Do you do your own taxes?

[Arcadia]

17 minutes ago, frogger said:

To be honest with you, if you are not running your own business or work under the table, the US government has all your information also. Employers, banks, schools, everyone sends your info to the IRS. Then the test/ game begins. Will you get it right? Will you be audited?

Basically, the main reason for the current system is lobbyests and politics. 

We don’t have itemized deductions where I am from and because it’s such a tiny nation, the IRS is also the one collecting property taxes. 

[SKL]

Fortunately or unfortunately, there are a lot of small business owners in the US.  And also, we like our donations.  The US government doesn't require every transaction to be reported electronically by/for small businesses or charities.

I think it's probably true about the US government having enough info and technology to just run most people's tax returns.  They should probably introduce that option for anyone who could otherwise file a 1040EZ or a simple 1040 without itemized deductions.  I guess that will probably happen in the foreseeable future.

[livetoread]

I have always done ours after the first year we were married and a CPA charged a ridiculous amount. We paid it, but I swore I'd learn how myself going forward, and I did. Some years I used Turbo Tax, but dh insisted we print out the results and mail them ourselves rather then have Turbo Tax send them because he doesn't want our tax info saved on any database but the IRS's.  Now I'm just doing them with the free fillable forms on the IRS website because it's not worth buying Turbo Tax. I help our young adults with theirs too. Ours have gotten simpler since we are mostly done with college stuff, but when dh retires in a few years, I'll have a steep learning curve again. It's not my favorite thing, but I take comfort in knowing what we're saving.

[frogger]

4 hours ago, SKL said:

Fortunately or unfortunately, there are a lot of small business owners in the US.  And also, we like our donations.  The US government doesn't require every transaction to be reported electronically by/for small businesses or charities.

I think it's probably true about the US government having enough info and technology to just run most people's tax returns.  They should probably introduce that option for anyone who could otherwise file a 1040EZ or a simple 1040 without itemized deductions.  I guess that will probably happen in the foreseeable future.

Which is why I made the exception of running your own business. The average joe that is simply an employee should have that option.

Also, it has always proposed as optional which means that anyone who thinks they have more deductions than given would choose to personally file. Simple! People can choose how to file. With the standard deduction at 14k and 29k for joint filers, the average middle class and working class citizen can now easily use the standard deduction.