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Musk says he 'deleted' IRS easy filing team that let Americans file taxes for free online (www.rawstory.com)

submitted 11 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

110 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

A right-wing MAGA influencer called the "direct file" tax program a "far left /.../

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", otherwise you click "edit"
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, you shell out real money. I've had a bad year once. Most people never have one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 35 minutes ago

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...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 hour ago

Is he heavily invested in TurboTax or something?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 minutes ago

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!

[–] [email protected] 36 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 hours ago

How? If things get too hot here, they'll just move to another country. Oh... I see now. But then that's just passing our problems onto someone else like those South Africa bastards did.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

They already do, thats why they're doing this to government, which they fear. They need to fear public reprisal

[–] [email protected] 61 points 5 hours ago (6 children)

You'd think that if DOGE was really DOGE that this is the exact kind of thing they'd double down on and make really good, saving everyone shit load of money.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 hours ago

Oh, you see, you fucked up like... three words into your comment

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

You'd think that's the case, if you thought saving money or helping average Americans was actually their goal. The American government is being carved up as fast as they can get away with it. Gotta free up cash to give billionaires more tax cuts!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

They also learned from the wall. Can't pay to deport 10-20 million for free. Gotta enact tariffs and just stop paying for anything they can get away with.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Don't forget... Eliminating any government oversight that might affect their business interests...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

And eliminating any funding they can for media that will speak against them.

Edit: these people are directly tanking the platform Mr. Rogers had. The magic school bus, sesame Street, Arthur, Clifford, Barney, Reading Rainbow... They come from PBS, which is under attack by Elon Musk and Donald Trump

I get advertisements trying to give free pamphlets to kids about what Trump has done for our country and how he is saving it. He's looking for the fucking Hitler Youth. Period

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 hours ago

"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"

"However, the Treasury Department confirms that the Direct File system remains active, offering free tax filing with customer support"

Big story. Is every tweet going to be a shocking story? Isn't that beneficial to the media who done nothing / helped install theese morons?

[–] [email protected] 69 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

The sooner average Americans realize that these people are America's enemies, the sooner we can do something about it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 hours ago

So you are saying we better not wait standing up?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 hours ago

Wow! Holy shit!

[–] [email protected] 85 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (7 children)

How the hell does this lower costs?

right-wing influencer criticizing the program as government overreach.

So the right is against self-service now? wtf

[–] [email protected] 1 points 40 minutes ago

It's just a poorly constructed lie to funnel more money to their corporate masters.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 hours ago

They're against the slaves not using TurboTax.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 hours ago

So the right is against self-service now? wtf

You may want to look into Grover Norquist and his organisation Americans for Tax Reform. It is one of the most influential political lobbying groups in the United States, and it has the support of essentially the entire republican party. They essentially consider tax to be evil on principle and ask every politician to sign a pledge opposing any tax hike.

ATR is strongly against automatic filing, as they want to keep taxes difficult and complicated to stoke anti-tax sentiment. That is to say, they fear that if filing tax is easier, citizens would be less likely to fight taxes in the way that the ATR wants (mostly they like a low flat tax, because it's simple and good for rich people).

[–] [email protected] 68 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

This version of the right wing is against any service provided to the public for free which their own companies could profit from by charging for it. And they also, as a matter of principle, believe that the poor should be punished, and punished again.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

So the right is against self-service now? wtf

Why are looking for coherence in their ideology? They've never made any indication that they are ideological consistent. Its projection on our part to do so, and the constant exacerbation at the obvious and consistent conclusion is tiresome.

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[–] [email protected] 69 points 8 hours ago

Cruelty is the point. The goal is to make the lives of impoverished people harder.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 hours ago

Cool so I'm not doing my taxes again this year

[–] [email protected] 135 points 10 hours ago (7 children)

His statement came in response to a right-wing influencer criticizing the program as government overreach.

... HOW????? This movement simply has no real agenda or philosophy - they just want to burn everything down.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 hours ago

The government providing a free service that private companies charge for is considered overreach by the wealthy elite who stand to gain from holding a monopoly over access to a necessary thing.

[–] [email protected] 82 points 9 hours ago (4 children)

This movement simply has no real agenda or philosophy - they just want to burn everything down.

That is the agenda

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

They literally ran on dismantling our government and the majority of voting Americans voted for them.

For the first time in my life I'm seriously considering getting citizenship elsewhere. Nothing good can happen for the future of this nation with a populace that stupid.

It's over.

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[–] [email protected] 191 points 11 hours ago (21 children)

I think I'll skip paying taxes this year, my religion states I cannot support terrorist groups.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

You probably already pay taxes. Filing your taxes usually just helps dial in if you paid a bit too much or too little.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 hours ago

Oh man.

In Germany this would mean dismantling the only functioning digital government service. Haha.

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