cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25117460

Summary

Elon Musk claimed on X that he eliminated the IRS team responsible for the “Direct File” program, which allows Americans to file taxes online for free.

His statement came in response to a right-wing influencer criticizing the program as government overreach.

However, the Treasury Department confirms that the Direct File system remains active, offering free tax filing with customer support.

The program, available in English and Spanish, is optional, allowing taxpayers to choose between using it or filing their taxes manually.

  • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
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    2 hours ago

    i always just look up this year’s 1040 and just fill it out myself. easy finances though…

    been meaning to get an accountant this year. we’ll still do paper filing if e-filing is “deleted” lol

  • sumguyonline@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    I hate the american tax system. Not more than wiccans, but still a whole lot. Especially since I just read of a bunch of comments saying how great their tax filing is… Musky needs to be arrested, he’s obviously destroying services that make our lives as citizens easier. That’s what the federal government should be, easy and comprehensive to citizens and cold and mean to people like El(t)on musk

    • 🐍🩶🐢@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Wiccans? Like, pagans? What do you have against them? Most I have met have been pretty chill. I get hating all religions, but weird little pagans are near the bottom for me as long as they are not hurting anyone.

      As for the rest, fuck Elon and indeed, our tax system is never in our favor. Just rich assholes and businesses that never seem to have to pay anything.

  • Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Really increasing efficiency there. You know… efficiency aside, making it easier to file taxes is one of the very few things that can actually make more money!

    • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      They don’t want the government to take in more money. They just want it to cost less (and consequently do less).

  • perestroika@lemm.ee
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    6 hours ago

    A right-wing MAGA influencer called the “direct file” tax program a "far left /…/

    Here in Estonia, the castle of “far left” in Europe (shh, don’t spoil the joke, comrades, we want them to think we’re dark red here ;) )…

    …for something like 15 years already, you file your taxes like this:

    • some day in February, your internet bank reminds you to send a report to the tax office
    • you click “send”
    • some day in February, you read in a newspaper that “you can file your taxes now”
    • you open up emta.ee, log in with your ID card, and see a pre-filled declaration
    • if you’re lucky (99% are), it’s been filled correctly and you click “confirm”, otherwise you click “edit”
    • you get to see if you have returns or need to pay extra
    • if you have returns, you can choose if you want the money (typically if it’s big, you do) or want to donate the small change to a non-profit

    It typically takes about 15 minutes.

    If it’s a bad year and the automatically filled declaration was incorrect, things will differ of course - then you wait until next winter for a court to resolve the dispute. If you can write a complaint in legalese, it costs about 20 €, but if you need a lawyer, you shell out real money. I’ve had a bad year once. Most people never have one.

    • kungen@feddit.nu
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      3 hours ago

      It’s basically the same thing in Sweden, but in the rare chance that the tax agency makes a mistake, it’s usually resolved before summertime without any court issues.

    • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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      3 hours ago

      In Hungary, the country of the far left Orbán quasi-dictatorship, the tax filing process is if you are an employee, in May you go to the website and click okay if you’re happy with it. If you forget, it’s just an implied acceptance of what you’ve seen, so most people never do anything and some don’t even know how to.

    • ur_dad@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      American here, I didn’t work this year (stay at home parent) and we only need to file my wife’s taxes. If it goes smoothly it’ll take an hour, minimum, and we’re usually unsure if we filed it all out correctly…

    • twinnie@feddit.uk
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      3 hours ago

      Does everyone have to file taxes? In the UK, unless you’re renting a property or otherwise have some income on the side like that, you don’t file taxes at all, it’s just all done automatically.

      • LordCrom@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        Most everyone in the US files. Even if the gov withheld taxes from your payroll you still file. The gov knows how much you made, now you have to arrive at the same number or you can get fined if you claim more and they catch you in an audit.

        What’s funny is, on the tax form there’s a field asking if you got money from illegal activity like selling drugs…they expect you to declare it and pay the percentage… The ultimate gov will look the other way as long as they get their cut.

    • SGG@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      He’s invested in suffering and making a profit. So yes.

  • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    You’d think that if DOGE was really DOGE that this is the exact kind of thing they’d double down on and make really good, saving everyone shit load of money.

    • Blum0108@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      You’d think that’s the case, if you thought saving money or helping average Americans was actually their goal. The American government is being carved up as fast as they can get away with it. Gotta free up cash to give billionaires more tax cuts!

      • Rajtinka@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Don’t forget… Eliminating any government oversight that might affect their business interests…

        • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 hours ago

          And eliminating any funding they can for media that will speak against them.

          Edit: these people are directly tanking the platform Mr. Rogers had. The magic school bus, sesame Street, Arthur, Clifford, Barney, Reading Rainbow… They come from PBS, which is under attack by Elon Musk and Donald Trump

          I get advertisements trying to give free pamphlets to kids about what Trump has done for our country and how he is saving it. He’s looking for the fucking Hitler Youth. Period

      • RileyNorman@midwest.social
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        8 hours ago

        They also learned from the wall. Can’t pay to deport 10-20 million for free. Gotta enact tariffs and just stop paying for anything they can get away with.

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    The sooner average Americans realize that these people are America’s enemies, the sooner we can do something about it.

  • SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    How the hell does this lower costs?

    right-wing influencer criticizing the program as government overreach.

    So the right is against self-service now? wtf

    • sushibowl@feddit.nl
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      11 hours ago

      So the right is against self-service now? wtf

      You may want to look into Grover Norquist and his organisation Americans for Tax Reform. It is one of the most influential political lobbying groups in the United States, and it has the support of essentially the entire republican party. They essentially consider tax to be evil on principle and ask every politician to sign a pledge opposing any tax hike.

      ATR is strongly against automatic filing, as they want to keep taxes difficult and complicated to stoke anti-tax sentiment. That is to say, they fear that if filing tax is easier, citizens would be less likely to fight taxes in the way that the ATR wants (mostly they like a low flat tax, because it’s simple and good for rich people).

    • floofloof@lemmy.caOP
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      13 hours ago

      This version of the right wing is against any service provided to the public for free which their own companies could profit from by charging for it. And they also, as a matter of principle, believe that the poor should be punished, and punished again.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      So the right is against self-service now? wtf

      Why are looking for coherence in their ideology? They’ve never made any indication that they are ideological consistent. Its projection on our part to do so, and the constant exacerbation at the obvious and consistent conclusion is tiresome.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        11 hours ago

        I find it useful to look for ways to make their arguments coherent. What’s the underlying motivation where their actions make sense?

        In this case, it makes a lot of sense if they’re in favor of billionaires profiting off something currently being provided by the government. In other cases (and somewhat on this one, too), “cruelty is the point” is what gets you there.

    • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      So the right is against self-service now?

      No, fascists are. It just so happens that the right are fascists.

  • Prandom_returns@lemm.ee
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    9 hours ago

    “Elon Musk claimed on X that he eliminated the IRS team responsible for the “Direct File” program, which allows Americans to file taxes online for free”

    “However, the Treasury Department confirms that the Direct File system remains active, offering free tax filing with customer support”

    Big story. Is every tweet going to be a shocking story? Isn’t that beneficial to the media who done nothing / helped install theese morons?