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Millions of Americans mess up their taxes, but a new law will help

(www.wakeuptopolitics.com)
63 points toomuchtodo | 3 comments | 07 Dec 25 19:03 UTC | HN request time: 0.685s | source
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a_bonobo ◴[07 Dec 25 23:44 UTC] No.46186600[source]▶
> to accurately prepopulate tax returns for around 45% of Americans. (Those other countries have much simpler tax codes than we do.)

One should note that the cited study quotes the 45% from a 1992 study. These days, with gig economy and quasi-self-employment, that number is probably higher since you don't have an employer who reports your income for you.

Still, here in Australia, where we have the return-free tax system, adding what you earned from your various gig jobs isn't too hard: you add that as items to the web form: 'I made 15,123 from Uber Eats'. That just gets added to your overall return. I don't see how that's so hard compared to the US?

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lbotos ◴[07 Dec 25 23:52 UTC] No.46186654[source]▶
In the states if you are a contractor there are tons of things that you can deduct from your taxable income. So “figuring out how much you should be taxed” is after those deductions.

If uber paid you $15123 but you:

Just bought a new bike bc your other was stolen

You paid $1200 for insurance

You bought a helmet and cold weather clothes etc etc.

Those things reduce your taxable income.

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1. chemotaxis ◴[08 Dec 25 00:45 UTC] No.46187045[source]▶
I think that's common in most places. What's different in the US is that the IRS forces you to proactively provide a lot more information about it, though. I have a rental property and need to enter the same information about the same income and expenses on three different forms, breaking it down in different ways. It's tedious and error-prone, and I guess the philosophy is that it's easier to spot fraud if the numbers on all the different forms don't add up to a coherent story.

Other countries presumably rely on other fraud signals. They might have more visibility into your day-to-day financial transactions, or there might be more of a culture of leaving an anonymous tip if you suspect your neighbor isn't paying a fair share.

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2. oklahomasports ◴[08 Dec 25 02:34 UTC] No.46187676[source]▶
What three forms are you talking about?
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3. chemotaxis ◴[08 Dec 25 05:03 UTC] No.46188573[source]▶
4562, 8825, 1065