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12 May, 9 tweets, 4 min read
Taxes may be one of life’s certainties. But paying to pay them isn’t.

The United States’ onerous tax code is thanks in no small part to companies that profit when you use their software or services to file.

latimes.com/business/story…
In 2019, ProPublica chronicled TurboTax maker Intuit’s long effort to separate taxpayers from a bit more of their money.

H&R Block has also spent millions of dollars on lobbying to maintain the status quo.

propublica.org/article/inside…
At the turn of the millennium, Intuit and similar companies were staring down an existential threat: the possibility that the government would create a tax-filing system that most Americans could use for free.

latimes.com/business/story…
Instead of letting that happen, a compromise was reached.

The Free File Alliance, a coalition of tax-filing software companies that would each offer a free version in partnership with the IRS, was born.

irs.gov/e-file-provide…
Although 70% of Americans are eligible to use one of the Free File Alliance’s offerings to file taxes, over the course of 16 years only 3% used the program, according to another report from ProPublica.

propublica.org/article/free-f…
Members of the Free File Alliance are required to offer a tax filing solution that could serve 60% of taxpayers, but can limit that by factors such as income, state and age.

latimes.com/business/story…
The IRS lists the Free File Alliance websites that let you file taxes for free and lists the eligibility criteria for each.

Read those criteria very closely before you break out your W-2s: Many sites require an adjusted gross income of $72,00 or less.

apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/b…
Taxes are due May 17.

@jessica_roy breaks down your options to file your taxes for FREE at latimes.com/business/story…
Confused about filing taxes this year? You’re not alone.

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the life changes and government relief measures it triggered, has made things extra complicated.

Here are some articles to get you on track:
latimes.com/business/story…

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More from @latimes

Los Angeles Times Profile picture
14 May
The fund created to help the restaurant industry hit hard by the pandemic is already running out of money.

latimes.com/politics/story…
The $28.6-billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund allows restaurants, food trucks, bars, bakeries, breweries and wineries to apply for grants equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss — up to $10 million per business and $5 million per location.

latimes.com/politics/story…
In just 10 days since applications for the grant opened, the Small Business Administration has received 266,000 applications asking for $65 billion in aid, more than twice the amount provided by Congress.

latimes.com/politics/story…
Read 4 tweets
Los Angeles Times Profile picture
13 May
After weeks of rumors about meetings in a white SUV, the news broke Monday that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck had rekindled their romance after 17 years.

There were even 📸 to prove it latimes.com/entertainment-…
For those who have forgotten the details or were too young to be aware of them at the time, here’s a brief refresher (thread) latimes.com/entertainment-…
• Affleck and Lopez fell for each other in 2002 on the set of “Gigli.”

• By July, Lopez announced her plans to divorce Cris Judd.

• By November, Lopez and Affleck were engaged and canoodling on a yacht in a music video.

(More details 👇)latimes.com/archives/la-xp…
Read 11 tweets
Los Angeles Times Profile picture
13 May
Jamiah Hargins knows the frontyard at the corner of Angeles Vista Boulevard and Olympiad Drive like the back of his hand.

He and a small team of volunteers spent a month cultivating the land, installing equipment and planting rows of vegetables. latimes.com/california/sto…
It’s enough to cause people in this View Park neighborhood, including their regular mailman, to gawk at the lush green grass transformed into the Asante Microfarm. Image
According to the USDA, large swaths of South L.A. suffer from low access to fresh food.

In View Park, a majority Black neighborhood where families earn more than $92,000 per year, the nearest grocery store is an Albertsons more than a mile away. latimes.com/california/000…
Read 6 tweets
Los Angeles Times Profile picture
13 May
A group of creatives and executives with disabilities in Hollywood is pushing employers to start including accessibility as part of inclusion initiatives latimes.com/entertainment-…
At the iconic red steps where women are expected to wear high heels, this talent manager either had to be carried or use a side entrance and be separated from her clients.

And inside, accessible seating was reserved latimes.com/entertainment-… Image
For talent manager Eryn Brown, who needs leg braces to walk, accessing many of the buildings and events was a struggle.

And she almost left her new Hollywood career because of it latimes.com/entertainment-…
Read 8 tweets
Los Angeles Times Profile picture
12 May
Chrissy Teigen has apologized for bullying Courtney Stodden a decade ago.

But that doesn’t mean the two are all buddy-buddy now.

latimes.com/entertainment-…
Teigen had posted a midday Twitter thread addressing her history of bullying Stodden online.

Stodden suspects Teigen is acting out of self-interest rather than sincere regret over sending comments like “I can’t wait for you to die.”

latimes.com/entertainment-…
Read 8 tweets
Los Angeles Times Profile picture
12 May
Dakota Johnson — who had a tense moment with DeGeneres on the Nov. 27, 2019 episode — is being celebrated on Twitter as a heroine for her supposed role in the talk show ending latimes.com/entertainment-…
DeGeneres, meanwhile, told the Hollywood Reporter that while allegations of a toxic environment on her set “destroyed” her, she is ending her run because the show was “just not a challenge anymore” latimes.com/entertainment-…
News of her departure comes nearly a year after staffers on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” reported a toxic work environment on set.

Last summer, she ousted three top producers in response to the accusations latimes.com/entertainment-…
Read 12 tweets

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