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points by rbhelt 1 day ago | 0 comments
Additionally, "the tax code isn't /that/ complicated"... tax law is so complex that it is the only form of US law in which ignorance of the law is an acceptable legal defense.
[–] BeetleB 1 day ago
In his defense, he did say "... for most people".

And that's true if all you do is have W-2 income, and RSUs/ESPPs. ESPPs were the most complex thing I had to deal with until I stupidly decided to do things and get K-1s.

[–] rbhelt 1 day ago
Fair point, but the actual "tax code" (Title 26 of the US Code) is extremely complex for most people to understand. If he is referring to IRS Form Instructions as the tax code, yes those are usually not very complex. From my perspective K1s, RSUs, & ESPPs are as simple as a W2 with state tax withholding and I think that is why I am struggling with so many of the comments on this post - I simply can't relate.
[–] BeetleB 1 day ago
> From my perspective K1s, RSUs, & ESPPs are as simple as a W2 with state tax withholding and I think that is why I am struggling with so many of the comments on this post - I simply can't relate.

Well, you are an accountant :-)

With my K1, the issue was that it was for a real estate investment, and you have to be careful about things like bonus depreciation/cost segregation etc. One tax accountant I used was not carrying over the loss (or perhaps not applying the prior year's loss, or something like that). Another accountant was deducting that loss from my W-2 income, which I can't do as I'm not a real estate professional.

When I finally brought these points up and got all these corrected, I studied the final result and then continued doing them myself. But it was a pain getting the online tax SW (TurboTax, TaxAct, etc) to mimic what they did. I had to be really careful what things I said "Yes" to and what I didn't. I would never have figured it out on my own by reading the relevant tax publications (which I did peruse).

And then later, I formed a partnership with a friend so we could both invest in something. Now I also have to issue K-1s! Not fun! RSUs are much easier.