- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- politics@lemmy.world
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.
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Deport this asshole back to South Africa
Arrest his ass and lock him away for life!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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…
Is he heavily invested in TurboTax or something?
He’s invested in suffering and making a profit. So yes.
Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives
How? If things get too hot here, they’ll just move to another country. Oh… I see now. But then that’s just passing our problems onto someone else like those South Africa bastards did.
There shouldn’t be any place on earth where it is safe to be absurdly rich.
They already do, thats why they’re doing this to government, which they fear. They need to fear public reprisal
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.
Oh, you see, you fucked up like… three words into your comment
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!
Don’t forget… Eliminating any government oversight that might affect their business interests…
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
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.
You mean instead of “deleting” it right?
Ya, don’t delete, make it even better and save even more money for everyone
Ok. For a second I wanted to down vote because I thought you meant they should double down on what they did.
Thanks for asking for clarification first!
The sooner average Americans realize that these people are America’s enemies, the sooner we can do something about it.
So you are saying we better not wait standing up?
“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?
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
It’s just a poorly constructed lie to funnel more money to their corporate masters.
They’re against the slaves not using TurboTax.
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.
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.
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.
So the right is against self-service now?
No, fascists are. It just so happens that the right are fascists.
yes because it takes money away from companies like intuit and taxact and hrblock… ,sarcasm.
Cruelty is the point. The goal is to make the lives of impoverished people harder.
Wow! Holy shit!
I think I’ll skip paying taxes this year, my religion states I cannot support terrorist groups.
You probably already pay taxes. Filing your taxes usually just helps dial in if you paid a bit too much or too little.
Not religious, but my ethics, and laws against aiding and abetting should also apply.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientious_objection_to_military_taxation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Freedom_Peace_Tax_Fund_Act
but also: Office of Chief Counsel Internal Revenue Service Memorandum https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lafa/20133303f.pdf
Good luck with that.
But, in all seriousness: Everyone should do their taxes ASAP. If you are due a refund? File very quickly. If you owe money? Wait until the last possible minute. Because there are decent odds that we don’t have an IRS after a month or two of this…
That said, DO make it a point to file state taxes regardless since those actually go toward things that, even in red states, are focused on the populace.
Can’t it also later be argued that it’s uncertain and unclear what’s there or not, since that imbecile is running around yanking out wires of the government like a ketamine fueled chimp.
Casting doubt on the sanctity of the government’s records… I’d say that would go through courts for years.
To late he just got rid of what takes to do our fucking taxes. I REFUSE TO USE TURBOTAX OR HR BLOCK OR ANY OTHER PREDATORY TAX FILING COMPANY.
Guess no refund for us and no child tax credit.
Btw what the fuck is Congress doing? This motherfucker should not be able to do any of this, yet no one stopping him.
Isn’t freetaxusa still good?
Has for 2 years so far.
I REFUSE TO USE TURBOTAX OR HR BLOCK OR ANY OTHER PREDATORY TAX FILING COMPANY.
Where been doing my taxes. Thanks for the link.
Btw what the fuck is Congress doing?
Republicans? Sucking a lot Trump, Musk, and any other billionaire’s dick.
Democrats? Completely self-sabotaging any attempt to get any opposition going.
You do you. Personally, I want to get my money while I still can. But if you would rather throw away you and your children’s money then … 'kay.
Because there are basically 3 outcomes for the IRS at this point
- musk et al completely destroy it and insist that income tax is no longer a thing and only sales tax exists. I forget if this is part of project 2025 but it is something republicans have been arguing for decades because it predominantly hurts lower income households
- Democrats do their fucking job and intervene and we file taxes normally
- musk et al completely compromise the IRS and make it a point to attack “the little guy” so they can insist they are hard on crime while actively ignoring all their cronies who refuse to ever pay taxes again.
And if you truly refuse to use any software? You can file by hand. I did back in college when I couldn’t afford even fricking turbotax.
Democrats cannot fix this. Perhaps you lived under a rock, but they lost power in all branches of government. Further, whether the actions by Musk violate the constitution is up for review by the courts, not congress. Remember who is in charge there? People warned that electing Trump would end Democracy, but I guess they were just scaremongering.
You can file by paper
yet no one stopping him.
Turns out America is weak as fuck. We’re only good at applying force when it comes to other nations.
The article goes on to mention he is either lying or doesn’t know what he is talking about as the system is very much still in place. It could be either, and likely it’s both, that he doesn’t know enough to be sure if he did or not, but would be ok if it turns out to be a lie anyway.
I use cash app and it’s free, or at least it was last year.
Cash App Taxes is still free 👍
The government shuts down immediately of it stops drafting from our paychecks. You can be assured that whatever happens, that will continue.
If that stops then there are going to be other more pressing issues.
I’m still waiting on two forms that the companies say won’t be available till 2/28. Otherwise I’m ready to submit.
Plus I suspect the states will outlast the feds at this point. With maybe the sole exception of Utah, and that has more to do with the fact that the nuttier Mormons have a weird fucked up prophecy where theyll save America in its dying days or some shit.
Everybody with a 1099 should just refuse to pay taxes.
Removed by mod
Bluesky will delete X, but give him time.
Then they’ll become X eventually.
Oh man.
In Germany this would mean dismantling the only functioning digital government service. Haha.
