this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2025
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politics

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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 was in response to a right-wing MAGA influencer who called the “direct file” tax program a “far-left government-wide computer office” built by Elizabeth Warren.

Thus far, the website remains active.

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[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 60 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

OpenSecrets, 02/06/2024 - "TurboTax maker Intuit spent millions in record lobbying blitz amid threats to tax prep industry"

This is the great sell-off of America. Anyone who knows what happened to Russia over the course of the 2000s know what's coming is not good.

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 129 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

Who the fuck do these people think they are. Unelected, unsanctioned, no transparency, no procedure, no committees, no votes, no oversight, no laws. Just the whims of a tech billionaire and his cronies and a President who has given him the run of Washington to rip up what he pleases. If there is any justice, both of these fucks will be dealt with harshly.

[–] btaf45@lemmy.world 9 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Just the whims of a tech billionaire

And Afrikaner racist. That was the group of people that literally ran a white supremist government in South Africa for 80 years and jailed Nelson Mandela for over 30 years.

[–] Goodmorningsunshine@lemmy.world 61 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Kings. They think they're kings.

[–] earphone843@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 day ago

They are kings. No one is going to stop them

[–] fart@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

literally look into peter thiel's whole belief system

[–] rothaine@lemm.ee 1 points 8 hours ago

I don't think I want to. Do you have a tl;dr

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 day ago

If there is any justice, both of these fucks will be dealt with harshly.

I mean, if the past four years of waiting on consequences for Trump is any indication...

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"unelected"

They kinda were though, Trump didn't hide the fact that that's what he wanted to do and that's what people voted for.

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Disagree. They may have voted for, among other things, Elon to be put in a position to review spending and attempt to shore it up. They did not vote for him to be given free reign over all of the basic structures of government to fire, dismantle and shut down as he saw fit. And even if they did, fuck those morons.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 36 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is just what the redhats voted for in order to lower the price of eggs.

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[–] hddsx@lemmy.ca 48 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Avoiding specifics on what he is doing, what the hell is he doing to deserve his compensation at Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter? He’s too busy in DC.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 39 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I think most everyone suspected this, but being a CEO is a part-time job.

The elites long told us they were the hardest-working Americans.

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Don't forget neuralink and boring.

[–] Voyajer@lemmy.world 78 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Government overreach? They're the tax people.

[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

And now the government wants to privatize as much of the governments functions as possible. So in their view the government providing a service that private companies can provide is overreach.

P.S. freetaxusa.com Free federal filing and cheap state filing. Best I've filed online with after taxact became a shitshow.

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 71 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The government should do your taxes for you. We will never have nice things, huh?

[–] glitch1985@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not until H&R Block stops lobbying for things to be difficult.

[–] Nollij@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Intuit (TurboTax) is the main culprit here, but yes.

[–] undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch 5 points 21 hours ago

Intuit can get fucked. I remember one time at work (tech firm) they linked to some podcast featuring Intuit and I about threw up.

Fucking scum

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 42 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Wait, y'all have to pay to file taxes?

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 54 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In theory, no. In practice, yes, since a lot of people go to places like H&R or buy tax software to do it.

This online version, as I understand it, was a great way for people that had relatively simple taxes to do it without too much hassle.

But assholes like fElon cannot STAND the threat of a good example of government and something that benefits people they deem unworthy. That's why these dickheads went after the consumer protection bureau, too.

Give leon a break here, he doesn't pay taxes.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

How it works is people calculate what they owe minus their deductions with aditional forms to account for situations that apply to them and then submit the necessary forms but a very large majority of the USA couldnt even be bothered to vote against Trump so clearly they're too stupid to do their taxes. They file separately for state and federal but the forms are roughly all the same.

People pay to have somebody else do it for them or have a program which goes over things in very simple terms.

All of this despite the federal already knowing what you owe and how much you paid.

A handful of states had a system that allowed people to use a free online simplified process, but not all, as it was still being tested.

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[–] Tinidril@midwest.social 50 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

I think we might finally have a common demand that we can all agree on. Deport illegal immigrant Elon Musk and confiscate his ill gotten wealth. General strike time?

[–] Baguette@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

Deporting seems a bit too nice. I was thinking moreso jailtime for about a couple hundred lifetimes

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[–] fox2263@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] btaf45@lemmy.world 9 points 22 hours ago

It fits in perfectly with the real name: Department of Government Enshitification

[–] Gork@lemm.ee 25 points 1 day ago

It's so nice for Musk to think of the TurboTax and HR Block shareholders.

/s

[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 9 points 1 day ago

I already got my direct file in and it says I should get the return soon so uh, here's hoping

[–] DrSleepless@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Damn, I used it last year and it was great

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (13 children)

Just a thought that this brings up. If you are in the USA and you procrastinate on filing your tax return until the last minute, don't do that this year. Get the return done and filed as soon as you can. We all know is not the fastest system to get a tax return (which many get and depend on), but with musk and trump dismantling the government before our eyes, some or all of those system may be dismantled or collateral damage. This means you may not get you return until much much later than you expect (and need). Getting your taxes filed early gives us the best chance to still get our return processed before this part of government stops functioning as it does today.

[–] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Nah, I think its time to collectively refuse to pay taxes. What's the point in paying taxes to a fascist intent on destroying the country and selling it for parts. They no longer represent the people, more now than ever before.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

Nah, I think its time to collectively refuse to pay taxes.

Lots of us are owed money by the government. If we refuse to file the return, that helps the government.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 1 day ago

Conversely, if you owe, stall stall stall, file for an extension and stall some more. (This is not tax advice, make sure there are no penalties etc etc.)

[–] clif@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

But I should procrastinate paying my taxes until the last minute, yes? I have 1099 income that doesn't have taxes pre deducted from it, there's I always have to pay in (which is fine, I budget for it)

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[–] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago

Is this summary AI generated, it's garbage and seems to contradict the linked article, which is about the same length. The way it's phrased makes it sound like the free tax filing is still offered, only with customer support now, and no online component. The article makes no mention of this.

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago

Sounds like Leon owns some tax-filing app shares.

[–] Cruxifux@feddit.nl 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lol WHAT

That sounds amazing. I wish we had that in Canada.

[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

We do.

Everyone under a certain income threshhold can file for free. Every tax app or service must have a free option.

I do mine every year using ufile.ca for free because poor.

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