Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

No, the government already has almost all of your information every year from the start. Every time you get a W-2, a copy is sent to the IRS. Same with the vast majority of most tax forms. That why, if you lose any of your forms (at least the ones that say something akin to "This information is being furnished to the Internal Revenue Service."), you can request them from the IRS[1].

Some investment-related returns aren't sent to the IRS but I would estimate that for 90% of people, their taxes could be accurately calculated by the information the IRS has on file.

Additionally, I guarantee that these calculations are being made by the government anyway. If you file a tax return that is mathematically incorrect, you are very likely to receive a correction letter from the IRS[2]. This isn't an audit, it's just a letter saying that your taxes were wrong and they redid them for you, with a new outcome.

1. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/transcript-types-for-individ... (see "Wage and income transcript")

2. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/understanding-your-cp12-noti...



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: