
IRS stops firms like TurboTax from hiding free tax-filing products in searches - hsnewman
https://www.cnet.com/news/irs-blocks-companies-like-turbotax-from-hiding-free-tax-filing-products-in-searches/
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save_ferris
This might be a controversial viewpoint, but it's way too cumbersome to pay
your taxes in the US currently, and I don't see how anyone but companies like
TurboTax benefit from obscuring access to basic tax prep software. This
industry currently reeks of rent-seeking.

The complexity of the tax code is often subject to debate, but we don't spend
as much time discussing how to deploy a technological solution that uses your
tax records to predetermine what you owe, with an optional process to file
your own if you choose.

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Freak_NL
Is that still a controversial standpoint in the US? Whenever threads about
taxes in the US reach the HN front page, you get an overwhelming amount of
comments from surprised posters outside of the US who can't imagine having to
fill in everything themselves (me, a Dutchman who spends at most five minutes
on his taxes every year, included), in addition to Americans who wish it were
so in the US. No one really defends the current situation on HN.

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mirimir
> ... surprised posters outside of the US who can't imagine having to fill in
> everything themselves ...

Maybe it's a holdover from times when many earned substantial cash income.
Tips, for example.

~~~
Fnoord
Yeah, well, the tipping culture is ridiculous anyway. Culturally enforced tip
to people who earn below minimum wage. If tip is too small, it is still
insulting. Just add it to the price already? Same with taxes. Why would you
not include these in the cost the customer is going to pay? I find it
dishonest.

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mirimir
I like tips. They're a reward for good service.

But maybe that was a bad example. Many people used to work for cash.

~~~
Fnoord
I like tips when they're optional, yes (we tip in Europe; I tip in Europe).
When they're mandatory, it shouldn't be a tip; it should be included in the
price. Because else, it is a cheap method to shift the blame.

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dublinben
Discussed 3 days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21923220](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21923220)

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eli
A huge win for the power of journalism. ProPublica has been absolutely
dominating this story with a series of deeply reported articles
[https://www.propublica.org/series/the-turbotax-
trap](https://www.propublica.org/series/the-turbotax-trap)

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hanniabu
Is there anything preventing TurboTax from making their free version less user
friendly and removing features, essentially making is much hard to use as an
average layman to incentivize you to use the paid version?

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anamexis
I’d say no, since that’s what they’ve been doing the entire time.

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ldh
Also the IRS: making tax filing free and super simple would be bad for
shareholder value

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golemotron
> Now an addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding between the IRS and the
> Free File Alliance prevents companies from "engaging in any practice" that
> would hide Free File options from "an organic internet search."

This begs the question of whether organic internet search even exists.

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hanniabu
I'm sure now they'll be fighting for tens of millions in grants to support
this service.

