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posted by martyb on Wednesday July 17 2019, @08:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the making-money dept.

Trump’s Tax Law Threatened TurboTax’s Profits. So the Company Started Charging the Disabled, the Unemployed and Students.

The 2017 tax overhaul vastly expanded the number of people who could file simplified tax returns, a boon to millions of Americans.

But the new law directly threatened the lucrative business of Intuit, the maker of TurboTax.

Although the company draws in customers with the promise of a "free" product, its fortunes depend on getting as many customers as possible to pay. It had been regularly charging $100 or more for returns that included itemized deductions for mortgage interest and charitable donations. Under the new law, many wealthier taxpayers would no longer be filing that form, qualifying them to use the company's free software.

Intuit executives came up with a way to preserve the company's hefty profit margins: It began charging more low-income people. Which ones? Individuals with disabilities, the unemployed and people who owe money on student loans, all of whom use tax forms that TurboTax previously included for free.


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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday July 17 2019, @10:37PM (13 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday July 17 2019, @10:37PM (#868259) Homepage Journal

    Has nothing to do with capitalism. The corruption under communism was every bit as bad if not worse. The only real chance you have at avoiding it is a dictatorship where the dictator gives a fuck about it for some reason or other. It's rare but at least it's happened before in human history.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday July 17 2019, @11:56PM (9 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 17 2019, @11:56PM (#868288) Journal

    The corruption under communism was every bit as bad if not worse.

    Not in regards with taxes, no, it wasn't.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 18 2019, @11:17AM (1 child)

      Does it really matter which aspect of the laws were bought and sold to favor one business or individual over another?

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 18 2019, @10:32PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 18 2019, @10:32PM (#868718) Journal

        Does it really matter which aspect of the laws were bought and sold to favor one business or individual over another?

        Yes, when it comes to corruption and/or dictatorship, it matters
        E.g. if the laws impacting free-speech are "sold", you'll be able to live (if you keep the offending speech not know to authorities).
        If the laws regarding the private property are "sold", you may very quickly expropriated "by the eminent authority", a destitute and dead in 30 days of hunger.

        The communist regimes started with the second; they used the first only as a pretext to apply the second, but you could be subject to the second even if you kept your mouth shut.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday July 18 2019, @11:44AM (6 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 18 2019, @11:44AM (#868454) Journal

      Not in regards with taxes, no, it wasn't.

      When they own you, they don't need to play games to get what they want.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:03PM (5 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 18 2019, @03:03PM (#868518) Journal

        The silver lining - yes there is one - only *they* own you, not the whole corporation and zillions of *their* agencies which each fucks you in a different way.
        But yeah, I can see the disadvantage: you don't have the liberty to choose who fucks you and in which hole, after a while you get bored to be fucked in a single way.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 19 2019, @12:48AM (4 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 19 2019, @12:48AM (#868760) Journal

          The silver lining - yes there is one - only *they* own you, not the whole corporation and zillions of *their* agencies which each fucks you in a different way.

          A hundred masters does sound worse than one. Except that how do the hundred masters "fuck" you? Selling a few bits of information about your buying interests or playing little games that cost you a little money is a far cry from the police state.

          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday July 19 2019, @12:57AM (3 children)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 19 2019, @12:57AM (#868762) Journal

            Except that how do the hundred masters "fuck" you?

            Some fuck you over the cable/fibre. Others fuck you over the phone. Some others fuck you in physical presence

            Some fuck you for taxes. Others for credit rating. Again, some others fuck you in a medical setup that pretend to care about you.
            Examples are innumerable.

            Should I continue or can you take the words of others [soylentnews.org]?.

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday July 19 2019, @11:42PM (2 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 19 2019, @11:42PM (#869212) Journal
              And yet it's still nothing compared to a police state. We need to have some perspective here.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 21 2019, @11:15PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 21 2019, @11:15PM (#869763)

                And yet it's still nothing compared to a police state.

                Would you like it to be?

                We need to have some perspective here.

                I can offer some perspective if you can afford the rent.

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 22 2019, @12:17AM

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 22 2019, @12:17AM (#869778) Journal
                  Glib talk. A police state decides my life, what I say and think, and even if I try to keep my nose clean, might still can throw me in jail or execute me just to scare my neighbors and coworkers. Meanwhile the hundred corporate "slavers" each do small impairments on my freedom (sometimes in exchange for considerable improvements in my freedom). It's ridiculous to equate the two.

                  I can offer some perspective if you can afford the rent.

                  Rent is free here. But keep what I said in mind. You're not going anywhere with the argument that 100 minor paper cuts are more dangerous than a bullet to the head.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:10PM (2 children)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:10PM (#868462) Journal

    Unrestrained centralization of power, be it under a capitalist or a notionally communist society, leads to this. Capitalism vs communism is a red herring; either system COULD work, neither system DOES work without a hell of a lot of oversight, and as things stand, the advantage in capitalism (decentralization) is being rapidly eroded by globalism and high technology.

    Centralization. Of. Power. Doesn't matter how it happens, we're fucked when it happens.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 18 2019, @12:25PM (1 child)

      Somewhat. The only differences between state/local/national centralization are scope and a slightly larger disconnect between those governing and those governed. The main advantage of freedom of movement and keeping power as local as possible is if your opinion is that where you live sucks, you can easily go elsewhere and live under a kind of suck that better suits your sensibilities.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday July 18 2019, @07:39PM

        by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Thursday July 18 2019, @07:39PM (#868645) Journal

        You don't read so good, do ya boy? That era is quickly coming to a close. Globalization means the people on top, be they corporate or government or the inevitable unholy incestuous offspring of the two, own it all. Everything. Everywhere. You have a history of refusing to see that the border between business and government is blurry to nonexistent at large scale, probably because it would blow gaping holes in the foundation of what I will charitably call your worldview.

        --
        I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...