[ale] Rant[ish]: government and states requiring proprietary software

[mike at trausch.us]

On 09/17/2012 08:56 AM, Lightner, Jeff wrote:
> The idea isn't that the government should make it as easy as Turbotax
> but rather that the government should make the forms and online
> filing available.
> 
> Incompetence shouldn't be an acceptable excuse for not doing so.
> They certainly have a lot of the publications and what not online and
> they certainly do have systems that compare the data individuals
> submit against what employers submit so it IS possible for them to do
> systems.

Precisely.

I should be allowed to file my forms electronically, without fee or
hassle, at any time right up to the filing deadline.  I should have the
option of going to irs.gov/filemytax or something similar, getting an
HTML form for the 1040, 1120, or whatever the hell else I need to file.

I should be able to go to irs.gov/employer to file 1099 and W-2 forms,
and employees should be able to go to irs.gov/employee to obtain their
1099 and W-2 forms.  Additionally, the IRS could then assess penalties
for employers transmitting those forms late and screwing their
employees, because the IRS would actually know when the forms were
transmitted from the employer.

	--- Mike

-- 
A man who reasons deliberately, manages it better after studying Logic
than he could before, if he is sincere about it and has common sense.
                                   --- Carveth Read, “Logic”

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