[thebrettd]

I love this idea in theory, and basically revisit it every year during tax season.

The tax/tax prep lobby is strong, and perhaps needfully so, as a whole bunch of people have their livelihoods wrapped up in it, but I often wonder if that whole industry is not actually a net negative for the economy.

edit: How do we help this idea take flight?

[fattire]

Remember that every dollar spent on intuit, and every hour wasted struggling with bullshit tax forms (deliberately the status quo because of Intuit) means Americans can afford less time and money using your product and buying your services. That is, these billions of dollars and incaculable frustrations wasted by Americans to line Intuits' pockets are a drag on the overall economic activity-- less money circulating in the economy, less ability to buy from each other.

Fuck Intuit. They exist to make everyone's lives worse. But don't forget, the government forces them them to offer their software free for certain lower-income Americans:

https://www.irs.gov/uac/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-...

No idea how much longer this will exist. I'm guessing it will soon quietly go away or be marginalized even more than it was in GWB's adminstration (when the income minimum was reduced significantly).

[magic5227]

What about: 1. California ballot initiative 2. Free software (start a TurboTax 100% free alternative) to reduce incentives to have laws like this