Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada.

Reply to Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada. on Sun, 12 Apr 2026 03:23:18 GMT

hamishb@mstdn.ca — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 03:23:18 GMT

@psychicparrot42 With today’s technology there’s no reason why the government couldn’t send everyone a return with everything they already know about you (it’s a lot) filled in so you just have to add what they don’t know.

But it would require a government which sees itself as a public service rather than a service for businesses.

Reply to Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada. on Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:34:14 GMT

invadersil@mastodon.social — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:34:14 GMT

@midnightspire @psychicparrot42 You bring me hope!

Reply to Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada. on Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:33:27 GMT

midnightspire@mastodon.gamedev.place — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:33:27 GMT

@psychicparrot42 @invadersil From what I can tell from the article, they are ending Direct File, which was a brand-new tax prep service provided directly by the IRS. Free File and general e-filing are different programs. FreeTaxUSA is a third-party business, so they should continue on, unless I'm missing something.

(I have also been using FreeTaxUSA for several years and have been very happy with them.)

Reply to Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada. on Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:56:04 GMT

psychicparrot42@mastodon.gamedev.place — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:56:04 GMT

@invadersil They're trying to do the same thing here in Canada, too. No idea how successful they'll be, but they have *really* deep pockets and our government seems to be up for sale soooo who knows??

Reply to Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada. on Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:51:22 GMT

invadersil@mastodon.social — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:51:22 GMT

@psychicparrot42
*sadness*
Fine, you win IRS. I will send you paper. Is that what you want? IRS!!!

Reply to Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada. on Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:26:35 GMT

psychicparrot42@mastodon.gamedev.place — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:26:35 GMT

@invadersil I could be wrong, but from what I can work out it looks like that may be ending this year now, thanks to Intuit. That first article I linked says "IRS free tax filing program is being wound down" and according to Wikipedia FreeTaxUsa uses the IRS Free File program ... /\

Reply to Tax companies like Intuit (owners of TurboTax) and H&R Block spend hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying governments into making it harder for people to file their own taxes in the US and Canada. on Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:20:25 GMT

invadersil@mastodon.social — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:20:25 GMT

@psychicparrot42 For anyone else reading this in the US, FreeTaxUsa. I used it for the first time this year. Great for my use. Your mileage may vary.