What's Up With E-Filing?

By
Those of you who know me well knew this one must be coming. I just filed my taxes. This year we used TurboTax instead of the TaxCut product we'd used in previous years. (In my opinion, the cheapest one is the best one.) Every year around this time I marvel at how oligopolies work so well. First, a not-so-fake analogy. Why, when you try to buy tickets online at places like Ticketmaster, do you have to pay a "convenience" fee that ultimately increases the price of your tickets up to 20%? This so-called convenience fee is presumably for the privilege of buying stuff online in my underwear and not having to go to the grocery store to wait in line and buy tickets (where you'd then pay a service fee instead). However, the real convenience, we all know, is for our good friends at Ticketmaster, since they can fire 25% of their people now that we all use the Internet. Therefore, I'm paying them extra to do something that's more efficient for them, and thus making them more money anyway. Sweet deal!

Fast forward to taxes. Why must I pay a fee in order to pay my taxes electronically? Come on, how absurd! For the luxury of being lower on the IRS' audit totem-pole, I have to pay (this year) $17.95, complements of my other close friends at Intuit. Of course, they know that because I'm getting a nice whopping refund I'll glady pay their extortion. Who wouldn't? No one wants to wait 3 months or whatever it is to get the paper refund. Not to mention that if I send it in by hand, some IRS lackey will have to scan or re-enter all the fields into some computer, thereby exposing me to calculation errors and higher chances of audit.

Side Rant

Oh, and have you noticed how each year the price on the tax software continues to go up? Used to be you could get the software plus a rebate, plus free e-filing, for $25-30. Now you'll pay quite a bit more. Could that be, oh, say, because we're all locked into using it and no one in their right mind would go back to filling out the myriad forms by hand?! Next year my bet is $50 base price, plus another $20 to eFile. There, now I feel better.

By the way, you can do a free e-file if you live in Colorado at https://www.netfile.state.co.us. I always do that instead of paying those extortioners twice at the tax companies.

So essentially, in order to be more efficient and cost the IRS less, I get to pay more. Don't you just LOVE capitalism. I have to go now, and wait for my direct-deposit transfer...
I like to share what I learn, and I like to learn from others.

Comments

alison said…
i keep seeing a commercial that features free online tax software/prep/filing. of course can't remember the website now.
of course you know that the whole american economy would come to a grinding halt w/o ticketmaster! :)
February 11, 2008 at 6:25 PM
Brett said…
Chris, deep down inside, I think you are just jealous that you didn't come up with the idea first.

Maybe we should pool our tax returns and start a company that adds convenience fees to cool "must have" product.
February 11, 2008 at 6:48 PM
Ryan said…
I miss the Colorado State e-filing. It was easy and free. Last year I figured I would try the same thing for Kentucky. It turns out the Kentucky forms are worse than the Federal forms. I ended up paying for the state version to simplify filing.

And don't even get me started on paying taxes on last years state tax refund....
February 12, 2008 at 8:33 AM
Mia said…
Always appreciate a good rant. We still go with the super cheap tax software... actually I leave it all to Forrest so the fees don't really bother me that much, but maybe if I was in charge it would.
February 12, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Erica said…
Really- you make me laugh. This is why America is so great. We pay to get our money!
February 21, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walmart Bingo

By
I took my 8-year old on a date tonight and she chose for her activity--wait for it--Walmart Bingo. She found bingo cards online and after our dinner, we commenced the hunt. The items on the card were mostly outrageous and not likely to find (including "bearded woman"), though not outside the realm of possibility; the "someone buying beer and diapers" came pretty close. Here, however, were some delightful finds I did manage to pick up, even if not on the bingo card: Teenage girl in PJ's Dude with "Shh, this is my hangover shirt" t-shirt Dude with one eye Dude with a mohawk and a mouth full of chew Guy buying worms Guy with a full 1-1/2" gauge in his ear, plus more jewelry on his lips.  He looked like livestock Broken bottles on the floor in the drink aisle Mormon missionaries.  Maybe they broke the drinks!  Luckily they were missing the facial jewelry.  Phew. A girl playing (successfully) with 3 hoola hoops at the same time    ^^^M...
Read more

Colorado Flood Update

By
Image
Many friends from outside the area have inquired how we've fared through the recent disaster in Colorado.  Here's an update: Our current place (rental) is fine, though the property we're building on was decimated pretty badly (it's about 2 miles from where we presently live, next to a lake on the St Vrain river).  The river is normally 20-30 feet wide and 1-2 feet deep.  I could have waded across it no problem a week ago.  It was 200-500yds wide when we saw it a few days ago (no typo there).  The shot below is our lake, but it's connected now to the river and the next lake over.  The water continues for hundreds of yards to the right side of the frame.  Utterly amazing. Here's the sign to our neighborhood.  Irony is we just changed the street name from Dougla Drive to Waterside Ln.  How appropriate. This guy tried to go around the road barriers.  Bad idea.  Fire department got their engine stuck trying...
Read more

WFH: Adjusting to the New Reality

By
Image
In the midst of the worldwide pandemic we're each now navigating, we are obviously in uncharted waters in all aspects of our lives. Professionally, nearly every one of us is now working from home (WFH) full time. Though many folks have long WFH'd one day per week or on occasion, it’s a very different thing to become a full-time remote worker. Some of you are adapting to very new ways of working that might at times feel awkward. Here's some tips from those who have been doing the WFH thing for years. Routine. As much as you can, try to maintain a normal routine. That means starting the day on time, getting ready for work as you normally would. You might not be dressing up like you would for the office, but there’s mental value to the whole “getting ready” routine. If you wake up and immediately hit the laptop to start into emails, you don’t get that important ramp-up/ramp-down time in your day. Take breaks as you normally would. It’s not uncommon to find yourself si...
Read more