Why are taxes so complicated? They aren’t, but TurboTax, H&R Block, and the rest of the tax preparation industry want you to believe that they are. With the right tools, 90 percent of tax filers can complete their tax return in 10 minutes or less. Yet, the big tax preparation companies want you to think taxes are so complicated that only they can ensure your taxes are filed correctly.
In part, taxes continue to sound complicated because of TurboTax and H&R Block lobbying Congress year after year. They spend millions of dollars to ensure taxpayers feel the need for a tax “professional” to enter their information in a step-by-step software to justify upgrade fees. TechCrunch reported on it in 2013, the LA Times reported on it in 2015, NBC News reported on it in 2017, and Vox reported on it in 2018.
These tax preparation companies also spend millions of dollars on marketing to convince you that they are the best option to find “hidden” tax deductions, that only they seem to know to exist. Stop letting them deceive you. We don’t have millions of dollars to lobby Congress to do the right thing for taxpayers. Still, we have a solution that ensures that filing your taxes is simple, quick, and absent of constant costly upgrade pressures.
For most taxpayers, taxes are based on simple math: 1+1=2. But some taxpayers want to hear that 1+1=5. After all, who doesn’t want 1+1 to equal five when it comes to calculating your tax refund?
What Should You Do?
Don’t let Turbo Tax and H&R Block trick you into any more upgrades because you are expecting, or at least hoping for, magic. There is no magic. There is only one key ingredient; the U.S. tax code. Thanks to technology, the complex U.S. tax code can be simplified into a software solution. The same law that is in the TurboTax software, your tax professional’s software, your CPA’s software is also in IOOGO Tax’s software. This is what has allowed our family members, including moms, aunts, and younger siblings, to file their own taxes.
Follow the steps, answer simple questions, and let the IRS approved software do the calculations for you. As long as you copy and paste numbers correctly from the forms sent to you in January, you will get the same output, regardless of the software used. More importantly, whether you use IOOGO Tax or your other preferred way of filing taxes, don’t expect magic… at least not magic that won’t flag an IRS audit down the road.
