1. The IRS is infamously inept with technology (they're still using paper in 2019).
The government is required to have fallback positions that covers everyone. In 2019, some people don't have computers. They do have paper.
2. The government is infamously bloated, inefficient, inept, incompetent, and just... stupid in every way at actually getting things done.
Only when you're reading a superficial article that avoids finding out why the government has to do something a particular way. For example, thinking the government is incompetent for accepting paper tax returns without realizing they must keep that option open.
3. Wouldn't I rather have something that actually works? (i.e. Turbotax)
If it actually worked perfectly, they wouldn't have to offer to pay your penalties when their software doesn't work.
4. If the government had to write its own tax software wouldn't they simply increase my taxes to pay for it? So couldn't I just think of the price of tax software as being part of the taxes that the government protection racket was going to take from me anyway?
First, the government already has its own tax software. They run every return through it. You just aren't allowed to use it. So, you're already paying for it.
Second, the government isn't charging you enough to turn a profit on the software. Intuit and the others are. So even if you believe that bizarre construction where it's OK to "pay a tax" to a for-profit company, you're paying more than you have to.
5. Wouldn't I rather have the for-profit tax software company be liable for errors in the software instead of just being screwed if the government (inevitably) screwed up?
The government would be as liable for errors as that private company. As an added bonus, the government can't just transfer all assets and declare bankruptcy to avoid that liability.
Nope. They run every return through software to look for obvious errors. Then they'll send you a letter saying "We think you made a mistake here. Sign this to amend your return (and include a check if necessary)". No audit required.
Source: I made a simple math error 20ish years ago.
Can't find the documentation for that deduction? Estimated your income from savings account interest because you didn't want to look it up but you were a few dollars off? Claimed you donated so much to a charity but threw away the thank you letter they sent you at the end of the year? You're screwed.
Well, the law requires you keep those documents for 6 years, so yeah, you're screwed. Because you broke the law.
Note that if you're talking about a document that's filed with the IRS (W-2, 1099, etc), you don't have to have the paper copy. The IRS figured out it was silly to demand it because you can request a copy from the IRS.
Given the government's security track record, is there anyone here who thinks pre-filled tax forms being sent to us (or made available online) is a good idea?
Well, several private companies send me pre-filled tax forms (W-2s, 1099s, etc). And private industry's security track record is far worse than the government's.
Sure there is. The IRS already does it for every taxpayer in order to look for errors by the taxpayer.
Might as well not double the effort. Have the IRS do it, send you a copy. You either sign it, or take it to a private company if you think they can do better.
Actually reducing the delays though would reduce CO2 emissions, at least from airports where the plane has to run an APU.
Also, schedule padding can lead to issues like a plane arriving while another plane is still using its gate, resulting in the plane idling on the tarmac until the gate is clear.....for two fucking hours.....occasionally having to rev up and move the plane so they were not in the way for other flights.....*starts mumbling and rocking back and forth*
There's plenty of competition. They're just not competing (significantly) on on-time arrivals.
Just because there's multiple suppliers of something doesn't mean they must compete on every possible aspect. Some are too hard to differentiate, some hurt other methods that the company is using to compete.
The US has more retail space, and more retailers, both in absolute terms, and on a per-capita basis, than any other country. There were many more POS terminals to replace/upgrade than there were in the EU as individual countries made the switch piece-meal.
Wrong metrics. You need to compare number of POS terminals to something like GDP or retail sales to measure how affordable the transition was. Because affordability is the metric you're claiming, not total number.
The US had large-scale cell service deployments several years earlier than any other country
Japan would like to remind you they exist, and beat the US by 4 years.
The first US cellular network started in 1983: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... The first European cellular network started in 1981, in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. It was a 1G network called NMT. The first Japanese cellular network started in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
GSM (a digital, 2G technology) was the first cell phone system deployed in the EU.
Nope. GSM was developed in part to unify the various 1G systems that were already present in Europe.
"Monopoly" doesn't always mean "government-granted monopoly".
There hasn't been a government-granted monopoly in the US for cable TV since about 2000. However, all the incumbents have a natural monopoly caused by the high cost of a competitor rolling out new service, and the ease with which the incumbents weaponize that.
Monopolies rarely occur without assistance from congress
Please explain Standard Oil and AT&T.
By the way, if you read the ninth amendment you will see that the federal government does not have the power to pass laws that supersede a states right
By the way, if you read the actual Constitution instead of your imagined version, you'll find the supremacy clause (Article VI, Clause 2).
Also, here's the actual 9th amendment:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
You'll note it doesn't say anything about states. It's also a relatively clear way of saying "These amendments aren't an exhaustive list of rights."
Btw, you've confused your misunderstanding of the 10th amendment as a misunderstanding of the 9th amendment. Which should probably make most readers doubt most of what you say.
The rest of the world got to do it better because the U.S. did credit cards first. So the rest of the world got to see all the problems with magnetic swipe credit cards before implementing their credit card systems.
You really need to get out more.
The US, and the rest of the world, implemented credit cards using imprinting of the front of the card, with a signature. Because credit cards predate the widespread use of computers. Once computers were widespread, the US, and the rest of the world, implemented magnetic stripes. Once the problems with that became widespread, the rest of the world implemented chips in their cards. Once the problems with that became widespread, the rest of the world added PINs to the chips. Then the US added chips to their credit cards.
The rest of the world faced the same problems with upgrading their infrastructure, and they upgraded their infrastructure. We cut taxes instead.
Same thing happened with digital cell phone service. The U.S. already had an extensive analog cellular network, so was slowest to transition to digital cellular.
So did Japan, so did most of Europe.
(e.g. Ground wire connects first; and live wires are covered before they're connected so you can't accidentally touch wires carrying current.)
It seems odd you have spent such little time around electrical sockets. Guess why the ground pin is longer than the hot and neutral on US plugs. Also, you'll never guess just how far you have to put the plug into the socket before it supplies voltage to the hot terminal.
So these problems aren't because the U.S. is some backwards third-world nation.
I have bad news for you. It's because we are now a backwards third-world nation. We haven't been the "trailblazer" in a very, very long time.
Slashdot Mirror
Pssst....guess what the IRS dealt with before electronic filing existed.
That would result in so many false positives that it would be useless.
1. The IRS is infamously inept with technology (they're still using paper in 2019).
The government is required to have fallback positions that covers everyone. In 2019, some people don't have computers. They do have paper.
2. The government is infamously bloated, inefficient, inept, incompetent, and just... stupid in every way at actually getting things done.
Only when you're reading a superficial article that avoids finding out why the government has to do something a particular way. For example, thinking the government is incompetent for accepting paper tax returns without realizing they must keep that option open.
3. Wouldn't I rather have something that actually works? (i.e. Turbotax)
If it actually worked perfectly, they wouldn't have to offer to pay your penalties when their software doesn't work.
4. If the government had to write its own tax software wouldn't they simply increase my taxes to pay for it? So couldn't I just think of the price of tax software as being part of the taxes that the government protection racket was going to take from me anyway?
First, the government already has its own tax software. They run every return through it. You just aren't allowed to use it. So, you're already paying for it.
Second, the government isn't charging you enough to turn a profit on the software. Intuit and the others are. So even if you believe that bizarre construction where it's OK to "pay a tax" to a for-profit company, you're paying more than you have to.
5. Wouldn't I rather have the for-profit tax software company be liable for errors in the software instead of just being screwed if the government (inevitably) screwed up?
The government would be as liable for errors as that private company. As an added bonus, the government can't just transfer all assets and declare bankruptcy to avoid that liability.
Nope. They run every return through software to look for obvious errors. Then they'll send you a letter saying "We think you made a mistake here. Sign this to amend your return (and include a check if necessary)". No audit required.
Source: I made a simple math error 20ish years ago.
Can't find the documentation for that deduction? Estimated your income from savings account interest because you didn't want to look it up but you were a few dollars off? Claimed you donated so much to a charity but threw away the thank you letter they sent you at the end of the year? You're screwed.
Well, the law requires you keep those documents for 6 years, so yeah, you're screwed. Because you broke the law.
Note that if you're talking about a document that's filed with the IRS (W-2, 1099, etc), you don't have to have the paper copy. The IRS figured out it was silly to demand it because you can request a copy from the IRS.
If the IRS made a free filing program, nothing requires that you actually use it.
Given the government's security track record, is there anyone here who thinks pre-filled tax forms being sent to us (or made available online) is a good idea?
Well, several private companies send me pre-filled tax forms (W-2s, 1099s, etc). And private industry's security track record is far worse than the government's.
What the hell is Lewis thinking sponsoring this BS?
The bill does more than forbid the IRS from making tax filing easy.
You're forgetting one political angle.
The Republicans want your taxes to be as painful as possible, so that you'll support their anti-tax efforts.
Sure there is. The IRS already does it for every taxpayer in order to look for errors by the taxpayer.
Might as well not double the effort. Have the IRS do it, send you a copy. You either sign it, or take it to a private company if you think they can do better.
Digital cameras record waves, and computer-generate an image from those waves.
Radio telescopes record waves, and computer-generate in image from those waves.
The only difference is the frequency of the photons captured by the detector.
According to your logic, neither your phone nor digital cameras take pictures.
It's a picture of the stuff around the black hole being occluded by the black hole's event horizon.
What happens when you look at a sphere from a very long ways away?
It resembles a flat disk.
What happens when you look at the event horizon of a black hole from a very long ways away?
It resembles a flat disk. Because it's a sphere.
What state are you in?
One of the states in the South. Several banned municipal fiber after Chatanooga's fiber turned out to be extremely popular.
The reason given was to stop the evil socialism. The actual reason is Verizon, AT&T and Spectrum provide campaign contributions.
Actually reducing the delays though would reduce CO2 emissions, at least from airports where the plane has to run an APU.
Also, schedule padding can lead to issues like a plane arriving while another plane is still using its gate, resulting in the plane idling on the tarmac until the gate is clear.....for two fucking hours.....occasionally having to rev up and move the plane so they were not in the way for other flights.....*starts mumbling and rocking back and forth*
There's plenty of competition. They're just not competing (significantly) on on-time arrivals.
Just because there's multiple suppliers of something doesn't mean they must compete on every possible aspect. Some are too hard to differentiate, some hurt other methods that the company is using to compete.
The US has more retail space, and more retailers, both in absolute terms, and on a per-capita basis, than any other country. There were many more POS terminals to replace/upgrade than there were in the EU as individual countries made the switch piece-meal.
Wrong metrics. You need to compare number of POS terminals to something like GDP or retail sales to measure how affordable the transition was. Because affordability is the metric you're claiming, not total number.
The US had large-scale cell service deployments several years earlier than any other country
Japan would like to remind you they exist, and beat the US by 4 years.
The first US cellular network started in 1983: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The first European cellular network started in 1981, in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. It was a 1G network called NMT.
The first Japanese cellular network started in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
GSM (a digital, 2G technology) was the first cell phone system deployed in the EU.
Nope. GSM was developed in part to unify the various 1G systems that were already present in Europe.
PINs were popular long before chips. Your timeline is off, presumably to push your American First agenda.
You really need to work on your literacy. Nowhere did I say the US has chip-and-PIN transactions for credit cards....because we don't.
Debit cards may use a PIN, but that's from the magstripe days, not part of a chip-and-PIN system.
The UK and AU plugs don't allow for that. I don't have all the plug standards in front of me, but the US system is not as good as most.
Never said it was great, I said it was not as backward as the poster implied.
"Monopoly" doesn't always mean "government-granted monopoly".
There hasn't been a government-granted monopoly in the US for cable TV since about 2000. However, all the incumbents have a natural monopoly caused by the high cost of a competitor rolling out new service, and the ease with which the incumbents weaponize that.
I read the article but it didn't talk about my biggest concern - are these video calls monitored/recorded?
In-person visits are also monitored. So are phone calls.
There is no right to privacy in prison, unless you're speaking with your attorney.
Income != Job.
You're getting food from somewhere that isn't free, even if you don't have a W-4 job.
Also, nothing says they can't be implemented with, say a $20 floor.
My state recently banned municipal fiber. It would be evil socialism, ya see.
There are consumer ISPs that are offering multi gigabit service over copper.
How about an example then?
Monopolies rarely occur without assistance from congress
Please explain Standard Oil and AT&T.
By the way, if you read the ninth amendment you will see that the federal government does not have the power to pass laws that supersede a states right
By the way, if you read the actual Constitution instead of your imagined version, you'll find the supremacy clause (Article VI, Clause 2).
Also, here's the actual 9th amendment:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
You'll note it doesn't say anything about states. It's also a relatively clear way of saying "These amendments aren't an exhaustive list of rights."
Btw, you've confused your misunderstanding of the 10th amendment as a misunderstanding of the 9th amendment. Which should probably make most readers doubt most of what you say.
The rest of the world got to do it better because the U.S. did credit cards first. So the rest of the world got to see all the problems with magnetic swipe credit cards before implementing their credit card systems.
You really need to get out more.
The US, and the rest of the world, implemented credit cards using imprinting of the front of the card, with a signature. Because credit cards predate the widespread use of computers.
Once computers were widespread, the US, and the rest of the world, implemented magnetic stripes.
Once the problems with that became widespread, the rest of the world implemented chips in their cards.
Once the problems with that became widespread, the rest of the world added PINs to the chips.
Then the US added chips to their credit cards.
The rest of the world faced the same problems with upgrading their infrastructure, and they upgraded their infrastructure. We cut taxes instead.
Same thing happened with digital cell phone service. The U.S. already had an extensive analog cellular network, so was slowest to transition to digital cellular.
So did Japan, so did most of Europe.
(e.g. Ground wire connects first; and live wires are covered before they're connected so you can't accidentally touch wires carrying current.)
It seems odd you have spent such little time around electrical sockets. Guess why the ground pin is longer than the hot and neutral on US plugs. Also, you'll never guess just how far you have to put the plug into the socket before it supplies voltage to the hot terminal.
So these problems aren't because the U.S. is some backwards third-world nation.
I have bad news for you. It's because we are now a backwards third-world nation. We haven't been the "trailblazer" in a very, very long time.