Return-Free Tax Filing

[Tecumsehsbones]

This may be the best single, do-able tax idea in a generation.

Conservatives and the makers of TurboTax want to keep your taxes difficult

By James Downie April 15

How long did it take you to do your taxes this year? Hours? Days? Or did you pay someone to do it for you? Every year, millions of Americans spend lots of time and money filling out their returns. And since that’s always how it has been done, it’s easy to think that doing your own taxes from scratch is the only option.
But there is another way: return-free filing. Farhad Manjoo outlines the idea at the New York Times:

Today, employers, banks, brokerage firms and pretty much every other financial organization in the country send the federal government detailed records about our economic activity every year. These organizations also send you, the taxpayer, a similar set of documents, which are forms with names like W2 and 1098. After you file your taxes, the government matches its two sets of documents to make sure you have filed correctly.
… f return-free filing were operated nationally, tens of millions of people with simple tax situations might have to do just a few minutes of work at tax time every year. The I.R.S. would send them a tax return that had already been filled in with their financial data, and if everything looked in order, they would file it either through the mail or electronically. The return would be completely voluntary. People who disputed the I.R.S.’s calculation would be able to do their taxes the old-fashioned way. Tens of millions of additional taxpayers with more complex returns would be able to save time by downloading all the financial information that the government has collected about them during the year. You would be able to do your return without hunting for every stray W2 or 1099 in your household.​

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Conservatives and the makers of TurboTax want to keep your taxes difficult - The Washington Post

The rest of the piece is the usual lefty blather about how the EEE-vil conservatives and the EEE-vil corporations are trying to deny this blessing to the Good Folk of Murka. I left that out in a vain hope that we could focus on the idea.

 

[SLM]

This may be the best single, do-able tax idea in a generation.

Conservatives and the makers of TurboTax want to keep your taxes difficult

By James DownieApril 15

How long did it take you to do your taxes this year? Hours? Days? Or did you pay someone to do it for you? Every year, millions of Americans spend lots of time and money filling out their returns. And since that’s always how it has been done, it’s easy to think that doing your own taxes from scratch is the only option.
But there is another way: return-free filing. Farhad Manjoo outlines the idea at the New York Times:

Today, employers, banks, brokerage firms and pretty much every other financial organization in the country send the federal government detailed records about our economic activity every year. These organizations also send you, the taxpayer, a similar set of documents, which are forms with names like W2 and 1098. After you file your taxes, the government matches its two sets of documents to make sure you have filed correctly.
… f return-free filing were operated nationally, tens of millions of people with simple tax situations might have to do just a few minutes of work at tax time every year. The I.R.S. would send them a tax return that had already been filled in with their financial data, and if everything looked in order, they would file it either through the mail or electronically. The return would be completely voluntary. People who disputed the I.R.S.’s calculation would be able to do their taxes the old-fashioned way. Tens of millions of additional taxpayers with more complex returns would be able to save time by downloading all the financial information that the government has collected about them during the year. You would be able to do your return without hunting for every stray W2 or 1099 in your household.​

​

Conservatives and the makers of TurboTax want to keep your taxes difficult - The Washington Post

The rest of the piece is the usual lefty blather about how the EEE-vil conservatives and the EEE-vil corporations are trying to deny this blessing to the Good Folk of Murka. I left that out in a vain hope that we could focus on the idea.

I think it's a brilliant idea. I'd love it. Assign everyone a login and password to obtain their filed data, add any credits or deductions that don't appear (for which you would have receipts naturally) and submit it back. Would save all kinds of time and money.

I don't know about the US but I have a feeling we might be moving more towards that kind of a process here. I think the next decade will see a huge change in how taxes are prepared in this country.

 

[MHz]

Like Studio Tax and Net-file? You can do 20 returns before you have to own the program, a few friends and family and you could buy the program. No papaerwork needed as what you claim also shows up in another place as all of that is already done. The forms for your income is already on file before you get the days so your form is only verification you are still alive and not in jail and that data is probably available also. The ones that are 'lazy' can just mail in their income forms and tell Revenue Canada to do it and you get your GST income like you should as that is how you know you are 'poor'.

 

[Sal]

brilliant idea

 

[DaSleeper]

I think Turbo tax already has that feature,
I can already pick up my CPP and OAS on the CRA website when I log in there and I think that if I was banking at RBC and I had payroll or checks deposited there I could have arrangements made to have t4's sent directly to CRA.
Then it would be just a matter of filling in allowable deductions, for medical and charitable deductions, travel deductions for medical purposes, apply for income sharing, GST rebate, Northern resident deduction, senior homeowner municipal tax rebate, etc. etc.
Ah...Forget it, filling in the numbers for a few T4 slips ain't that much more trouble.....
I just wish that Turbo Tax didn't Change the format so much from year to year.....I've been using it for 16 years and there has alway been some change every year....last year I almost missed out on a $500 rebate..
Since they already prompt you on the option of bringing in your personal information from the previous year, there should be a prompt for your previous deductions as well.

That's where my next email is going...........