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cover of episode It's That Time Again!

It's That Time Again!

2024/3/6
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On the Media
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Brooke Gladstone
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Jessica Hoosman
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Jessica Hoosman：税务软件公司，例如Intuit和H&R Block，为了维护自身利益，投入巨资游说，阻止税务系统的简化。他们虽然表面上支持简化流程，例如减少需要填写的表格数量，但实际上强烈反对政府推出‘免申报’系统，因为这将直接影响他们的盈利。他们通过游说和捐款等方式影响政策制定，确保复杂的税务系统得以维持，从而继续依赖他们的软件来报税。 Brooke Gladstone：当前的税务系统过于复杂，给纳税人带来极大的不便。许多欧洲国家已经采用‘免申报’系统，利用政府已掌握的信息预估税款，纳税人只需核实或补充信息即可。这种系统可以极大地简化流程，提高效率。然而，在美国，由于税务软件公司和一些政治人物的阻挠，‘免申报’系统一直未能实施。虽然美国政府与一些私人税务公司合作提供免费报税服务，但由于推广力度不足，使用率极低。此外，一些反对简化税制的论点认为，政府同时负责收税和计算税款存在利益冲突，但这忽略了‘免申报’系统是自愿的，纳税人可以对预估税款提出异议的事实。许多人由于未申报税款而损失了退税款，这进一步说明简化税务系统的重要性。

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Few clichés are as well-worn, and grounded in reality, as the dread many Americans feel towards doing their taxes and the loathing they have for the IRS. But as much as the process is despised, relatively little is known about how it could be improved. Reporter Jessica Huseman) said that's largely because tax prep companies keep it that way). Brooke spoke to Huseman in 2017 about what an improved system might look like and how tax prep companies work to thwart any such changes.

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