Open Source Tax Products?

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Posted by Cliff on Thursday March 10, 2005 @05:18AM from the april-15th-will-be-here-before-you-know-it dept.

sub7 asks: "That time of the year is upon as again: Tax Season. Those of us living in the U.S. are busy fumbling with various forms with awkward names and meaningless garble on them. Being a lazy BOFH, I went to H & R Block to see how much it would cost for them to prepare and file my taxes. They estimated -at least- $175, if not more! I knew it was cheaper to buy some software to handle my taxes. So I headed down to my local office supply conglomerate and picked up Turbo Tax 2004 Premier for $69.99. Being an OSS user for nearly 6 years I have never even considered an OSS tax solution product (probably because I ph34r t4x s34s0n!). So I turn to Slashdot to ask: Are there any projects equivalent to Turbo Tax or the other tax products out there for the OSS community?"

10 of 719 comments (clear)

Actually... by HerculesMO · 2005-03-10 05:19 · Score: 3, Funny

No.

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The price is always right if someone else is paying.
This dpesn't seem likely by mingot · 2005-03-10 05:20 · Score: 4, Funny

Trudging through tax law every year and coding an application just can't be fun enough to reliably get a group of coders to produce something like this with any regulartity. Can it?
Splurge.... by FLOOBYDUST · 2005-03-10 05:20 · Score: 2, Funny

Do you like wine with your taxes?
Flee the country. by sulli · 2005-03-10 05:22 · Score: 5, Funny

Mexican border controls are almost certainly cheaper than $69.

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sulli
RTFJ.
Like I'd trust it... by mightyfoo · 2005-03-10 05:24 · Score: 2, Funny

Can you imagine the horror of a OSS tax prep software package? By the time tax season rolled around we'd have 5 forks of shoddily written, poorly maintained code, and at least three new holy wars.

No thanks. I'll leave it in the hands of people that have accountability.
Re:Aditionally... WTF???!?!?!?! by MyLongNickName · 2005-03-10 05:26 · Score: 3, Funny

Do it by hand just to make some IRS guy have to type it in. At least, that is my petty rationale for fighting the system in my miniscule way :)

--
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Re:Aditionally... WTF???!?!?!?! by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-10 05:29 · Score: 1, Funny

Think about that a minute. By sucking up some IRS guy's time, you're actually increasing your taxes. Well done.
Re:umm... by spookymonster · 2005-03-10 05:44 · Score: 2, Funny

I call it 'the Slashdot Effect'.

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- Despite popular opinion, I am not perfect.
Re:No federal sales tax! by Hognoxious · 2005-03-10 07:14 · Score: 2, Funny

If you tax wealth and subsidize poverty, then you're going to get less wealth and more poverty.
As evidenced by the hordes of lawyers, stockbrokers, pro sportsmen and doctors saying "Sod this for a lark, I'm going to be a bum!".

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Re:Aditionally... WTF???!?!?!?! by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-10 07:55 · Score: 1, Funny

Haven't you heard the saying, "there's no such thing as a free tax preparation and e-file service"? Or something like that.