charge people $5 to fill out their 1040 EZ, mostly because they insisted on paying something.

And, as a twist - how about you fill in blank on what your deductions are and the IRS takes the bigger number?

[Chronos]

It’s not just deductions, and there may be advantageous bits and pieces of the tax code that taxpayers aren’t aware of. Like that $300 that being a student got me, even though I was using the standard deduction.

[ISiddiqui]

@MrKnowItAll

Well, I work for the IRS. (Not in any major position, so don’t ask me for tax advice. I just type numbers into a computer all day.)

Judging from the software they have us use, the IRS isn’t exactly “cutting edge” in the IT department. A lot of the work gets done on systems that look like they run on DOS. That said, I suspect the issue is largely one of not having the capability to handle millions of tax filings, which (let’s face it) would largely come in on the same day, April 15th. Obviously, they are able to take the raw data in, since that’s what would be coming in from the tax preparers, but to have a website that would have an interactive element, or provide downloadable software, would certainly put a serious strain on their processing capabilities.

Much of the IT work that gets done in the Service is contracted out. Our in-house IT people pretty much specialize in trading out malfunctioning machines and keeping the operating systems updated. (And in fairness, there are a lot of machines to take care of.) Programming software is a job that goes to the lowest bidder who is also able to maintain security requirements and provide a reliable product.

I work for the U.S. Department of Labor, and I’m sure this is basically it. I also remember the rollout of the Obamacare website and shudder to think an IRS.gov e-file site the week before April 15. People seem to believe that the government has similar technology that large private companies have and that isn’t true at all! The government uses antiquated tech, due to lack of funding, all the time - I shudder(again) when I remember how long I had to use IE 6.0 at work.

[Honesty]

@Dr.Drake

In Canada, you file one set of taxes at the federal level. They work out the details for the different provinces and it’s all done in one easy step. Admittedly, this is probably easier for 10 provinces than for 50 states.

Exactly. It can be done. I mean, if the U.S can build a space program, it certainly has the capability to create a centralized front-end that can electronically send returns to the States.

@Chronos

Really, the current system is just about the ideal middle ground between private sector and government. <snip>

This makes me sad. I don’t think the private sector should be involved at all. As other countries have shown (e.g. Australia, Canada, etc) you don’t need to have a middle-man for every little thing the government requires. I believe that if it’s something the government requires you to do (e.g. file taxes, get an ID, get a SS card, etc etc) it should be free. Private corporations should not have the monopoly on e-filing.

I also don’t believe charging me a free Federal return and then charging me $39.99 for a State return is fair. How can sending one single State return cost so much? This is just middle-manning, taking money from the pockets of Americans to do something we’re legally required to do anyway. It’s sanctioned theft.

@SpoilerVirgin

For most states, there are tax preparers listed on the IRS website who will file your returns for free under a certain income limit. For many years I used this option and was able to file both my Federal and State (California) returns for free. Now I have crossed the income threshold, and my Federal return is still free, but my State return costs me $12.95. I think it’s a terrific deal in terms of time, money and ease of use. You should explore the options offered on the IRS site to find the one that will let you do your state return for free or the lowest cost.

$12.95 is still high (it should be free!) but it’s acceptable. If you don’t mind me asking, where did you go? Was it one of the e-file companies?

Thanks.

• Honesty

[Bone]

@Honesty

I also don’t believe charging me a free Federal return and then charging me $39.99 for a State return is fair. How can sending one single State return cost so much? This is just middle-manning, taking money from the pockets of Americans to do something we’re legally required to do anyway. It’s sanctioned theft.

It costs as much as you are willing to pay. What state are you in? In CA they have free electronic filing of the state returns. I provided a link earlier in the thread. Here’s a link to information forfree filing for all 50 states.

[runningdude]

@Honesty

In order to file taxes, you have to pay a middle-man (e.g. turbotax, tax preparer, etc etc) to file it for you. I propose the following. Every taxpayer should be allowed to login into the IRS.gov website and do your taxes right online, deductions and all, free of charge. The IRS website should have a front-end of sorts that walks the person through doing their taxes online, step-by-step, from start to finish. The IRS could link the front-end with all of the States and allow taxpayers to file their city and State returns as well. I think this is a good idea (I am biased, of course). What do you think?

• Honesty

I get TurboTax through my bank to file a 1080A or 1080EZ for free. TurboTax assumes the liability for incorrectly calculating the amount owed, assuming the end user provides correct and accurate values.

I believe you can, in fact, file directly through the IRS website, but you would have to perform the calculations manually.

[SpoilerVirgin]

@Honesty

$12.95 is still high (it should be free!) but it’s acceptable. If you don’t mind me asking, where did you go? Was it one of the e-file companies?

Thanks.

• Honesty

freetaxusa.com. I have been using them since 2003 with no problems at all, and have recommended them to many other people without hearing any complaints.

ProTip: Make sure you store your ID and password for the site wherever you store your annual tax information. Once you’ve done your taxes with them once, they will store everything for the next year, and doing your taxes will be incredibly fast.

[Honesty]

@Bone

It costs as much as you are willing to pay. What state are you in? In CA they have free electronic filing of the state returns. I provided a link earlier in the thread. Here’s a link to information forfree filing for all 50 states.

Holy crap! Thanks, man. I just bookmarked that site.

[Honesty]

@SpoilerVirgin

freetaxusa.com. I have been using them since 2003 with no problems at all, and have recommended them to many other people without hearing any complaints.

ProTip: Make sure you store your ID and password for the site wherever you store your annual tax information. Once you’ve done your taxes with them once, they will store everything for the next year, and doing your taxes will be incredibly fast.

Thanks for the information.