[G4] [OT] tax software preferences?

[Doug McNutt]

Has everyone noticed that the USIRS wants to have everybody file electronically but it will not publish standards and an IP address to which the data can be sent?  They have even removed the old computer-compatible text-only forms from their library in favor of PDF fill-out forms that require high-quality printing for delivery. I have filled them out using Excel-VBA on my G4 but I can't send them back electronically.

<paranoid>

Electronic filing requires preparation, or at least review, of the data by an "authorized" service provider. Remember that that authorized provider can easily become unauthorized if he does something that the IRS doesn't like even though it's perfectly legal. It's altogether possible that users of "approved" tax software end up paying, on average, more than they owe just so the provider can reduce his own susceptibility to loss of license.

</paranoid>

There is no reason why the IRS can't provide a format for ASCII text keyed to the line numbers in their forms with a secure IP address to which the results can be sent. Electronic signature technology is ready for the task. If you don't get the format right it gets rejected immediately just like a FORTRAN job on a mainframe. Correct and resubmit. One can already send money electronically. (EFTPS works fine.)

Elected federal representatives ought to be required to fill out their own tax forms without help and no computers should be allowed. Did you know that the US tax code is bigger than the recent arms declaration from Iraq?

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--> As a citizen of the USA if you see a federal outlay expressed in $billion then multiply it by 4 to get your share in dollars. <--