I can’t think of what fraud it prevents.

  • Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    If it weren’t for credits and deductions filing taxes would be easy. It’s the tax breaks that make it complicated. I can’t imagine the amount of extra personnel the IRS would need in order to track and account for every tax break a couple hundred million people qualify for.

    • db2@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It’s 2024, there’s no reason at all it shouldn’t all be automatic.

      • Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I think a lot of people would have serious reservations about every aspect of their life being instantly and automatically added to a central government database. Yeah, pretty much everything you do is recorded by some government agency somewhere, but ONE agency knowing everything about everyone sounds like a privacy nightmare. Hackers breach ONE system and suddenly everything is out.

        • db2@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          They already have all the information, they’re clearly just mismanaging it.

          • Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            They don’t, though. The IRS doesn’t know where your kids go to daycare, or how much you’re paying for it, until you claim it as a deduction on your taxes.

            • db2@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Then how do they “catch” people? The data is there or they couldn’t.

      • Zoboomafoo@slrpnk.net
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        8 months ago

        The reason is one half of our elected officials want the tax paying process to be as difficult as possible