Oddbean new post about login | logout I see this meme often, when the truth is, if I let the IRS tell me what I owe, it will always be more than if I do it myself and look for every possible deduction etc. There isn’t one version of your tax return that they will accept. Weak meme.
Yah I hear ya… I find the nature of our tax code & process to be such a complex & weird game, and so is funny in this meme’s quick take.
The tax code is a ridiculous monstrosity, if they are going to steal our productivity they could ay least simplify it.
It creates such a razzle-dazzle that it doesn’t seem so clearly as theft. Imagine if they had a simple flat tax that was billed after you’d earned your full income. People would not simply not pay. Instead we look forward to a ‘return’ 🤪
Always has baffled me when people get excited for a return. So the IRS took more of your money than they should’ve, kept it interest free for a year, and finally returned it to you… and you act like it’s some kind of bonus? Yet if you are conservative on your W4 and pay too little, you owe a penalty (happened to me the past two years, nature of my work) 🤘🏻
Exactly! and the IRS doesn’t want you to owe too much either, that would be like an interest free loan to you (if taxation wasn’t theft). Rather, they’ll pay you back a decent amount later … an interest free loan to them!