ustaxes.org
Web and SaaS
tax filing
SHOW HN2021
465points
219comments
#49of 2,533 in 2021
Top 2%of 2021 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
10 positive, 17 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 10 critical, out of 39 comments about the project. Thread score -0.01.
Idea: 5 for, 2 againstPrivacy: 2 for, 5 againstExecution: 1 for, 2 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 againstDesign: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good idea, open-source tax filing is needed
From 3 comments
Thank you for starting this. It's something that needs to exit!
timoth3y on HNSoftware for the people!
twistel on HNFiling taxes is a solved problem in many countries so it's very disappointing it's still so difficult to do in the US. I'm glad to see open source engineers taking matters into…
privatenumber on HN
Client-side design is appealing
From 1 comment
I like the code of conduct. If you can get a contibutor's guide and TODO list up, I'd bet you can get a couple contributors (especially around tax season). If it ends up covering…
0xbadcafebee on HN
Objections
Privacy concerns about entering SSN into an unaudited site
From 3 comments
Not sure if you want to use the actual ustaxes.org website and input your real SSN without any security audits.
m3kw9 on HNimagine submitting your social security number and sensitive PII to a website that was created during covid 2020-05-10T08:44:50Z which doesn't have a contact us page even if it…
jfc_taxman on HNThis is really cool, and I'd like to encourage work like this. I currently don't think I can recommend this to others because: It isn't immediately obvious who is running the…
thanksforfish on HN
Unclear who runs the site and no about or privacy page
From 2 comments
This is really cool, and I'd like to encourage work like this. I currently don't think I can recommend this to others because: It isn't immediately obvious who is running the…
thanksforfish on HNOk how do you do state taxes in this? I don't see California option. Also no privacy policy on the hosted one, you really think people will trust giving their sensitive…
suyash on HN
Only W2 income and federal forms supported
From 2 comments
This is federal only right now, I plan to work on state taxes in the future, but I wanted to get the basic federal forms done first. The readme also definitely needs some work!…
aidangrimshaw on HNOther types of income are definitely in the works, W2 income was just implemented first because it's the most common and the least complex. Rare types of income like trusts (K9)…
aidangrimshaw on HN
Tax calculation correctness unverified
From 1 comment
How would you know that a project like this is computing taxes correctly?
spankalee on HN
Requests
State tax support
From 2 comments
Ok how do you do state taxes in this? I don't see California option. Also no privacy policy on the hosted one, you really think people will trust giving their sensitive…
suyash on HNIs this federal only or state as well? The readme and website appear to be kinda thin on details. Cool nonetheless.
vxNsr on HN
Support for more income types like 1099-INT and capital gains
From 1 comment
This is a cool project. As a user entering information in a pdf file with hundreds of input boxes stresses me. Hiding the document until after I enter all the information makes…
eralps on HN
Local runnable build and checksums for verification
From 1 comment
I like the code of conduct. If you can get a contibutor's guide and TODO list up, I'd bet you can get a couple contributors (especially around tax season). If it ends up covering…
0xbadcafebee on HN
Unit tests and contributor guide
From 2 comments
A future improvement I am looking into is adding unit tests for tax calculation. If the project gets popular enough I would probably hire an accountant to verify everything.
aidangrimshaw on HNI like the code of conduct. If you can get a contibutor's guide and TODO list up, I'd bet you can get a couple contributors (especially around tax season). If it ends up covering…
0xbadcafebee on HN
Questions
How is tax calculation verified as correct
From 1 comment
How would you know that a project like this is computing taxes correctly?
spankalee on HN
Is the site federal only or includes state
From 1 comment
Is this federal only or state as well? The readme and website appear to be kinda thin on details. Cool nonetheless.
vxNsr on HN
Does the site send data externally
From 2 comments
Ok how do you do state taxes in this? I don't see California option. Also no privacy policy on the hosted one, you really think people will trust giving their sensitive…
suyash on HNThis is really cool, and I'd like to encourage work like this. I currently don't think I can recommend this to others because: It isn't immediately obvious who is running the…
thanksforfish on HN
Alternatives named
OpenTaxSolver
From 2 comments
For the past ~decade I've mostly been using OpenTaxSolver, a file-based open source US tax utility. It's worked for my uses. It'd be appealing to try to factor out the underlying…
wiml on HNRelated project: OpenTaxSolver (http://opentaxsolver.sourceforge.net/): OpenTaxSolver (OTS) is a free, safe + secure program for calculating Tax Form entries for Federal and…
pwg on HN
TurboTax
From 2 comments
Turbo Tax has a limit on number of trades. And takes a long time to process them. Are they sleep'ing a lot or does it really take a minute for 100 trades? I'm wondering if this…
ketamine__ on HNHaving the government just send you a yearly "bill" showing your total taxes already withheld, calculated tax owed, and the balance, which you then start from to file extra…
zerocrates on HN
TaxAct
From 1 comment
I'm happy paying the modest fee for taxact. I do agree America has such an annoying tax system though. Why am I filling out forms if the irs already has this information!
geogra4 on HN