It shouldn’t matter how complex your situation is if you’re filing using software. I can understand paying for actual help like chat support, but a user filing a complex return and user filing a simple return are going to be using the software all the same. TurboTax loves to force you into a higher cost tier if you have simple stock sales or have an HSA which are both pretty basic.
Orrrr - and hear me out - maybe that rag-tag collection of state and federal governments you’ve got going on over there in the US should have a way of online filing that’s free?
You know, like how most civilised countries have been doing for the last decade or so.
Implementing the software to handle the labyrinthine tax code takes a lot of development effort. And not just for annual updates, they often identify bugs in the logic and issue updates monthly or weekly, especially as tax season ramps up. All that development labor needs to be paid.
It shouldn’t matter how complex your situation is if you’re filing using software. I can understand paying for actual help like chat support, but a user filing a complex return and user filing a simple return are going to be using the software all the same. TurboTax loves to force you into a higher cost tier if you have simple stock sales or have an HSA which are both pretty basic.
Orrrr - and hear me out - maybe that rag-tag collection of state and federal governments you’ve got going on over there in the US should have a way of online filing that’s free?
You know, like how most civilised countries have been doing for the last decade or so.
Implementing the software to handle the labyrinthine tax code takes a lot of development effort. And not just for annual updates, they often identify bugs in the logic and issue updates monthly or weekly, especially as tax season ramps up. All that development labor needs to be paid.