Episode Details

Weeds co-hosts Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Vox policy editor Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) to talk about some hot! tax! policy! But mostly, why it’s so annoying to file our taxes every year. The three discuss why the tax code is so complicated to begin with; compare our filing system to other countries; and daydream about what could be done to fix the system. Plus, a white paper about, you guessed it: taxes.

References:

How to get free tax prep, or volunteer to provide tax prep to others

TR Reid’s A Fine Mess

Justin Trudeau’s return-free tax promise

Dylan explaining near-term options to reform tax filing

“What is return-free filing, and how would it work?”

The benefits of return-free filing

Option one: the pre-filled return

Option two: pay-as-you-earn

ProPublica on Intuit/H&R Block lobbying that’s kept taxes complicated

White paper: “Inertia and Overwithholding: Explaining the Prevalence of Income Tax Refunds” by Damon Jones

Does the EITC promote work?

Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Dara Lind (@dlind), Weeds co-host, Vox

Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts

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