Apr 8, 2007
Our tax system is friggin ridiculous
US taxes are ridiculous. I’m sure most countries would say the same, but every year I try as hard as possible to forget the fact that in April we all have to deal with hundreds of forms, archaic, nonsensible numbers and tax codes, and crappy, expensive, unhelpful tax software. Things I’m trying not to think too much about:
- The US Government didn’t tax its citizens until it had to figure out how to pay for the Civil War.
- According to NoLo, the IRS employs over 115,000 people, making it the largest government beurocracy.
- Annually the IRS spends almost $11 billion to collect between $40-50 billion (estimated). Efficient!
- Pages of forms I’m submitting (not including supporting forms, worksheets, itemized lists, etc.): 28
- I spent over $100 just filing, and I didn’t even pay a CPA to crunch numbers.
Worst. User. Experience. Ever. I consider my refund a hollow victory: one suffers through an unbelievably frustrating afternoon just to get their own money back from the tax man.
Ok, grumbling aside. What are you spending your refund on? I kind of pre-spent it on Guitar Hero II and some new clothes, but whateva, who says you can’t spend your refund twice?
I'm an editor and technology critic in the midst of founding a new web startup: 
My refund was smaller then I thought it was going to be but … I’ve been thinking about finally getting a Xbox 360. Either that or I’ll put 2gb of ram into my MacBook.
You make some good points. I still believe that the concept of income tax or taxes in general is a good idea, it just has to be implemented right.
Damn! Well, I have no “special” things with our IRS (Like owning a company), but here in Denmark in runs real smooth comparing to what you describe.
Allot of things are reported in automatically from my bank: pension, interest, mortgage and stuff like that. My employer will give information about my salary. Then two times a year, they will send me a letter, where they ask if I have any changes for the following year and a letter where the ask me if I have any changes for last year. This of cause can be reported via the Internet. This is very easy to fill out – if you have any changes.
If I have paid to little tax, they will send me a bill. If I have payed too much, they will automatically put the money into my account.
I don’t know how common your story is but I think my story is kinda common. Of cause, not everything is perfect and sometimes something gets screwed up. :-)
Taxes are no fun… glad you got some enjoyment out of your refund though…
I bought an Infrant ReadyNAS. Of course, it ended up costing significantly more than my refund, but what is the harm?
The IRS could really benefit from getting on the Web 2.0 bandwagon. As is, their site is nearly useless.
I managed to do my taxes in about an hour or so. It was pretty straightforward, but the process really does suck. I mean, the forms could be identified in a more useful way other tha numbers. It just all feels so antiquated and bureaucratic.
I’m torn on what to do with my refund. I can save it, use it to vacation over my birthday next month, or save it to help pay for attending my sister’s weddingn later this year. I like the idea of birthday vacation, but the other two seem far more responsible…
You have to take into account the fact that US IRS had to develop a special software for Bill gates (because of the size of his income) : that costs a lot :-)
Speaking of efficiency french tax administration is worse by far :D
LOL – lovin it. Indeed, I totally agree on spending your refund twice or, even thrice if it pleases you thusly!
Nice point Ryan. BTW that tax was temporary and wasnt fully reinstated until the 20th century. Then it was sued at unconstitutial but the gov’t won, obviously. As far as my refund, I still cannot decide between Wii and 360. One one hand how can i passup the Hidef action, but on the other hand the user experience, and the abilility to golf in the winter in NYC, Wii has so much going for it.
Hah. You want tax hell? Come to Canada where it’s all 500% worse.