Tax Day!

[MajorRewrite]

Tax Day is here!

I have no idea if this is accurate, but here’s an estimate of what Americans and American businesses spend to prepare tax forms:

Tracker: The Cost of Tax Paperwork for Tax Day 2026



$302 billion spent on tax prep is just wacko. The income tax system is absurdly complex and compliance is too expensive.

And it’s basically an honor system now that Donnie has fired so many IRS employees. Tax fraud is going to soar. The “tax gap” between taxes owed and taxes actually paid is estimated to be $1 trillion annually.

What goals would you set for a tax system overhaul?

Mine would be:

• Simplicity
• Difficult to dodge/defraud
• Progressive
• Higher tax on asset transactions (preferably a ‘sales tax’ on all stocks, bonds, etc and on real estate transactions over $1 million)

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/15/tax-day-united-states-unequal-taxation

The global inequality report, commissioned during South Africa’s G20 presidency, found that between 2000 and 2024, the richest 1% captured 41% of all new wealth, while the bottom half of humanity got just 1%. This trajectory is unsustainable.

In 2024, under Brazil’s leadership, the G20...committed to more effective taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. It commissioned a report that proposed a minimum tax of 2% on the wealth of the super-rich – a straightforward way to ensure they meet their obligations to society.

 

[BDA73]

No way the average cost of a tax return is over a grand

 

[MajorRewrite]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/15/tax-day-united-states-unequal-taxation

The global inequality report, commissioned during South Africa’s G20 presidency, found that between 2000 and 2024, the richest 1% captured 41% of all new wealth, while the bottom half of humanity got just 1%. This trajectory is unsustainable.

In 2024, under Brazil’s leadership, the G20...committed to more effective taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. It commissioned a report that proposed a minimum tax of 2% on the wealth of the super-rich – a straightforward way to ensure they meet their obligations to society.

Most forms of a wealth tax seem like they’d be easy to dodge (by moving assets out of the country).

That’s why I suggested a transaction tax on financial instruments and real estate. That would be simple to implement and very hard to defraud.

 

[MajorRewrite]

No way the average cost of a tax return is over a grand

Business tax returns push the average way up.

 

[BDA73]

Business tax returns push the average way up.

Ok..ill agree to that..most people think of April 15th as personal tax deadline...yes i know C corps are due today

 

[SebastianHolt]

Tax Day is here!

I have no idea if this is accurate, but here’s an estimate of what Americans and American businesses spend to prepare tax forms:

Tracker: The Cost of Tax Paperwork for Tax Day 2026

View attachment 2613227

$302 billion spent on tax prep is just wacko. The income tax system is absurdly complex and compliance is too expensive.

And it’s basically an honor system now that Donnie has fired so many IRS employees. Tax fraud is going to soar. The “tax gap” between taxes owed and taxes actually paid is estimated to be $1 trillion annually.

What goals would you set for a tax system overhaul?

Mine would be:

• Simplicity
• Difficult to dodge/defraud
• Progressive
• Higher tax on asset transactions (preferably a ‘sales tax’ on all stocks, bonds, etc and on real estate transactions over $1 million)

I can't wait to see my tax prep bill. I'm so glued to my CPA it would be a nightmare to find a new one

 

[SebastianHolt]

Tax Day is here!

I have no idea if this is accurate, but here’s an estimate of what Americans and American businesses spend to prepare tax forms:

Tracker: The Cost of Tax Paperwork for Tax Day 2026

View attachment 2613227

$302 billion spent on tax prep is just wacko. The income tax system is absurdly complex and compliance is too expensive.

And it’s basically an honor system now that Donnie has fired so many IRS employees. Tax fraud is going to soar. The “tax gap” between taxes owed and taxes actually paid is estimated to be $1 trillion annually.

What goals would you set for a tax system overhaul?

Mine would be:

• Simplicity
• Difficult to dodge/defraud
• Progressive
• Higher tax on asset transactions (preferably a ‘sales tax’ on all stocks, bonds, etc and on real estate transactions over $1 million)

over 50% of america can use intuit tax or a free tax app

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

Most forms of a wealth tax seem like they’d be easy to dodge (by moving assets out of the country).

That’s why I suggested a transaction tax on financial instruments and real estate. That would be simple to implement and very hard to defraud.

Right, the ability of capital to move freely while tax departments around the world constrain themselves to their own borders is what needs to be broken. Either we make it very hard for capital to move around (eg Bretton Woods) or countries tax on global wealth estimates.

Personally, I would like to see any entity that receives over, say, $1 million (you can pick your own number) in taxpayer funded subsidies have to pay full whack up front and then, in an annual televised event, the principal of that entity has to turn up in person to receive their tax break on one of those enormous checks. There would be confetti and cheerleaders.

No personal appearance, no tax refund.

Oh, and the check gets signed then and there on TV by a child who lives below the poverty line.

 

[SebastianHolt]

Right, the ability of capital to move freely while tax departments around the world constrain themselves to their own borders is what needs to be broken. Either we make it very hard for capital to move around (eg Bretton Woods) or countries tax on global wealth estimates.

Personally, I would like to see any entity that receives over, say, $1 million (you can pick your own number) in taxpayer funded subsidies have to pay full whack up front and then, in an annual televised event, the principal of that entity has to turn up in person to receive their tax break on one of those enormous checks. There would be confetti and cheerleaders.

No personal appearance, no tax refund.

Oh, and the check gets signed then and there on TV by a child who lives below the poverty line.

no sir, capital needs to be as fluid as water

 

[eric_erosfan]

I don't mind paying taxes. I hate when government tries to penalize me for not enough witholding throughout the year. I paid the tax in full before the tax deadline. Not my fault the default withholding rate for vested RSUs (treated differently than W4 income) is inadequate.

When government starts imposing tax penalties for regular Joes when those making billions each year sometimes pay no tax, then they have become an obstacle to liberty.

 

[SebastianHolt]

I don't mind paying taxes. I hate when government tries to penalize me for not enough witholding throughout the year. I paid the tax in full before the tax deadline. Not my fault the default withholding rate for vested RSUs (treated differently than W4 income) is inadequate.

When government starts imposing tax penalties for regular Joes when those making billions each year sometimes pay no tax, then they have become an obstacle to liberty.

I have no problem with a millionaire or even a billionaire not paying any income tax as they invested in the system which reduced their liability

 

[SebastianHolt]

I don't mind paying taxes. I hate when government tries to penalize me for not enough witholding throughout the year. I paid the tax in full before the tax deadline. Not my fault the default withholding rate for vested RSUs (treated differently than W4 income) is inadequate.

When government starts imposing tax penalties for regular Joes when those making billions each year sometimes pay no tax, then they have become an obstacle to liberty.

I got lucky, sold an asset and got RSU but that company got picked up by a holding company and that holding company was purchased. what a flipping tax/accounting puzzle for someone to figure outs. all i know is that I had to file and extension

 

[MajorRewrite]

Interesting report on how corporations have received more and more tax breaks over the years, dramatically lowering their effective tax rate.

These highly profitable corporations paid zero federal income taxes last year

So far, 88 profitable corporations have reported paying $0 in federal income taxes last year, according to a new report by the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The list includes Citigroup ($4.45 billion in profits), CVS Health ($6.57 billion), GoDaddy ($981 million), Palantir ($1.58 billion), PayPal ($1.43 billion), Walt Disney ($8.3 billion), and Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, ($1.03 billion).

The statutory tax rate on corporate profits is 21%. Collectively, the 88 companies in the ITEP report reported $105 billion in profits in 2025. That means, absent special breaks, they would have owed the federal government about $22.1 billion. Instead, these companies collectively “received $4.7 billion in tax rebates.”

Trump’s OBBB is accelerating an existing trend of lower corporate income tax payments to the federal government. The statutory federal corporate income tax rate was 53% in 1969, 34% after former President Reagan’s 1986 tax cut, and 21% after Trump’s first term.

While the statutory rate has remained unchanged since 2018, effective rates have continued to plummet due to a growing list of new tax breaks and loopholes. The effective tax rate paid by the average profitable corporation has fallen from 38% in the 1960s to 22% before Trump’s first term, and to about 12.8% after Trump’s first tax cut was passed in 2018.

The impact of the OBBB is still being assessed, but in 2025, four large tech firms — Meta, Alphabet, Tesla, and Amazon — paid an average rate of 4.9%.

In the 1950s, corporate income tax revenue accounted for nearly one-third of all revenues.

In 2025, corporate income taxes amounted to just 8.6% of revenue. This year is projected to be even worse, with corporate tax revenue accounting for just 7% of total receipts.

$105 billion in profits and got $4.7 billion in rebates. Ka-Ching!

Corporate tax revenue dropped from 30% to 7% of total revenues. Guess who’s left holding the bag?