Why Doing Taxes Is So Hard | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix
Netflix Is A Joke2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2021–2024
commentary · general · 2021–2024 on HN
An episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj exposing how tax-prep companies like TurboTax make filing confusing and costly even though many Americans can file for free. It combines comedy with reporting on lobbying and dark patterns.
HN recommends it as an accessible explanation of how Intuit's lobbying and deceptive design undermine free tax filing.
Up next
3 mo on HNMaking a Full Bridge Rectifier
ElectroBOOM
3 HN recommender · 2016–2021
10 mo on HNUSENIX Security '18-Q: Why Do Keynote Speakers Keep Suggesting That Improving Security Is Possible?
USENIX
10 HN recommender · 2018–2026
11 mo on HNThe Loving Trap
Ben Woodhams
15 HN recommender · 2012–2026
7 mo on HNNaN Gates and Flip FLOPS
suckerpinch
7 HN recommender · 2020–2025
6 mo on HNErlang The Movie II: The Sequel
gar1t
6 HN recommender · 2013–2025
6 mo on HNOn The Turing Completeness of PowerPoint (SIGBOVIK)
Tom Wildenhain
8 HN recommender · 2017–2025
6 mo on HNChicken chicken chicken
Yoram Bauman
5 HN recommender · 2013–2026
5 mo on HNHow to sound smart in your TEDx Talk | Will Stephen | TEDxNewYork
TEDx Talks
6 HN recommender · 2015–2024
6 mo on HN30 Weird Chess Algorithms: Elo World
suckerpinch
8 HN recommender · 2019–2026
6 mo on HNThe Lottery: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
LastWeekTonight
6 HN recommender · 2014–2023
6 mo on HNEvo-Devo (Despacito Biology Parody) | A Capella Science
acapellascience
6 HN recommender · 2017–2026
4 mo on HNDo Nothing- a message of motivation from Self-help Singh- (un) motivational speaker and life coach
Masood Boomgaard
4 HN recommender · 2022–2024
3 comments from Hacker News
There's a very good Patriot Act episode [1] regarding devious patterns in the US tax industry. In fact the whole show is well worth watching. It's cancelled now, presumably because Netflix felt some heat since every episode stirred/kicked another wasp's nest. [1] ▶ this video
> the government's own system is shit (which is why many people choose to pay) The reason the government's system has historically been terrible is because of lobbying on the part of Intuit (maker of TurboTax) and others. There was a great episode of Patriot Act a few years ago that discussed this: ▶ this video
Pretty much everyone has to pay if you use turbo-tax, the "free" edition is not an IRS free file offering they don't advertise that one. There are very very very limited cases to not be hit by a "surprise" you need to upgrade and pay us from with money from your tax return. A staggering percentage of people who would have eligible to file for free under the IRS program end up paying because of the dark patterns, and the misleading marketing you for whatever reason are perpetuating. 2 years ago 37 Million people filed online who were eligible to use an IRS free file offering and only 6.8% did... [1] [1] ▶ this video [2] link