ddrueding
Fixture
I tell all my clients that they need their own domain, just so that they can ensure the continuity of their e-mail address. Move to new services as the old ones go bust, but keep the address.
Something Random
- Thread starter ddrueding
- Start date
I think I may have lost my seldom used/SPAM Yahoo email. I'm not 100% sure if there was a purge, I was hacked or I'm entering the wrong password.
ALSO Postimage.org changed their URL so all my linked images no longer work.
Stereodude
Not really a
So why can't we have straight forward tax system? Does H&R Block and the accounting industry present that much power as a lobbying block?
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Well lets consider this... The rich and powerful have accountants to mange their finances, whom typically would be senior staff (or very close network to senior staff) of the large accounting/tax handling firms... Gotta keep your mates (who hide $$$$$$$ for you from the IRS) in jobs...
So I would not be surprised if these firms have easy access to the policy makers... (Wasn't there a case in a US state a few years ago about letting citizens doing their own tax returns electronically, but had to be done via some 3rd party and not direct with the IRS and state level equivalents, and said 3rd party was charging for the privilege)?
So I would not be surprised if these firms have easy access to the policy makers... (Wasn't there a case in a US state a few years ago about letting citizens doing their own tax returns electronically, but had to be done via some 3rd party and not direct with the IRS and state level equivalents, and said 3rd party was charging for the privilege)?
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
IIRC Fastmail was used by a lot of dodgy spam related entities as a mail forwarder, so not surprised about that one... I've now upgraded my outlook.com account to be the spam collector email account...
Stereodude
Not really a
I'm pretty sure Verizon is still in business.
ddrueding
Fixture
Yes? Concentrated benefit and diffuse costs lead to distorted policy.
Stereodude
Not really a
I'm pretty sure the real answer is that the gov't is addicted to the power they can wield via social engineering through tax policy. A flat tax with no deductions, write-offs, etc. would deprive them of their behavior steering inclinations.
I'd agree that government officials are addicted to their own power and as part of staying in the position they are in they'll appease their lobbyist. Why else would Intuit and H&R Block be spending millions each year lobbying so hard? They don't want tax reform for their own personal benefit.
I never said I was forced to use their products or services. I'm saying if we wanted a very simplified flat tax with no deductions like SD mentioned, the reform we need is being fought against by H&R Block and Intuit because it's not in their best interests.
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Isn't it funny when some new law or regulation comes in (that can reduce a citizen expenditure when dealing with the government), that 3rd party corporations all claim that it'll reduce the economy in some fashion, or it's too hard for citizens to do it themselves?
Australia brought in formless tax returns a few years ago. You can simply call a tool-free number, input your Tax File Number (I guess similar to the US SSN in regards to the IRS), input your gross income, input your tax-withheld amount (The amount of tax you've already paid) and answer Yes to no claims, and you're done. If the ATO (Australian Tax Office) has your bank details, you get a refund in 5-10 days into your account or a check in the mail, or a letter requesting payment for unpaid taxes (which IIRC you have 30 days to pay, or you can contact them to arrange a payment plan)... Whole process takes about 5 minutes....
If you have deductions or other claims to include with your tax return, then you can do your own tax return via the ATO customer web portal (or up until a few years ago, a standalone desktop application). Entire process to do it yourself is about 1 hour via the web portal... A few accountants and tax-agents (like H&R Block) complained about the changes, and our government at the time told them to deal with it...
Australia brought in formless tax returns a few years ago. You can simply call a tool-free number, input your Tax File Number (I guess similar to the US SSN in regards to the IRS), input your gross income, input your tax-withheld amount (The amount of tax you've already paid) and answer Yes to no claims, and you're done. If the ATO (Australian Tax Office) has your bank details, you get a refund in 5-10 days into your account or a check in the mail, or a letter requesting payment for unpaid taxes (which IIRC you have 30 days to pay, or you can contact them to arrange a payment plan)... Whole process takes about 5 minutes....
If you have deductions or other claims to include with your tax return, then you can do your own tax return via the ATO customer web portal (or up until a few years ago, a standalone desktop application). Entire process to do it yourself is about 1 hour via the web portal... A few accountants and tax-agents (like H&R Block) complained about the changes, and our government at the time told them to deal with it...
I meant that reply for SD. Anyway this has moved to tax policy rather than the return process.
Stereodude
Not really a
Well, the two are directly connected.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
Complete bullshit, I'm afraid.
Check out: https://blog.fastmail.com/2015/12/17/the-endless-battle-against-spam/ for an insight into the efforts to stop spam afflicting Fastmail users.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
Fastmail has created a massive hassle.
Apparently that is considered a dodgy domain.
Fastmail provides several domains for users who do not have their own domain. None of these have the words FastMail in them. It is only relatively recently that Fastmail.com was made available for such users - previously, there was only Fastmail.fm, and that was the portal for all accounts.
It is no more a dodgy domain than Yahoo.com or Gmail.com. That is, it is open to subscribers, but they do not own the domain.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
I really don't know what you're on about. High wealth individuals are not foolish enough to declare all their income as individuals. There are myriad other ways to funnel wealth accumulation. That just leaves you along with the rest of the populace who can't restructure their financial affairs. X amount of tax needs to be harvested from you sorry cattle, so why do you think there is a special scenario where you would end up better off? You can't get blood out of a stone/poor people, so you're definitely on Dracula's shopping list no matter how you spin the calculations.
I have heard that the US provided a deduction for home buyers at one stage. No idea how buying a house is an expense incurred in earning a living, the normal requirement for a tax deduction. Is this the sort of wackiness you are hoping to end?
There is a mortgage interest deduction for home owners when one elects to itemize deductions when filing taxes.
Stereodude
Not really a
Your last point basically debunks the whole first part of your post. You don't know what I'm on about because you apparently don't know very much about the US tax code. The mortgage interest deduction and property tax deduction are both examples of social engineering through tax policy. The tax policy is setup to encourage people to buy homes. I don't have a problem with people buying homes. I don't think people should be force to live in gov't run projects. However, all the possible deductions (and they're so many of them) combined with all the ins and outs of the tax system make it impossible to actually sort out.
The letter Donald Rumsfeld sends to the IRS each year with his taxes sums it up well:
Full letter available here.Donald Rumsfled said:
The IRS doesn't even know how to interpret the tax code. How sad is it that you have to interpret it? It's not clear cut. Investigative journalists have intentionally called the IRS help line multiple time to ask the same question every time to each different person they get and then ran the answers provided past tax experts to see if the answers were correct. The findings were sad. First, the answers didn't agree with each other, and it wasn't like the answers were all the same with only one outlier. It was a mixed bag of varied answers. Second, the answers provided were not necessarily correct. And, the answers weren't just different interpretations of the tax code that all could have been right. Some were flagrantly wrong.
Ideally there wouldn't even be a tax return. But, if they must have one it should fit on one side on a single sheet of paper.
Last year's taxes (2016) was an interesting "interpretation" of my tax-filing for what I guessed that I owed the IRS. My story supports your sentiment regarding the complexity of this ridiculous system. When my former company EMC was purchased by Dell, my stock was liquidated for a specific value and then a portion of the quantity of stock was converted and given to me in new DVMT tracking stocks...to which it had a taxable consequence. The problem I ran into (and many others as well) is that I had so many years of stock purchases that the law changed part way through my years of purchasing that in 2011 the management firm was required to calculate and report the cost basis of stocks reported to the IRS.
When I got my tax documentation for 2016, all stocks converted to DVMT pre-2011 had no basis reported to the IRS which meant I needed to report it to figure out my tax consequence. All stocks converted post-2011 had the basis already calculated making it easy to enter and figure out what I owed. I was not able to figure out the mathematical formula used to apply to the pre-2011 basis for all of these stock conversions. I called my management firm which had done the reporting of the numbers to the IRS and asked them for the formula they used for post-2011 basis so that I could ensure when reporting pre-2011 basis that my numbers jived with their reported calculations. They repeatedly told me they could not help or explain to me how they derived the cost basis for the items they reported. All they could do is tell me to consult my tax advisor. I tried for 20 minutes trying to convince them that since they reported the numbers, they should be able to tell me how they did that. I suspect they can't tell me because they actually don't know. They likely pay someone like Price Waterhouse Cooper to do the accounting and don't want to risk being liable in giving me incorrect information so they won't tell me.
Long story short, I searched and searched and found that most people were divided on the way to report the calculated cost basis and there was no clear consensus on the correct formula. I chose one side in the divided argument and hoped for the best. Fucking ridiculous.
When I got my tax documentation for 2016, all stocks converted to DVMT pre-2011 had no basis reported to the IRS which meant I needed to report it to figure out my tax consequence. All stocks converted post-2011 had the basis already calculated making it easy to enter and figure out what I owed. I was not able to figure out the mathematical formula used to apply to the pre-2011 basis for all of these stock conversions. I called my management firm which had done the reporting of the numbers to the IRS and asked them for the formula they used for post-2011 basis so that I could ensure when reporting pre-2011 basis that my numbers jived with their reported calculations. They repeatedly told me they could not help or explain to me how they derived the cost basis for the items they reported. All they could do is tell me to consult my tax advisor. I tried for 20 minutes trying to convince them that since they reported the numbers, they should be able to tell me how they did that. I suspect they can't tell me because they actually don't know. They likely pay someone like Price Waterhouse Cooper to do the accounting and don't want to risk being liable in giving me incorrect information so they won't tell me.
Long story short, I searched and searched and found that most people were divided on the way to report the calculated cost basis and there was no clear consensus on the correct formula. I chose one side in the divided argument and hoped for the best. Fucking ridiculous.
Stereodude
Not really a
That sucks... I haven't had that problem yet.
AFAIK, you can use one of several different methods to calculate the cost basis of multiple purchases over time of the same stock and they're all are okay (if you do the math right) because they will all ultimately equal out by the time you sell it all. Your situation could be different though.
AFAIK, you can use one of several different methods to calculate the cost basis of multiple purchases over time of the same stock and they're all are okay (if you do the math right) because they will all ultimately equal out by the time you sell it all. Your situation could be different though.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
Sorry, the first part of my response was directed at others. Only the second part was relevant to your comments.
It is interesting that you think that it is OK for the government to conduct social engineering to help people buy homes, but not for other purposes. I thought you were more of the Ayn Rand school of thought.
Every time I see government subsidies like this, I am skeptical that it is not making things worse. I am OK with government helping with basic human needs like healthcare and accommodation for the less fortunate, but helping middle class people buy homes merely takes money away from others in greater need.
Stereodude
Not really a
Where did I say it was okay? I was simply pointing out in general that I don't have a problem with people buying houses if they want one. I didn't say I think the gov't should be encouraging it via tax policy.
Why would this be happening with one email and not another? Does the Verizon just decide at random? I know the email still works on the phone.
I have Verizon as the home ISP and am unable to download from an EarthLink account. I checked the settings and their website for the ports, etc. Nothing has changed. I tried a second computer with the same results. It's ridiculous.
Of course my concern is what if they decide I'm not allowed to use Fastmail next week? Meanwhile the ATT have a new T&C that they will read all my emails and share the info with everyone to spam me, so I won't be using that email anymore either.
Stereodude
Not really a
Close the door to your office?
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Tip: If you need to reinstall Office 2016 from DVD, ensure all updates are applied first, before attempt to connect Outlook to Office365 or other hosted exchange solution...
MS Outlook gives really, really cryptic error messages in the simple case that the Outlook instance doesn't have the correct patches to talk correctly to O365.
MS Outlook gives really, really cryptic error messages in the simple case that the Outlook instance doesn't have the correct patches to talk correctly to O365.
Stereodude
Not really a
Good to know. I'll avoid that one next time I'm renting.The autononymous cruising and braking in the rental car doesn't work right on the curves.
My concern is how will all the autononymous cars work with the more complicated situations.
Half the roads have crappy lane lines illegible in the rain.
There is no instruction manual in rental cars nowadays.
There should be time to read with all Canadians in the toilets.
Half the roads have crappy lane lines illegible in the rain.
There is no instruction manual in rental cars nowadays.
There should be time to read with all Canadians in the toilets.