Elon Musk to the 99%---No Free Tax Filing for You.

[Fantine]

MSN

Yes, there are free online tax programs out there, but usually they get consumers by making the federal returns free and charging a lot for the state returns.
,
A user friendly IRS tax program on the IRS website would have helped million.s--but Musk deleted it.

My own tax returns are a little more complicated, although we're retired. Husband has a hobby business, I freelance, we did have a rental property but that's sold now, etc. I do use a free program, but hunted around for it. I find no matter which program you use, or even if you use a service or account, you still have to gather and organize the material, and that's the most work. After that you just answer questions, and they're all the same.

I would share the name of the free program I use, but I don't think it's allowed here--but if Musk's actions disappoint you, keep looking.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I wonder how long it'll take for Musk's sheen to wear off and TrumpFans to see that the guy is just full of it and breaking things for the sake of breaking them.

 

[Fantine]

Didn't take me long at all.

 

[probinson]

You should be aware if DirectFile continues, you must use ID.me to verify your identify. This requires you to upload a picture of the front and back of your driver's license and take a "live selfie" with your phone's video camera to verify your identity with their proprietary facial recognition. No other tax preparation software that I am aware of requires any such verification.

If you're unfamiliar with ID.me, take a moment to Google it before you decide if you're comfortable having your biometric data stored to verify your identity to do something as simple as filing your taxes.

 

[iluvatar5150]

You should be aware if DirectFile continues, you must use ID.me to verify your identify. This requires you to upload a picture of the front and back of your driver's license and take a "live selfie" with your phone's video camera to verify your identity with their proprietary facial recognition. No other tax preparation software that I am aware of requires any such verification.

If you're unfamiliar with ID.me, take a moment to Google it before you decide if you're comfortable having your biometric data stored to verify your identity to do something as simple as filing your taxes.

That data is already stored online.

 

[BCP1928]

You should be aware if DirectFile continues, you must use ID.me to verify your identify. This requires you to upload a picture of the front and back of your driver's license and take a "live selfie" with your phone's video camera to verify your identity with their proprietary facial recognition. No other tax preparation software that I am aware of requires any such verification.

If you're unfamiliar with ID.me, take a moment to Google it before you decide if you're comfortable having your biometric data stored to verify your identity to do something as simple as filing your taxes.

Especially now that it goes onto Elon's private hard drives.

 

[probinson]

That data is already stored online.

That's just not true. Your facial recognition data from ID.me's proprietary system is absolutely NOT online unless you've already authenticated with them.

 

[Say it aint so]

You should be aware if DirectFile continues, you must use ID.me to verify your identify. This requires you to upload a picture of the front and back of your driver's license and take a "live selfie" with your phone's video camera to verify your identity with their proprietary facial recognition. No other tax preparation software that I am aware of requires any such verification.

If you're unfamiliar with ID.me, take a moment to Google it before you decide if you're comfortable having your biometric data stored to verify your identity to do something as simple as filing your taxes.

A lot of people on Social Security, who I would imagine the filing program helps, are already using ID.me to access their SS accounts.

 

[PloverWing]

Every year, as tax season rolls around, it bugs me that Americans have to invest so much time and money in filing our income taxes. The IRS should just send us a tax bill, we pay it, done. The gas company doesn't make me read my own meter; they just send me a bill. Electric company, phone company, property taxes -- I just get a bill. The IRS should send us a bill. Sorry, TurboTax, you'll have to make your money some other way.

 

[iluvatar5150]

That's just not true. Your facial recognition data from ID.me's proprietary system is absolutely NOT online unless you've already authenticated with them.

Pictures of your face are online, if not taken and uploaded by you, then by others. If this company is contracted by the federal government for this service, there are likely pretty strict controls on what they can do with the data vs something like Facebook or Twitter that can mine it and sell it as far as they can stretch their TOS.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

You should be aware if DirectFile continues, you must use ID.me to verify your identify. This requires you to upload a picture of the front and back of your driver's license and take a "live selfie" with your phone's video camera to verify your identity with their proprietary facial recognition. No other tax preparation software that I am aware of requires any such verification.

If you're unfamiliar with ID.me, take a moment to Google it before you decide if you're comfortable having your biometric data stored to verify your identity to do something as simple as filing your taxes.

Uber and DoorDash (possibly all of these types of companies) both do this before you can drive for their companies. You have to prove that you are who you say is the registered driver of the vehicle.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Every year, as tax season rolls around, it bugs me that Americans have to invest so much time and money in filing our income taxes. The IRS should just send us a tax bill, we pay it, done. The gas company doesn't make me read my own meter; they just send me a bill. Electric company, phone company, property taxes -- I just get a bill. The IRS should send us a bill. Sorry, TurboTax, you'll have to make your money some other way.

The only thing tax payers should need to do is provide any deductions not already reported to them like donations to charity. Everything else has already been reported by the entities to which they pertain.

 

[Fantine]

I never worried about this much when I had faith and trust in our government, but now that my trust level is -10 I agree you must be very cautious, and never ever believe anything they say.
That's how 49.9% of voters got us in this mess

 

[probinson]

Pictures of your face are online, if not taken and uploaded by you, then by others. If this company is contracted by the federal government for this service, there are likely pretty strict controls on what they can do with the data vs something like Facebook or Twitter that can mine it and sell it as far as they can stretch their TOS.

"Pictures of your face" are not the same thing as biometric facial recognition data. If they were, all anyone would ever need to access something protected with facial recognition authentication is a picture of your face.

 

[iluvatar5150]

"Pictures of your face" are not the same thing as biometric facial recognition data. If they were, all anyone would ever need to access something protected with facial recognition authentication is a picture of your face.

You’re not uploading “biometric facial recognition data” to id.me, are you? You’re uploading a picture (or a video). The analytical data is generated on their end, just like they could generate from other media.

 

[Always in His Presence]

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Free filing sight - #3 - FreeTaxUSA

nuff said? This might just be why MSN and their crony's are slowly going out of business.

 

[probinson]

You’re not uploading “biometric facial recognition data” to id.me, are you?

Yes, you are.

Specifically, ID.me may collect biometric information such as facial geometry from users during certain verification processes.​

​

https://help.id.me/hc/en-us/articles/360062159374-Understanding-and-managing-your-Biometric-Information

​

You’re uploading a picture (or a video). The analytical data is generated on their end, just like they could generate from other media.

If this were true, ANYONE who had nothing more than a picture of you would be able to pass their verification system.

You upload an image of your driver's license, and then they use their biometric facial recognition software to confirm that you are the person in the photo. This is much more than simply uploading a photo. It's trusting ID.me with your biometric data which they may or may not keep for up to three years.

 

[iluvatar5150]

E-file Your IRS Taxes | Start for Free with E-file.com ™

E-file.com can help file your taxes faster and with fewer errors. Use authorized IRS e-File software to file your taxes. Start filing your 2024 tax return today

www.e-file.com

Free filing site

IRS - Free Filing - File your taxes for free | Internal Revenue Service

Free filing sight - #3 - FreeTaxUSA

nuff said? This might just be why MSN and their crony's are slowly going out of business.

Are they going out of business because people don’t read their articles? Because you clearly didn’t. If you’d actually read the MSN article, you’d know that they didn’t claim the DirectFile site was down. They said that it was still up, that the Treasury Secretary promised that it would stay up through the current tax season, but that Musk said it had been “deleted.”

Whomever did or didn’t read the article, I’m glad we can all agree that Musks’s claims of productivity are… overblown.

 

[probinson]

Speaking of people who didn't read the article...

"MSN" is not the source of this article. MSN is just a news aggregator. USA Today is the source.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Yes, you are.

Specifically, ID.me may collect biometric information such as facial geometry from users during certain verification processes.​

​

https://help.id.me/hc/en-us/articles/360062159374-Understanding-and-managing-your-Biometric-Information

​

If this were true, ANYONE who had nothing more than a picture of you would be able to pass their verification system.

You upload an image of your driver's license, and then they use their biometric facial recognition software to confirm that you are the person in the photo. This is much more than simply uploading a photo. It's trusting ID.me with your biometric data which they may or may not keep for up to three years.

It’s really not more than simply uploading a photo/video. I haven’t used this particular app, but I have used other ones that do scans for things like personalized audio dsp and, at most, all you’re uploading is a video of your face from different angles. It’s possible they’re doing their analysis on the app side, but I kind of doubt it because it’s easier and more secure to just have the user upload the photos/videos and do the processing on a server. If somebody was at all motivated, they could build the same models from your Instagram reel.

Ultimately, I think you’re getting hung up on the word “biometric,” which is really just a fancy-sounding catch-all term for anything related to your body.