> I honestly laugh at this one. Just exactly which part of information that IRS process is not already in the IRS possession? With that statement -- they really reach out for the dumbest people hearing them out.
They won't have data from people who are self-employed. That said, neither does TurboTax so there's no difference here based on their argument, just as you said.
It does make a difference. TurboTax is an app that allows you to enter this info. The whole premise of auto-filed tax return is that you don't need to enter anything. The argument "to be able to file without entering anything you need to either vastly expand what IRS knows about citizens, or to restrict it to a small number of very simple cases" is not refuted by pointing out neither IRS nor TurboTax initially do not have the info. Because TurboTax side is not based on the premise of having the info upfront, only auto-file case is premised on this.
The correct way to refute such argument would be to prove that the simple cases - the ones that can be auto-files - constitute not a small part of cases but a part big enough to warrant IRS doing it. That's the argument I'd like to see - with proof, of course - i.e. how big is that part that can be auto-filed completely without increasing IRS knowledge it has now.
It's not a very large percentage of returns (around 6.5%) if you credit them with the ability to file all 1040EZs (they probably can't auto-file all the 1040EZs but can probably do most of them).
They won't have data from people who are self-employed. That said, neither does TurboTax so there's no difference here based on their argument, just as you said.