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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.
(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
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...