Last year, the California government had a really great idea. (No, that’s not the start of a joke.) Many California taxpayers have income only from regular employment and don’t have any unusual deductions. This means that their state income taxes can be calculated entirely from the payroll data already in the state’s tax database.
As part of a pilot program, California sent 50,000 taxpayers something called a “ReadyReturn,” which was essentially a California income tax return with all the information already filled in. All the taxpayers had to do was sign it and mail it back. So, taxpayers save time because they don’t have to fill in the form, and the state saves time because all the data on the form is already in their tax database so there’s no need to enter it again. Great idea, huh? Who could be against that?
As it turns out, lobbyists from the tax preparation industry are against that. They’ve got several members of the state legislature to oppose it.
Yes, you heard right. They’re lobbying the government to make your life more difficult so they can sell you services to make your life easier. I’ll bet this isn’t the first time, either. I’ll bet those bastards have been doing this for years. It would certainly explain a lot of things about my taxes…
Whole ugly story here.
(Hat tip: The Agitator.)
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