Weeds co-hosts Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox policy editor Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) to talk about some hot! tax! policy! But mostly, why it’s so annoying to file our taxes every year. The three discuss why the tax code is so complicated to begin with; compare our filing system to other countries; and daydream about what could be done to fix the system. Plus, a white paper about, you guessed it: taxes.
References:
How to get free tax prep, or volunteer to provide tax prep to others
TR Reid’s A Fine Mess
Justin Trudeau’s return-free tax promise
Dylan explaining near-term options to reform tax filing
“What is return-free filing, and how would it work?”
The benefits of return-free filing
Option one: the pre-filled return
Option two: pay-as-you-earn
ProPublica on Intuit/H&R Block lobbying that’s kept taxes complicated
White paper: “Inertia and Overwithholding: Explaining the Prevalence of Income Tax Refunds” by Damon Jones
Does the EITC promote work?
Hosts:
Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox
Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, Vox
Credits:
Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer
Libby Nelson, editorial adviser
Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts
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