"Why I'm boycotting TurboTax this year" VOX Policy & Politics

[yortsed snacilbuper]

Don't give Intuit money. Don't give H&R Block money. To do so is to perpetuate the status quo in which you have to file your own taxes in the first place. The best way to escape this trap is for millions of taxpayers to start doing their own taxes in hopes of weakening Intuit and H&R Block and depriving them of money they could use to lobby against auto-filing.

This requires privileging your own long-term interests ahead of your short-term ones; it's mildly annoying to do your taxes by hand for now, but in the long run, if the plan works, you won't have to do your own taxes at all.

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11320386/turbotax-boycott-lobbying

[hollysmom]

1. stopped using Trubo tax when they started charging me to load last years data under their free tax

program for seniors, I use FreeUSA.
then of course they ask you to file your state taxes but, hey my state and others have a free tax program that covers everything -so bah humbug rip off program.

[yeoman6987]

2. maybe next year

I've been with turbotax six years. perhaps next year ill try something else.

[Ron Obvious]

3. Agreed

I was a long-time Turbotax user but I was disgusted to find out that they lobbied against automatic filing. Really, every financial transaction where your SS number is used/on file is already known to the government and the whole filing mess is completely unnecessary busy work.

Several countries already do automatic filing, where the government simply send you a filled-in version of your tax return, and if there are no mistakes or additional deductions you wish to take, you simply sign it and pay up (or receive a refund). Really, what could be simpler than that?

[Travis_0004]

5. The US needs to vastily simply the tax code for that to happen?

Sure they know how much money I made, but the tax code is far too complicated (I hope the government doesn't know how much I spent on sales tax, and how many miles I drove? They know what I'm going to deduct?

[Ron Obvious]

6. Simplification is needed anyway

With automatic filing, you could simply edit the deductions to add sales tax (I'm in WA and I just take a standard deduction for sales tax rather than itemising anyway). Many of the miles driven items could, I suppose, be taken from previous returns for a default.

I'd rather tweak a pre-filled return than do the heavy lifting of a complete return from scratch. For the record, we're retired and living off investments and our returns are hundreds of pages long. I know, I could use an accountant, but this is the only way to keep a hand in on what we're actually earning and spending.

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, I did my own this year.

I'm a sick of their marketing bullshit. I think I waste more time with their software and marketing babble than I do when I do it myself.

[Odin2005]

7. I was able to do all my taxes for free on a site called TaxAct.

[Agschmid]

8. I apparently have the privilege of not caring.

Interesting read though, I certainly could do the tax form myself my taxes are very easy.

[SheilaT]

9. I use an accountant.

It's well worth the cost, because I'd never be able to figure out the complications that are involved. If I only needed to do the short form, which was true for many years, I'd do it myself. But I haven't used that in years.