Technology

If you don't know much about investing then you shouldn't short anything ever. People who know about investing will tell you that even when your logic is 100 percent sound, the market isn't that predictable and in general the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.

it wouldve been earlier, but now this is priced into the stocks already.

Sorta silly?! It's fucked beyond belief. Source: me, someone who profits off the healthcare industry as a corpo. Sorry 🤷.

Right. Filing taxes should only be necessary if you have itemized writeoffs or wish to contest the IRS's statement of your tax liability. They already know what you earned their your employer, what's been paid in taxes, what basic credits your qualify for, etc. They know what you owe so long as you didn't have expenses to apply for that they couldn't assume or know about. The only reason they don't already do that or, at least until now, have a free public system for filing, it's because tax companies have lobbied for decades to be able to milk the public for cash to help them file and navigate their tax liability.

I've been in the US for a few years now. All my colleagues told me that doing taxes is hard. So I used to reluctantly pay money to do it through Sprintax. This year, I decided to do it by hand. It took almost the same amount of time as it would've taken to do it through Sprintax, which is around 30 minutes.

From the article:

The pilot program targeted people with simple tax returns based on W-2 forms. In her remarks today Yellen said that over the next few years they will expand Direct File to support more situations.

It will eventually be supported, and in the interim they have stated that they won't keep biometric data obtained through ID.me once a verification is completed, or you can opt for an online interview where no biometrics are collected in the first place.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-statement-new-features-put-in-place-for-irs-online-account-registration-process-strengthened-to-ensure-privacy-and-security

Who knows if ID.me will actually delete the data on their end though, or if the online interview is recorded by the provider.

I looked it up, and there is an article from the end of last year that says they are about to be required or are already required.

I can't recall ever putting my license on one of these tax preppers, but I am also older and more privacy concerned in my older age, so I would definitely not do it now.