Should American government actually serve the people? — Never! — an example from ProPublica

© 2019 Peter Free

 

10 April 2019

 

 

When in despair, should we become sardonic?

 

Here is run-of-the-mill news to fuel your cynicism.

 

From ProPublica:

 

 

A bill supported by Democrats and Republicans would make permanent a program that bars the IRS from ever developing its own online tax filing service.

 

Companies like Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and H&R Block have lobbied for years to block the IRS from creating such a system.

 

If the tax agency created its own program, which would be similar to programs other developed countries have, it would threaten the industry’s profits.

 

Experts have long argued that the IRS has failed to make filing taxes as easy and cheap as it could be. In addition to a free system of online tax preparation and filing, the agency could provide people with pre-filled tax forms containing the salary data the agency already has, as ProPublica first reported on in 2013.

 

Intuit and H&R Block last year poured a combined $6.6 million into lobbying related to the IRS filing deal and other issues.

 

© 2019 Justin Elliott, Congress Is About to Ban the Government From Offering Free Online Tax Filing, ProPublica (09 April 2019)

 

 

Consider the obvious

 

Adopting the perspective of someone, who comes from a nation that is dedicated to serving its public, writer Eric Levitz added that:

 

 

In Japan and the United Kingdom, most citizens don’t have to file any tax returns whatsoever.

 

Instead, the state directly withdraws the exact amount it’s owned from workers’ paychecks, a process known as “precision withholding.”

 

To account for potential deductions, the state simply examines public records for evidence of charitable donations, mortgage interest payments, or the like.

 

Alternatively, the IRS could simply mail every American a pre-filled tax form, using salary data that the agency already possesses.

 

Or better yet, the agency could develop free tax-filing software that Americans could use to access their pre-filled tax forms, review the information, correct any mistakes, and then submit to Uncle Sam — without even shelling out for a postage stamp.

 

© 2019 Eric Levitz, Bipartisan Bill Would Ban IRS From Making Tax-Filing Free and Easy, Intelligencer (09 April 2019)

 

 

The moral? — In the United States, government solely exists to assist those who loot the American people

 

Be proud to serve in your role as someone who gets regularly fleeced by societal design.