Tax-prep software providers have spent decades building a system that serves no significant practical function other than to allow themselves to skim billions from taxpayers who are just trying to file their taxes.
It's insane that we just let them do it.
propublica.org/article/inside…
It's insane that we just let them do it.
propublica.org/article/inside…
The next time you pay a private company for the privilege of paying your taxes, remember that this is a uniquely American grift. In most other comparable countries, filing your taxes is simple and free for most people.
But a system like that would mean financial ruin for companies like Intuit, so they've spent millions making sure that taxes stay complicated and confusing so that Americans continue to pay them billions just to file.
Stories like this fill me with a mix of rage and despair. Rage at the idea that we allow major corporations to build and capitalize off of government inefficiencies at our expense. Despair at the feeling that this kind of thing is too wonky for most people to pay attention to.
