Archive for the ‘Free Software’ Category

The IRS already has all your income tax data so why do Americans still have to file their taxes? – The Conversation AU

Doing taxes in the U.S. is notoriously complicated and costly. And it gets even worse when there are delays and backlogs, making it especially hard to reach the Internal Revenue Service for assistance.

But to me this raises an important question: Why should taxpayers have to navigate the tedious, costly tax filing system at all?

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan promised a return-free tax system in which half of all Americans would never fill out a tax return again. Under the framework, taxpayers with simple returns would automatically receive a refund or a letter detailing any tax owed. Taxpayers with more complicated returns would use the system in place today.

In 2006, President Barack Obamas chief economist, Austan Goolsbee, suggested a simple return, in which taxpayers would receive already completed tax forms for their review or correction. Goolsbee estimated his system would save taxpayers more than US$2 billion a year in tax preparation fees.

Though never implemented, the two proposals illustrate what we all know: No one enjoys filling out tax forms.

So why do we have to?

As an expert on the U.S. tax system, I see Americas costly and time-consuming tax reporting system as a consequence of its relationship with the commercial tax preparation industry, which lobbies Congress to maintain the status quo.

Return-free filing is not difficult.

At least 30 countries permit return-free filing, including Denmark, Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Furthermore, 95% of American taxpayers receive at least one of more than 30 types of information returns that let the government know their exact income. These information returns give the government everything it needs to fill out most taxpayers returns.

The U.S. system is 10 times more expensive than tax systems in 36 other countries with robust economies. But those costs vanish in a return-free system, as would the 2.6 billion hours Americans spend on tax preparation each year.

Maybe youre wondering whether Congress is just behind the times, unaware that it can release us from tax preparation? Not true.

About two decades ago, Congress directed the IRS to provide low-income taxpayers with free tax preparation. The agency responded in 2002 with Free File, a public-private partnership between the government and the tax-preparation industry. As part of the deal, the IRS agreed not to compete with the private sector in the free tax preparation market.

In 2007, the House of Representatives rejected legislation to provide free government tax preparation for all taxpayers. And in 2019, Congress tried to legally bar the IRS from ever providing free online tax preparation services.

Only a public outcry turned the tide.

The public part of Free File consists of the IRS herding taxpayers to commercial tax -preparation websites. The private part consists of those commercial entities diverting taxpayers toward costly alternatives.

According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which oversees IRS activities, private partners use computer code to hide the free websites and take unsuspecting taxpayers to paid sites.

Should a taxpayer discover a free preparation alternative, the private preparers impose various restrictions such as income or the use of various forms as an excuse to kick taxpayers back to paid preparation.

Consequently, of the more than 100 million taxpayers eligible for free help, 35% end up paying for tax preparation and 60% never even visit the free websites. Instead of 70% of Americans receiving free tax preparation, commercial companies whittled that percentage down to 3%.

Perhaps you are guessing that there are valid policy justifications for avoiding government and empowering the private sector. Judge those arguments yourself.

One argument from commercial tax preparers is that taxpayers will miss out on valuable tax savings if they rely on free government preparation.

In fact, the government software would reflect the same laws used by the paid preparers with the same access to tax saving deductions or credits. Further, tax preparers like H&R Block promise to pay all taxes and interest resulting from a failed audit. As a result, these services have every incentive to take conservative, pro-government tax positions.

A second argument is that government-prepared tax returns encourage tax evasion.

In a no-return system, the government reveals its knowledge of the taxpayers income before the taxpayer files. Thus, the argument goes, the taxpayer knows if the government has missed something and has reason to let the mistake stand.

But taxpayers already know what information forms the government has because they receive duplicates of those forms. The incentive to lie does not increase because the taxpayer avoids weeks of tax preparation.

Finally, there is the anti-tax argument for onerous tax preparation: Keep tax preparation unpleasant to fuel anti-tax sentiment.

In the past, Republicans argued against high taxes. But after decades of tax cuts, Americans are no longer swayed by that argument.

Exasperating tax preparation, according to this argument, helps keep the anti-tax fever high. And that fuels public hate for government and the tax system.

Unfortunately, the anti-tax contingents desire to force Americans to spend time and money on tax preparation dovetails with the tax preparation industrys desire to collect billions of dollars in fees.

Tax preparation companies lobby Congress to keep tax preparation costly and complicated.

Indeed, Intuit, maker of TurboTax, the tax preparation software, has listed government tax preparation as a threat to its business model.

One example is the earned income tax credit, a government program for low-income people. The credit is so complicated that 20% of the people who are eligible never file, thus missing out on thousands of dollars in savings.

If the government prepared everyones tax returns, that 20% would receive government support. Nonetheless, Intuit has lobbied lawmakers to make the credit more complicated, thereby driving more taxpayers to paid preparation services.

In other words, it seems the tax preparation industry has kept the system complicated because the potential cost to it in terms of lost revenue is vast.

I believe only public outcry can change the system.

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The IRS already has all your income tax data so why do Americans still have to file their taxes? - The Conversation AU

Highland school transport: bike scheme and free bus rides on the table – Press and Journal

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Highland school transport: bike scheme and free bus rides on the table - Press and Journal

Ford predicts it will make $45B from businesses using EV delivery vans, new services – Detroit Free Press

SONOMA, Calif. Selling vehicles is just the first step in Ford's plans to make money off its first electric delivery van that the automaker is rolling out this month.

Betweenplans to sell 150,000 electric Transit commercial vehicles annually from 2023 onward(after building fewer to sell the first year) and creating "charging depots"to help customers manage their fleets, the companys new Ford Pro group will generate $45 billion by 2025 and more after that, CEO Jim Farley said Tuesday at an elaborate unveiling of the E-Transit and Ford Pros strategy.

"Half our commercial-vehicle revenue could be software and services," Farley said as he announced a pilot program in which the Sonoma County Winegrowers association will test its EVs and services.

Already in production at the companys Kansas City assembly plant, the E-Transit builds on one of Fords hidden assets. Used for everything from delivery vans to flatbeds and farm trucks, the gasoline-powered Transit accounts for nearly half the lucrative business for medium-duty business vans in the U.S. Annual demand for the medium-duty business vans is about 330,000. Last-mile delivery vehicles like UPS and Amazon vans account for just 10% of Transit sales.

Ford Pro is one of the biggest bets weve made on a future of electric vehicles with data connections and other services, Farley said.

The E-Transit and Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup coming later this year are the first vehicles offering the features Ford expects to add 11-digit numbers to its balance sheet.

Ford Pro boss Ted Cannis said the program, called Ford Pro Intelligence, will include:

The system can reduce the time vehicles are out for service 40% and cut a businesss total ownership costs 10%-20%, Cannis said.

Prices start at $43,295. Thats about $9,000-$10,000 more than gasoline-powered models, but the E-Transit qualifies for federal and local tax credits that can offset the additional cost.

The E-Transit shares its basic structure with the internal combustion Transit vans Ford sells around the world. The frame was reinforced to hold the 1,050-pound 68 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. Despite the heavy battery, total vehicle weight only rose 600 poundsbecause of the elimination of the engine, gas tank, transmission, etc., Transit chief engineer Ray Eyles said.

The electric motor rides between the rear wheels, so the E-Transit has an independent rear suspension. The 9,500-pound gross vehicle weight van has the same cargo capacity as a gasoline Transit, because the battery and motor are below its floor.

Ford is building E-Transit vans with three roof heights, three lengths, in addition to chassis cab and cutaway versions that have a cab, but no body behind it.

The E-Transit van can go about 126 miles on a charge, considerably farther than what Fords research shows most owners currently go in a day.

Because the E-Transit is the same size as the gasoline van Fords been selling for years, businesses can swap tools, racks and other expensive custom parts from the old vans to EVs, saving money and making it easy for companies to dip a toe in the water by testing the EV in a single vehicle, then converting their fleet over time if they like it.

EVs should require much less maintenance than conventional vehicles because they dont have complicated engines and transmissions. That accounts for some of the savings at the heart of Fords pitch to businesses, but the company has big plans for the new services it will offer to help companies run and charge their fleets efficiently, Farley said.

In the pilot program testing both the E-Transit and Ford Pro services with the Sonoma County Winegrowers association,the growers will each get an E-Transit this year. Theyre considering F-150 Lightning electric pickups and may use Ford Pros software with other manufacturers vehicles they use.

Contact Mark Phelan at 313-222-6731 ormmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter.

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Ford predicts it will make $45B from businesses using EV delivery vans, new services - Detroit Free Press

Volkswagen and Bosch team up on automated driving software – Reuters

The logo of German carmaker Volkswagen is seen on a rim cap in a showroom of a Volkswagen car dealer in Brussels, Belgium July 9, 2020. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

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BERLIN, Jan 25(Reuters) - Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) software subsidiary Cariad and autos supplier Bosch are teaming up to develop software for automated driving to use in Volkswagen's cars, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Using data from Volkswagen's fleet, the partners will develop so-called Level 2 autonomous driving software - enabling hands-free driving in cities, rural areas and on the motorway - as well as a Level 3 system that takes over all driving functions on the motorway.

They expect to implement Level 2 software in Volkswagen vehicles from 2023.

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After an undefined lead time, Bosch will take the technology to the outside market, its software chief Matthias Pillin said on a press call.

"Partnerships in software development are not unusual... once you have generated the relevant IP you can pursue your own paths," Cariad CEO Dirk Hilgenberg said.

The partnership is the second announced this year by the companies, which last week said they would set up a joint venture to equip battery cell factories with machinery. read more

They did not disclose how much they would invest in either deal.

Both Volkswagen and Bosch have bundled their software operations into single divisions to strengthen their offering in the face of competition primarily from Tesla (TSLA.O), as well as companies like Alphabet (GOOGL.O) increasingly venturing into the autos sector.

Volkswagen aims for Cariad to supply 60% of software in Volkswagen vehicles by 2025, up from 10% when the unit was founded in 2020.

But competition for talent is fierce, and the high upfront investment of developing software capabilities from scratch, when many carmakers also need funds for electrification and battery development, means some are forming partnerships.

Volkswagen has invested $2.6 billion in self-driving startup Argo AI, which is developing Level 4 vehicles - where the car can control most situations independently but drivers can request control - for shared fleets.

Bosch and Daimler (DAIGn.DE) announced plans in 2017 to build a joint 'robo-taxi' automated driving fleet - but the partnership was cancelled in 2021, months after Daimler's CEO highlighted the high costs and risks involved.

Daimler wasthe first to secure regulatory approval for its hands-free driving system in December.

Volkswagen and Bosch do not yet have this approval, Hilgenberg said.

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Reporting by Victoria WalderseeEditing by Mark Potter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Volkswagen and Bosch team up on automated driving software - Reuters

Military OneSource Eases Tax Season Stress With Remote Tax Support Through MilTax – Department of Defense

Military OneSources MilTax suite of 100% free tax services is available to provide the military community with a remote option for receiving expert tax support and e-filing their 2021 taxes, the Defense Department announced today.

MilTax takes some of the stress out of filing taxes for service members and their immediate family, including spouses who may have experienced job loss, remote work, or changes in pay in 2021. A benefit from the Defense Department, MilTax includes free tax preparation and e-filing software developed specifically to address common military life scenarios, such as deployments, combat and training pay, housing and rentals, and multistate filing. The software walks users step-by-step through a series of questions to help them complete and file their federal return and up to three state tax forms.

Service members and spouses also have free access to MilTax consultants who are versed in recent changes to tax law and specially trained to know all the nuances of filing taxes in the military. They can help service members and their immediate families understand complex tax situations, such as tax forgiveness and refunds for surviving family members, extensions and deadlines, and much more, including COVID-19 pandemic-related tax changes.

Tax season can be particularly stressful for the military community because of the unique aspects of military life that can impact their tax returns, and the pandemic continues to amplify the need for easy, remote and reliable tax support, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy Patricia Patty Montes Barron. Service members and their families have filed more than 270,000 federal and state returns using MilTax. The Defense Department is pleased to once again offer this easy-to-use, secure and accurate tax service that was developed specifically for our service members and their families.

The MilTax tax preparation and e-filing software is available through Oct. 17, 2022. MilTax consultants are available year-round to answer questions.

For more information about the suite of MilTax services, call 800-342-9647 or start a live chat anytime to schedule an appointment to speak with a MilTax consultant or visit Military OneSource to get started filing your taxes.

About Military Community and Family Policy

Military Community and Family Policy is directly responsible for establishing and overseeing quality-of-life policies and programs that help our service members, their families, and survivors be well and mission-ready. Military OneSource is the gateway to programs and services that support the everyday needs of the 5.2 million service members and immediate family members of the military community. These Defense Department services can be accessed 24/7/365 around the world.

About Military OneSource

Military OneSource is a DoD-funded program that is both a call center and a website providing comprehensive information, resources and assistance on every aspect of military life. Service members and the families of active duty, National Guard and reserve (regardless of activation status), Coast Guard members when activated for the Navy, DoD expeditionary civilians, and survivors are eligible for Military OneSource services, which are available worldwide 24 hours a day, seven days a week, free to the user.

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Military OneSource Eases Tax Season Stress With Remote Tax Support Through MilTax - Department of Defense