Is it me or are there more posts on taxes along with an angrier tone? I don’t remember this from last year – although the S&P at 800 had everyone’s attention then. Or is this a normal, seasonal thing?
Also, taxes get more complex every year, so it makes sense that the grumbling increases every year.
I personally think it an absolute crime that the average employed person (or retired person with average investments) even needs to consider buying a software package, or consider which one is 'best', or consider paying someone to do their taxes.
I could compromise and say that an open-source format spreadsheet should be available for downloads from the Feds and each State, and taxes should be simple enough that a series of entries results in an indisputably correct tax return. The ss would do the adding, subtracting, multiply, divide, and a few simple 'if' conditions, and provide a conveniently neat way to print it and e-file.
There should be no need for 'programs', really.
-ERD50
Agree. Lots of uncertainty => anxiety => anger. I guess the anger subsides when the uncertainty goes away.My completely unfounded feeling is that there is much more anger this year about paying taxes and where tax dollars are going because of perceptions about the economy and worry about the future, both personal and societal. I have noticed more anger and arguing in other threads too.
I used it this year - first in a while. Free makes it nice. UI - I still prefer H&R Block. What makes the difference for me was the auto download of financial accounts info. A sw product that makes paying taxes easier - isn't there something perverse in that?My favorite software package is free TurboTax on Vanguard.
Is it me or are there more posts on taxes along with an angrier tone? I don’t remember this from last year – although the S&P at 800 had everyone’s attention then. Or is this a normal, seasonal thing?
Well, Paul Volcker has recently mentioned it as a way to raise revenue, and he's a pretty well-respected heavy hitter in the world of economics. So it's not just by accident that all this VAT talk has started.What has struck me the last few days is the number of threads dealing with the possibility the US may add or switch to a VAT. I think there are three or four of them going simultaneously.
I could be wrong and I'm not inviting political discussion here, but I think the growing anger isn't so much the level of taxation as the feeling that our taxes are being used to subsidize the recklessness and bad decisions of other entities, be they consumers or corporations. They get greedy and screw up, and we pay to make them whole again. Meanwhile, entities which were responsible and didn't point the loaded gun at their own heads get nothing but the increasing tax bill. Most folks are generous with respect to people who genuinely try hard, play by the rules and are temporarily down on their luck, but not so much with entities which were ruined by their own greed and bad decision-making.
And the more we see our taxes going to these things, the more we resent paying taxes. (That's the "royal" we and obviously doesn't apply to everyone.) Add to that the fact that almost everyone knows we have no real choice but to raise taxes to pay down all this debt, and the resentment increases even more.
Also, taxes get more complex every year, so it makes sense that the grumbling increases every year.
I personally think it an absolute crime that the average employed person (or retired person with average investments) even needs to consider buying a software package, or consider which one is 'best', or consider paying someone to do their taxes.
I could compromise and say that an open-source format spreadsheet should be available for downloads from the Feds and each State, and taxes should be simple enough that a series of entries results in an indisputably correct tax return. The ss would do the adding, subtracting, multiply, divide, and a few simple 'if' conditions, and provide a conveniently neat way to print it and e-file.
There should be no need for 'programs', really.
-ERD50
Well, you can always depend on me to grouse about taxes, 365.25 and 24/7.Is it me or are there more posts on taxes along with an angrier tone? I don’t remember this from last year – although the S&P at 800 had everyone’s attention then. Or is this a normal, seasonal thing?
I'll be glad when May comes around. The debt and politics will still be there, but I'm hoping to "tax posting frenzy" will have settled down a bit...
Or we can go to the British system where if you make below a certain amount they figure your taxes for you... and tells the company how much to withhold from your check.. easy....
Now, I am not sure if this is true, but I was told this by a good number of people who made below that magic number... me, I was to high...
Kinda sums it up pretty nicely, wouldn't ya say?As to the OP, I don't really know why this year in particular there have been so many anti-tax threads here except for the fact that for years now we have had tax cuts, unfunded increases in benefits (Medicare Prescriptions), unfunded wars, loss of tax revenue with the recession, plus the bailouts. So the focus is on tax increases as the easiest way to get back to the surpluses of 10 years ago.
Sorry about the rant...