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For people in the recent storms, IRS is allowing an additional 48 hours. Also, the TurboTax site says they're working with the IRS so people have their returns counted as on-time.

I'm just glad I did my taxes weeks ago when the system worked, and when it was cheaper.

My objection to E-Filing is that I have to pay for it. To E-File my federal and state returns, generated by software running locally on my computer, would have cost me about $30 above the cost of the software. Why? It is not the IRS that charges this fee, it is the tax preparation company. It was a sweetheart deal made in some back room years ago - the IRS will not accept E-Filings from private citizens except via a tax preparation company, who is able (even encouraged, I'd say) to collect a fee for shifting the bits around. This is not limited to just tax software, brick-and-mortar tax firms do this, too. While I could understand the IRS not wanting to deal with every improperly filled-out tax return from your average Joe, I heavily object to them not accepting a return created with a qualified tax preparation software package, all so that a private company can gouge me.

When that sweetheart deal was made a few years ago, the various groups decided to throw a bone to us poor plebians: free online E-Filing. If your adjusted gross income is less than a certain amount, about $52k/housheold I think, then you are entitled to E-file your federal taxes for free using a variety of online services. TurboTax's online software is one such place. For reasons which I think are shared here on slashdot, I refuse on principle to do my taxes through some company online.

Last year I helped a friend prepare his taxes using TurboTax. His AGI was below the limit for free e-filing. And yet, for some reason, the copy of TurboTax running on his computer never mentioned he was entitled to it. It would only e-file for an additional fee. You would think that, since he had already paid for this software, Intuit would be more willing to e-file his taxes than the taxes from someone who only visited their website and paid didn't pay for anything. This is not the case, however. The line I (eventually, after an hour) got from their tech support line (in Bangalore) was that anyone who actually purchased the software must have so much money that they'd never qualify for free e-filing. I look at it more along the lines of: shucks, you were such a sucker for buying this software in the first place, surely you'll be enough of a sucker to pay us even more.

I don't use TurboTax anymore.

I dunno, if some of the worst of the current political trends continue, we'll end up being the Vorlons instead.

Vorlons? More like Vogons. You know, the fat, bureaucratic bullies who write horrible emo poetry and eventually demolished the Earth in order to build a useless bypass.

This is just bartering. The IRS already requires you to report "the fair market value of goods and services exchanged"
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc420.html

Having self-employment income also requires you to pay payroll taxes (social security, medicare, etc).

Not so much. This IRS publication tells you to that "Illegal income, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity." Piece of cake. Just remember to classify your income as "fifth amendment" rather than "drug dealing."

A lot of comments say something to the effect of "of course if you cash out in US dollars you must pay taxes". It's not that simple because according to the IRS inventory is part of taxable income. Thus, one has to start looking at intent. Past commercial activity would be a clear marker of intent to sell in the future for US dollars what one's virtual character possesses. But what of inventory being built up prior to the first sale? That's where it becomes difficult to distinguish between an avid fan and a business enterprise ramping up.

A Prius starts at around $22K. What kind of new car can you buy for ~$7500? Will it have all the features that are in the $22K Prius? Will it be a deathtrap compared to a Prius? You do realize that there still is a tax credit for Priuses of $787.50 per http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=157557,0 0.html and http://www.aceee.org/transportation/hybtaxcred.htm #table. It was $1575 before 3/31/07 and before that it was $3150.

As for "35 mpg" cheap city car, what mileage #s are you quoting? The current EPA mileage estimates are quite overinflated, esp. city. For example, when Consumer Reports tested an 06 Civic EX w/1.8L 4 and 5 speed auto, they got 18 city, 43 highway for an overall mileage of 28 mpg. They hybrid version got 26 city, 47 highway, 37 overall. You can see a list of vehicles w/top gas mileage at http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/buyingleas ing/most-fuelefficient-cars-206/index.htm. The only one that even gets 35 city is the Prius. The next best get 28 or 26 mpg city. The Yaris is a crap car and the Honda Fit is very slow (even slower than a Prius).

Consumer Reports found a shortfall in mileage for 90% of the vehicles they tested http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.aspx?contentid=4 023460.

The regenerative braking really cuts down on brake wear. If you're light on the brakes, you're doing regen almost the whole time until you're down below ~5 mph when the Prius switches to friction brakes. There are documented cases where Prius owners are still on the original pads after 100K miles. That's a pretty significant cost savings in itself.

Assuming the car cost more than $10,000 (do any new cars still sell for less than this?), the car dealer was required to get your SSN to comply with the law. See the IRS' explanation at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id= 159755,00.html.

You could have given them the SSN while still explicitly prohibiting them from running a credit report. That's what I did when I bought my last car with "cash" (cashier's check).

Yes. It's going to be interesting to see if Wales reports this conflict of interest. It should be reported on IRS Form 990, under "Relationship to Other Organizations". That's where, if you're involved with both a for-profit and a non-profit in the same area, you have to report it.

Form 990 is a public record. GuideStar has them all on line, although you have to register there.

6. Why can't I e-file with this program?

Because of the lack of cooperation of the IRS and the API.

Huh? If you want to create e-file software, you use the API provided in Publication 1346, you file a form 8633, and pass the IRS Assurance Testing Process. There doesn't appear to be any IRS limitation barring open source software from this exact same process used by proprietary software developers.

6. Why can't I e-file with this program?

Because of the lack of cooperation of the IRS and the API.

Huh? If you want to create e-file software, you use the API provided in Publication 1346, you file a form 8633, and pass the IRS Assurance Testing Process. There doesn't appear to be any IRS limitation barring open source software from this exact same process used by proprietary software developers.

6. Why can't I e-file with this program?

Because of the lack of cooperation of the IRS and the API.

Huh? If you want to create e-file software, you use the API provided in Publication 1346, you file a form 8633, and pass the IRS Assurance Testing Process. There doesn't appear to be any IRS limitation barring open source software from this exact same process used by proprietary software developers.

No need to be insulting, especially when you could have answered this question yourself by looking at my profile.

The preparer will be held responsible for fraud he or she commits, yes, but that will not get you, the taxpayer, off the hook. From the IRS web site:

In some situations, the client (taxpayer) may not have knowledge of the false expenses, deductions, exemptions and/or credits shown on their tax returns. However, when the IRS detects the false return, the taxpayer must pay the additional taxes and interest and may be subject to penalties and criminal prosecution.

Other important tidbits from the same page:

• Review your return before you sign it and ask questions on entries you don't understand.
• No matter who prepares your tax return, you (the taxpayer) are ultimately responsible for all of the information on your tax return.

If there is serious fraud on your return, you will pay penalties and may even do jail time, even if a CPA's signature is on the "tax preparer" line.

Honestly.

by snail mail, which is free.

Or electronically, which requires you to buy an accredited program in order to generate the e-forms

Given the resources at the disposal of the Government, why couldn't they just build a website similar to the ones online tax programs use for data entry and obvious computations (adding columns, tax brackets, etc.). I don't care if the results are not automatically optimized, but at least, you could *fill* the tax forms online and submit the e-forms without the fees required by proprietary programs. IMHO, that should be a basic IRS service.

What you want in a tax software package is functionality. However, an equally important thing is liability. If this OSS burps and does something wrong, I doubt the IRS is gonna listen to your "dog-ate-my-homework" kind of excuse. However, if you do use a package from the list of supported software on the IRS website http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.h tml (chances are, you can find a free one that can e-file for your income level quite easily), at least you're in a position to defend yourself if the thing chokes. If a Linux package is not available at the moment, I'm sure it will be soon. In the meantime though, I would humbly suggest that techies NOT gamble their taxes on this issue :P and seek out a windows machine (wearing a crucifix of course =D). The local library might be a good place. You can always get drunk after and not remember any of it =D.

If neither the Freefile program or Turbotax/Taxcut software or their online versions fit your tax filing needs Mr. Moneybags then you just need to go talk to your private accountant like the rest of the rich people and leave the bottom 95% of us to our drudgery. ;-)

While I was doing some research...(I could have sworn that some SS #'s had been issued that were more than 9 digits to foreign nationals on loan to the US military branches)..I came across something interesting.

Apparently you can get out of paying (and collecting) SS and medicare benefits as a US citizen by filling out this form .

Now...all I gotta do is find some of these religions...maybe start my own congregation!! At least you'd know all the members have extra money to tithe now...

:-)

I've not seen the video, but I'll bet something on this page applies.

The IRS's response, with legal citations, to the most common frivolous tax arguments

Sorry, the IRS has already responded to this and other frivolous tax avoidance arguments.

Their direct response is a very interesting read:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/friv_tax.pdf
(warning, pdf)

However, you can always choose to ignore this. I'm sure your cellmate might find your tax theories interesting.

In US, there is a cut-off that if you make below a certain amount you do not have to (a) pay tax on it and (b) report it.

True, see Publication 501 for all the nitty-gritty details.

Now, your employer is required to take the taxes out (regardless), so you might not get money back if you don't report it even if you don't have to.

Employers usually have to take out social security and medicare (there are a few fairly rare exceptions, such as eligible student employees), but they don't have to take out anything else if you are exempt and give them a valid W-4 claiming so. Read the instructions for the Form W-4 for more details.

In US, there is a cut-off that if you make below a certain amount you do not have to (a) pay tax on it and (b) report it.

True, see Publication 501 for all the nitty-gritty details.

Now, your employer is required to take the taxes out (regardless), so you might not get money back if you don't report it even if you don't have to.

Employers usually have to take out social security and medicare (there are a few fairly rare exceptions, such as eligible student employees), but they don't have to take out anything else if you are exempt and give them a valid W-4 claiming so. Read the instructions for the Form W-4 for more details.

because the majority of things sold on ebay are sold at a LOSS. I buy a DVD player for $599.00 use it for 4 years and sell it online at $199.00 that is a LOSS.

No they do not have a right to tax me for selling something at a loss. And everyone else that is sane thinks that way as well.

"The biggest, IMHO, is that switching to them ends up taxing people's savings - especially retirement savings - twice. It was taxed once, at various rates, while it was was being squirreled away. Then it gets taxed again, at confiscatory rates, when it is spent."

You do know that most (all?) federal retirement plans are pretax, right?

http://www.irs.gov/retirement/index.html

"Right now is especially nasty, since you've got the entire baby boom just reaching retirement age. They've already been massively soaked by the Social Security pyramid scheme to give bread and circuses to previous generations - amid constant predictions that it would collapse when THEY retired."

Source

"Myth #1: Social Security is in crisis and facing bankruptcy.

Even if Congress were to leave Social Security untouched, the program would be able to pay currently guaranteed benefits in full until 2042, according to the program's trustees. Thereafter, about 70 percent of promised benefits could be financed. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is even more optimistic: it projects that, without changes, Social Security will be able to meet its obligations in full until 2053, after which about 80 percent of benefits still could be paid for. Even under those worst-case scenarios, decades from now the system would be far from "bankrupt," "flat-out bust," or "broke," which imply that no resources would be available to pay any benefits. At that time, workers and their employers still will be contributing payroll taxes to finance benefits for retirees.

So Social Security is facing a long-term financing problem, but it is far from a "crisis" by any definition of that word. And the problem is much less immediate and threatening now than in the recent past, even though no changes have been made to the program. In 1997, Social Security's trustees had projected that the program's trust funds would last only another thirty-two years and would be depleted in 2029. Those forecasts have improved steadily-largely because of stronger than expected economic growth-so that the trust funds now are expected to remain sufficient for thirty-seven more years.

Like a doctor who recommends "watchful waiting" while a patient becomes healthier, Congress should think twice before performing radical surgery on an enormously successful program that appears to be getting better with age. "

"So they had to build their own retirement nest-eggs on top of it, while paying the ever-climbing interest on the national debt (which first became intractable when their parents ran the Vietnam War on credit, back when the bulk of the boomers were opposing it)."

Later than that.

"And: Sales taxes zap the lower income earners harder than the upper (since the lower-income people are working hand-to-mouth and need to spend pretty much all of it, while the upper can avoid spending much of it - investing it to make more, moving it to places and situations where the tax can be avoided before spending it, etc.). This scheme attempts to avoid the effect by "rebating" a certain amount of tax to each individual - approximating a flat-tax plus dole scheme. What a massive opportunity for cheating (by creating multiple fake identities to get multiple "rebates".) What a massive excuse for the government to impose a national ID / registration / citizen tracking system."

Flat Tax fiascos

Hmmm, interesting there's no biblical "flat tax" :)

Anyone can now send a text message or visit the country's population information center's website, to check if the name and the ID number of a person's identity card match.

There aren't any pictures, but the IRS already has a TIN matching program which lets "authorized payers" "Match the payee W-9 name [the person's name] and TIN [the person's social security number] with IRS records".

TIN Matching is part of a suite of internet based pre-filing e-services that allow "authorized payors" the opportunity to match 1099 payee information against IRS records prior to filing information returns. An authorized payor is one who has filed information returns with the IRS in at least one of the two past tax years. Interactive TIN Matching will accept up to 25 payee TIN/Name combinations on-screen while Bulk TIN Matching will allow up to 100,000 payee TIN/Name combinations to be matched via a text file submission.

I hear this group keeps track pretty well...

You'd be wrong. When I was stationed in Turkey, there were tax exemptions for being in a combat zone, as well as some other benefits like free mail. An earlier post linked to the relevant page from the IRS (Thx, El Torico). See Tables 1 and 2.

Only under certain circumstances. Feel free to look it up.

Basically, yes, although what most people mean when they say a religion is a recognized religion in the US, what they are referring to is a recognition by the IRS as a tax-exempt religious organization. Religions in the US are not licensed, controlled or even defined by law in any way, due to the Constitutional prohibition against government involvement in religion. If you wish to organize a group based upon the belief that the universe was created by the divine spaghetti monster, and your activities fit the IRS definition of a charitable organization, you can get a tax-exempt status as a religious organization, and the government will keep their hands off your activities to the same extent they do for all other religions. It is the way religious activities and organizations work in the US.

The IRS recognizes a plethora of organizations as being eligible for tax-exempt status. Religious organizations are just one such major classification.

There are, however, limits to activities that such groups can engage in and maintain that status. go to this URL: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=139017, 00.html and it will explain and give additional links for more information.

Actually the best way to go off the grid is to expat to another country. If your destination is a place with a non-Roman alphabet, I doubt any databases will be able to link your name to anything without human intervention. Provided that you don't make the $80,000 required to be eligible for US taxes, you'll be able to sign contracts, use credit cards, etc. without the US or its corporations finding anything out. As far as the multinationals are concerned, 'you' are two different people.

Even if you make less than the $82,400 that the Foreign Earned Income exclusion allows for, you're still required to file the forms. This doesn't take you "off the grid". The concept is that you owe the taxes, and are filing for exclusion from them by submitting your form 2555. For more info see:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/ article/0,,id=97324,00.html

"The person who receives your gift does not have to report the gift to the IRS or pay gift or income tax on its value."

Although the previous poster was correct that you have to pay income on the most amazing things, like forgiven loans, bribes, or stolen goods -- iff the goods aren't returned to the legal owner within the tax year in which the theft occurred. I hadn't realized that hobbies have special status: you have to pay taxes on income derived from hobbies, but can't claim losses from those transactions.

"The person who receives your gift does not have to report the gift to the IRS or pay gift or income tax on its value."

Although the previous poster was correct that you have to pay income on the most amazing things, like forgiven loans, bribes, or stolen goods -- iff the goods aren't returned to the legal owner within the tax year in which the theft occurred. I hadn't realized that hobbies have special status: you have to pay taxes on income derived from hobbies, but can't claim losses from those transactions.

"The person who receives your gift does not have to report the gift to the IRS or pay gift or income tax on its value."

Although the previous poster was correct that you have to pay income on the most amazing things, like forgiven loans, bribes, or stolen goods -- iff the goods aren't returned to the legal owner within the tax year in which the theft occurred. I hadn't realized that hobbies have special status: you have to pay taxes on income derived from hobbies, but can't claim losses from those transactions.

Another example: some years back, the combined income that my wife and I earned pushed us just past the the AGI for student loan deductions. Losing that deduction actually cost us more than the increase in income.

The other side of the argument is that eventually most people will move to an even higher income level and, in a lifetime, will recoup that loss and more.

Anytime you see America or Australia compared to fascism you should take the author as a joke.
Unfortunarly you have to pay income taxes in the US, we even have pay taxes if we earn the money in other countries.
You only need to look at all theses people to see that the US government will force you to pay taxes.

No, the two tax types are direct (gov't assesses tax against you) and indirect (gov't assesses tax against something you do). Indirect taxes are considered to be okay to assess per capita, because you could always elect to not do the taxed activity. (In related logic, this is why where sales tax is assessed you don't see basic foodstuffs taxed, since eating isn't really a choice.) In comparison, since you don't get a choice on a direct tax, the US Constitution says that such taxes must be apportioned.

Now, here's the faulty logic of the GP:
1. The language of the Sixteenth Amendment sets income tax as a third, unique tax type along with direct and indirect taxes.
2. But the Supreme Court has in rulings (most notably Stanton v. Baltic Mining Co.) said that income tax is a direct tax, not some other tax type.
3. Therefore, per capita income tax is unconstitutional.

Except that's NOT what the Supreme Court said. What they said was that tax on income of any type is in fact, by virtue of the Sixteenth Amendment, exempt from the apportionment requirement. In fact, Stanton had argued logic similar to the GP's reasoning, and LOST. Hasn't stopped the tax protesters from trying it over and over (and getting a contempt of court charge in the process.)

Also, some other notes to see:

* The IRS does, in fact, list on their website what law mandates payment of income tax.
* When Aaron Russo asked an IRS spokesperson what law requires payment of income tax, he was in fact informed of the relevant sections of 26 U.S.C. (the Internal Revenue Code). Russo rejected the answer, saying that Title 26 consists only of regulations for the IRS. (While Title 26 of the regulations governing the operation of the US government is indeed the section governing the performance of the IRS, that is separate from 26 U.S.C., which are the statutes covering US tax law.) In other words, Russo was told what laws mandated payment - he just chose sophistry to evade it.
* Finally, if you think that Russo is just a "concerned citizen", please keep in mind that he has ~US$2 million in outstanding back taxes.

Yeah, I've never heard of a limit like that, either. However, you can deduct how much money you spent on gambling up to the amount of your winnings if you itemize, so it's moot anyway. I work with taxes, and the IRS employs a lot of people who don't know any more than anyone else. so I fully believe the brother works at the IRS.

Here's the IRS word on it: http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419.html

Yes, I could go to all the trouble of trying to get some sort of documentation, add it to my income, and pay the taxes.

You may want to check out the IRS rules for gambling earnings and loses. Kind of a daunting task but if you plan on filing gambling loses and winnings. If you are just interested in your winnings being taxed but do not want to file a claim for expenses as well, you can enter the amount you won under the other income section of the 1040A. Contrary to your claim of that being a troublesome task, add up the gambling deposits from you bank statements. That is not hard at all.

Not that I agree with the current tax code and rates and how my tax dollars are being spent but I still follow the rules and pay what I should. I take my issues on those things up with my government officials, not the IRS. Bring it up to your legislators as well so we can all benefit. Hopefully, you will eventually get audited and have to pay it all back. You are ripping ME off, not the IRS.

It won't work just doing that in the US either. There are IRS guidelines that stipulate if you are a contractor or employee read here .

The best way to avoid this, is to incorporate yourself, like with an "S" corp as I suggested in the GP. This way, you work for YOUR company, and the contractual agreement is between your corp and their corp (C2C). Actually since the old Microsoft fiasco, where a bunch of 1099 contractors came back and successfully sued MS for non-payment of employee benefits...most companies today are a little hesitant to hire you as a 1099 employee directly...the c2c relationship shields them from this and helps keep the IRS happy with your employment designation.

With the c2c relation ship...your corp invoices their company...and your corp pays you a 'reasonable salary' on which you pay SE taxes (FICA, Medicare, etc)...the rest of the money falls through to you without the employment taxation, only income taxes. This is how it works with and S corp...if you have an LLC...all income gets the employment taxes taken out of it...is a sweet deal.

Tax software is only deductible if you itemize deductions. Also, tax software is considered a "miscellaneous deduction". For miscellaneous deductions, you can only deduct the amount that is above 2% of your income. Therefore, for most people, tax software will not end up being deductible.

By the way, I am not a CPA, but you can reference http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sa.pdf if you have any doubts.

Are you serious? The IRS has an entire FAQ on that issue.

Over two thirds of tax payers can file online for free. The IRS runs Free File, which helps you to select a service to file through.

Most of these were browser and OS agnostic last year & a good choice for those with AGIs low enough.

I grab forms from the IRS site and figure them myself. Then hit up the list of Free File companies and see how I did.

This way I get my refund quicker, and I feel like I've actually used my head for something other than a hat rest.

Interestingly, I never actually said that.[...]

Ok, so change my question to: So tell me again how it is that people in the middle paid more tax than they did?

By the way there is only one standard deduction that everyone gets: themselves.

I think you are confusing deductions with exemptions. Every taxpayer gets a standard deduction based on their filing status. For 2006 the standard deduction for a taxpayer filing single is $5,150. In addition, every taxpayer gets a $3,300 exemption per dependent, including themselves. Granted, some taxpayers are someone else's dependent and cannot claim any exemptions.

You have to make within a certain range to qualify for the earned income tax credit - if you make too little money you can't get it. WTF?

I'm not sure why you're even bringing up the EIC, but there is no minimum income level to qualify for it that I am aware of. Earned Income thresholds to qualify for the EIC in 2006 are $36,348 if you have 2 qualifying children, $32,001 if you have 1, and $12,120 if you have none. (If you are married filing jointly add $2,000 to each of those.) If your Earned Income is below those levels, you qualify for the EIC. See http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf, page 46 for documentation.

Most women know that they can choose to have sex for a living, and most women at some time or another have done so. It is often called 'getting married', or 'dating', but there are far more couples where the men pay the bills, and women stay home, or earn spending money, than the other way around. This takes a huge number of women out of the pool of people who are working in technical fields.

In addition, since your income is lower, you'll be paying slightly less income tax on the rest of your income.

Your MARGINAL tax rate may go down, if you decrease your income. But the amount you are taxed on that first dollars does not decrease. As an example, say you were evaluating two scenarios: a $50K salary vs a $60K salary. The tax on the first $50K will be identical.

See tax tables linked above. This is true no matter what figures you select. No matter if you cross into a "new tax bracket". Because the new tax bracket rate ONLY applies to the money that exceeds the base of the tax bracket, NOT on the "first dollar".

Check out the difference between Marginal tax rate and Effective tax rate, and you may understand.

I'm an illegal immigrant and I've never used your health care the only public service that I use is the library, I hope that doesn't bother you!, but I pay taxes with my itin http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287 ,00.html#what number even when I pay taxes I can't apply for many things!

Re-read your employment docs about whether or not they were going to actually pay for the moving expenses. If the docs say they would, but then they withheld, that doesn't sound right.

Also, you can deduct moving expenses.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc455.html

Also, since you worked half a year, your income in 2006 is probably low for the tax rate you're at and for the amount that was withheld. You should do your 2006 taxes early; you're likely to get a refund.

The UK owns the bleeding edge of stupid shit that wastes taxpayer money.

One could class the US military in that category.

One could class the UK military in the same category as well. After all, there are UK troops in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

Much more to the point, if the US government is wasting money badly, why are the US income tax rates and US sales tax rates lower than the UK income tax rates and UK VAT rates? And I don't mean just a little lower: if you don't want to follow those links, UK income tax is 10-40% vs. 10-35% in the US (depending on bracket/band), and VAT in the UK is 17.5% in most cases, whereas sales tax in the US usually falls between 5% and 8%, depending on state and local laws.

Basically what I'm saying is, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and if the UK is not better at wasting money, why are the taxes higher?

I work for a pretty big place and while I agree with you, we've found that it's nice to have some IT folks who work closely with dev to usher new products to the field. We have a testing lab where dev hands off their work to a mixed IT/dev team (mostly IT) who then upgrade a sample network with the new product. They test against every expected configuration of hardware and software the field is likely to be using. If there are no problems, there's a joint sign-off, the testing team writes deployment instructions (down to the "click here" level) for field techs, and the software is put on a download server and/or pushed. If there are problems, the devs get pulled in for a quick fix and update to the docs. If they can't pull that off, the Lab then sends the software back to the devs and through channels informs the customers of the delay.

It's my impression that this is different from many other large organizations where pre-deployment testing is strictly a dev thing. Technically, that's true of us but the reality is that the testing is done by frontline folks and others who are rotated into the lab and charged with thinking up new and innovative ways to break everything. I hear it's way too much work and a lot of fun at the same time.

One extra feature - every two weeks the IT and dev folks from the testing lab hold a conference call with the front-line techs. They very frankly tell us what's coming, what they're working on, what fixes they've developed recently, etc. The front-line techs are allowed and encouraged (and they take advantage of the opportunity) to vent, complain, suggest, ask for help, etc., directly from the devs, the testers, the customer reps who spec'd the project, the technical analysts, and each other. All this happens in an open, honest forum where there are no reprisals for plainly saying "This stinks and here's why..." even when the executive in charge of said stinky project is on the call.

For a big place (well over 100,000K employees), this system works pretty well.

And the richest 2% pay 50% of the taxes.

You may have been facetious (I don't know), but you're not far from the truth (derived from source data here). The top 1% pay more than a third (34%) of the taxes, the top 5% pay a bit more than half (54%) of the taxes, and the top 50% pay nearly all (96%) of the taxes.

The Slashbots were about due for their Two Minutes Hate, though, and they tend to not let such insignificant things as facts get in their way.