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The difference is that you know whether you have all your required information. The IRS doesn’t know until it has everything. Example: your only bank sends you

by basseq 7y ago

The difference is that you know whether you have all your required information. The IRS doesn’t know until it has everything. Example: your only bank sends your 1099-DIV on February 15, so you file your return. You know that no other bank is going to send you a 1099-DIV because you don’t have any other bank accounts. The IRS doesn’t know this. The IRS only knows that you didn’t get any other 1099-DIVs after they’ve received all 1099-DIVs and no more are yours.

eridius 7y ago
The IRS could develop a system where they list what information they've received already, and you can then validate that this represents the complete set of expected information and request that they go ahead and process taxes now without waiting. If they then receive more information later that would affect your taxes, they can bill you, or otherwise just go through the same process they would if you filed your taxes incorrectly under the current system.
- basseq 7y ago
  Ideally, you'd want the IRS to be able to reliably populate a tax return, where all you do it sign it (or make corrections). A world where the IRS is pre-populating a return that may not be correct starts getting tough, even with such a taxpayer-warrant system.
  - eridius 7y ago
    Ideally, yes. If you need to preserve the ability to get refunds earlier than April 15 then one of two things needs to happen: 1. Move up the deadline for companies to submit tax information to the IRS, or 2. Allow taxpayers to declare that the IRS will not receive any more tax information than what they already have, with penalties for lying (presumably, the same penalties as what happens today if you submit your taxes early and you yourself haven't received all the relevant information yet). Or we could just pay the one-time hit of "you can't get your refund early" and have the IRS process taxes once the existing deadline has passed for companies submitting tax information to the IRS. I say one-time hit because after the first time, any refunds for following years would occur 1 year after the previous year's refund, just like it does today, it would just be at a different point in the year (assuming you even submitted taxes early to begin with; if you didn't, then no change).
    - basseq 7y ago
      #1 - You’d have the entire corporate world up in arms every year. #2 - Probably the best solution, though kind of waters down the revolution. #3 - Probably what SHOULD happen, but again, political suicide.
dwighttk 7y ago
"The difference is that you know whether you have all your required information." I don't.
- basseq 7y ago
  Then this won't affect you, as you'll have to wait until April 2nd just like the IRS.

by basseq 7y ago

eridius 7y ago

The IRS could develop a system where they list what information they've received already, and you can then validate that this represents the complete set of expected information and request that they go ahead and process taxes now without waiting. If they then receive more information later that would affect your taxes, they can bill you, or otherwise just go through the same process they would if you filed your taxes incorrectly under the current system.

basseq 7y ago
Ideally, you'd want the IRS to be able to reliably populate a tax return, where all you do it sign it (or make corrections). A world where the IRS is pre-populating a return that may not be correct starts getting tough, even with such a taxpayer-warrant system.
- eridius 7y ago
  Ideally, yes. If you need to preserve the ability to get refunds earlier than April 15 then one of two things needs to happen: 1. Move up the deadline for companies to submit tax information to the IRS, or 2. Allow taxpayers to declare that the IRS will not receive any more tax information than what they already have, with penalties for lying (presumably, the same penalties as what happens today if you submit your taxes early and you yourself haven't received all the relevant information yet). Or we could just pay the one-time hit of "you can't get your refund early" and have the IRS process taxes once the existing deadline has passed for companies submitting tax information to the IRS. I say one-time hit because after the first time, any refunds for following years would occur 1 year after the previous year's refund, just like it does today, it would just be at a different point in the year (assuming you even submitted taxes early to begin with; if you didn't, then no change).
  - basseq 7y ago
    #1 - You’d have the entire corporate world up in arms every year. #2 - Probably the best solution, though kind of waters down the revolution. #3 - Probably what SHOULD happen, but again, political suicide.

dwighttk 7y ago

"The difference is that you know whether you have all your required information." I don't.

basseq 7y ago
Then this won't affect you, as you'll have to wait until April 2nd just like the IRS.