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.
According to Forbes, the only thing he actually deleted was the 18F’s (group that created Direct File) Xitter account. Lol
Really Musky of him to confuse the 2
Used free file myself and it works great, if you haven’t filed your taxes yet this year better do it fast before the site gets taken down!
Why on Earth would the US government want it to be difficult for its citizens to file taxes. Surely they want the taxes.
For most middle and low income families ‘filing taxes’ is how they get the amount they overpaid returned. If they cannot then the government keeps the extra.
Because Quickbooks and TurboTax or whatever wouldn’t be able to charge you out the ass
Reminder Elon cannot code
I’m not sure he can do anything well.
Except Nazi salutes. That arm thrust was chock full of intent and came straight from the heart!
came straight from the heart
Bullshit. You’re telling me he has a heart?
Well not anymore, of course, as it went out to all his fellow Nazis
It was the most awkward and embarrassing Nazi salute in the history of Nazi salutes. He didn’t even do that well.
The irony of course being that actual Nazis wouldn’t have liked him because he was South African. Him being white would probably be the minor mitigating factor but had they won their war he wouldn’t have had a nice time.
I’d bet good money he’s never done his own taxes in his life
No, but he did do our taxes. Billionaires love government handouts after all.
There’s a term for this: entrapment.
i always just look up this year’s 1040 and just fill it out myself. easy finances though…
been meaning to get an accountant this year. we’ll still do paper filing if e-filing is “deleted” lol
I really don’t know why, but every time I see Space Karen trying to be such a sooper kewl edgelord, I think of this clip…that and the very end of the movie, too…
I hate the american tax system. Not more than wiccans, but still a whole lot. Especially since I just read of a bunch of comments saying how great their tax filing is… Musky needs to be arrested, he’s obviously destroying services that make our lives as citizens easier. That’s what the federal government should be, easy and comprehensive to citizens and cold and mean to people like El(t)on musk
Wiccans? Like, pagans? What do you have against them? Most I have met have been pretty chill. I get hating all religions, but weird little pagans are near the bottom for me as long as they are not hurting anyone.
As for the rest, fuck Elon and indeed, our tax system is never in our favor. Just rich assholes and businesses that never seem to have to pay anything.
I love it when Nazi African fascists take control of the American monetary system.
How does he do this stuff? It’s not like he’s personally logging into the server and shutting down the website.
Presumably he just directs other people to do things.
If I was in the IT department I would already be looking for a new job, and I would just tell him that I’d done it, it’s not like he’s going to check. Although in this case it seems more a situation where he’s just running his mouth.
Deport this asshole back to South Africa
Unfortunately, he’s now an American citizen. Fortunately, we have treason charges for this kind of thing :).
He’s not a citizen. He never filed a 601a when he started with Paypal.
Everything he filed after not doing that should have been thrown out due to docket controls.
He came here illegally under false pretenses meaning his citizenship can legally be nullified and expunged. To say nothing of the administration he supports trying to find ways to nullify citizenship of immigrants and natural born citizens who are and always have been here legally.
Arrest his ass and lock him away for life!
We can buy rope at Home Depot.
I already got rope
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!
Yes, but by “government efficiency” they mean shutting down everything the government does that might make poor people’s lives less hellish. These are men who deeply need to believe they’re better than everyone else, and have to continually prove that to themselves by means of cruelty and power games.
They don’t want the government to take in more money. They just want it to cost less (and consequently do less).
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”
- 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, fasten your seatbelt of course. I’ve had a bad year once. Most people never have one.
Doing it this way would cost the IRS less than the way our current system runs.
It’s basically the same thing in Sweden, but in the rare chance that the tax agency makes a mistake, it’s usually resolved before summertime without any court issues.
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.
Most everyone in the US files. Even if the gov withheld taxes from your payroll you still file. The gov knows how much you made, now you have to arrive at the same number or you can get fined if you claim more and they catch you in an audit.
What’s funny is, on the tax form there’s a field asking if you got money from illegal activity like selling drugs…they expect you to declare it and pay the percentage… The ultimate gov will look the other way as long as they get their cut.
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.
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.
Wow! Holy shit!
