I don't want your stupid advertisements
So I was listening to the radio and there was this commercial for a tax service. They were going on about how people who do their own taxes lose a combined billion dollars a year.
"A BILLION DOLLARS," they repeated with dramatic flair before going on to describe it as a tragedy.
Naturally, this instantly brought to mind the question of how much money people lose to these companies instead of to the government. Are we not supposed to believe they're not a multi-billion dollar industry? Yes, these places have plenty of customers who get more back than they pay and plenty who happily pay simply to not be bothered. But how much money would their industry's existing customers and the customers in that billion dollar group that they're courting save because their return is less than this company's fee?
This particular company certainly doesn't wave their fee if that occurs as their quick disclaimer at the end revealed when they said; "Not all customers get a return," with no mention being made them waving their fees in such instances (as would be the case if they did as that's a big selling point). And of course it's not like they guarantee that the people who could do it themselves, but choose to hire them to save time are also saving money.
I know someone who studied accounting and although she does her own taxes, she recently had to see an accountant for an estate she was managing. The professional has a lot of different people's returns to do and has to try and be versed in all different kinds of tax laws so she can't master all of them. In contrast, this person I know can spend all day going over her tax forms and become an expert in the specific set of laws relating to them. As a result, she was able to spot money saving things that the accountant didn't. So add in how much money people who are capable of doing their own taxes, but choose not to, lose for similar reasons. Are we over a billion now announcer guy hired to read a cheesy promo?
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