As a housewife, I can confirm that administrative burden is almost a part-tome job. Last year I spent 20 hours (no exaggeration) on the phone trying yo get approved for a covered Healthcare service. I eventually gave up and just paid out of pocket. So mad.
@@luisfilipe2023 or people lied. Said documents wasn’t there that was. If you ever worked in a health insurance office you see how shady things can be. Also if the person was doing it wrong, why is it so if and or but on what covered that doctors get pre approval and later say that wasn’t approved because x y and z wasn’t done. If people with phd cannot follow the process right how can an average American.
A year ago I helped my boyfriend get his unemployment benefits from 2020 that he didn't get because the process was too complicated... it took about a month and dozens of phone calls, many nights without much sleep and me feeling like i'd had a heart attack. It was awful... yet 100% worth it. Things need to change.
That comment about the time it takes to call the permit office is real. I am trying to build a retail store in Virginia and literally just got off the phone with them right before watching this episode. This was probably the 27th time in the last 3 months that I have had to call them about a tiny minutia of bureaucratic detail that wasn't clear and was holding up my permit. Each time, I have to wait on the phone so long since their callback feature never seems to work. I have probably spent 2 entire workweeks over the last 3 months trying to get this building permit done.
You really are trying to "pick yourself up by the bootstraps", help the economy, call it what you'd like and this is how you're treated. F the government.
My boss has been trying to get permits for the new liquor store building to replace the current building he owns. He has been trying since 2019 to these permits.
I know it doesn't solve the problem but if you have a Pixel phone you can use the "hold for me" feature which allows you to multitask by putting the phone on hold and then plays a loud sound when the person you're calling finally answers (ua-cam.com/video/sBTCJUZlHdA/v-deo.html). It's also kind of satisfying to be able to put THEM on hold if you're not quite ready to answer.
This video was informative and depressing at the same time. The government puts out requirements to the citizens and makes it time consuming and difficult to meet the requirements.
I grew up poor and on government benefits and as an adult, I still am on government benefits until my husband finishes his medical degree and training. I am so grateful for the time my mother spent figuring out the welfare and rental system and educating me. I've already avoided a bunch of traps and gotten benefits I likely wouldn't have known about. It still sucks time out of my life every single week, but at least it's a lot less time than it would've been.
So glad you are doing an episode on this!! We need to teach us in the middle class how so many states put so many hoops between citizens and the benefits they are entitled to
@@Josh-179 taxes pay for everything including government programs. Therefore if the program exists and one qualifies then they are entitled to that benefit. I understand you may not agree to having those programs in the first place but that's a whole nother conversation
@@deestupi , There's a misunderstanding of what I mean by entitled. Legally, yes you are entitled by qualifying for assistance because the government has implemented that. My money forced into government to give to someone else is legalized theft. Your only entitlement is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Much of the planet doesn't even have that. You're not even entitled to food, water, clothes, and shelter just because you were born. Our society has just seen to it that most people are provided these things if you can't afford it. But it's not a human right. I mentioned SS and Medicare as the exception in the context of paid entitlements because there's a separate line item on your taxes for those specific things. All other welfare assistance comes out of general taxes on a discretionary basis.
@@Josh-179 that's your opinion. If enough is produced in this country for everyone to be fed clothed sheltered and have healthcare then i do not care what means we use to guarantee those things. It could be taxes, it could also be employers paying their employees more. You call our tax system legalized theft but i disagree with you. The tax system is an agreement between the governed and the those governing. Now you and i differ of what those agreements should consist. So luckily we can vote for representatives and referendums to change those agreements. As far as what other countries have or don't have i find that countries with higher taxes and great government systems have better education rates, mortality rates, and better health overall.
Here in Australia the tax form is online and pre filled with almost everything and you just need to report what they miss. Taxes are easy to deal with and can be done in under an hour
I worked at a nonprofit that dealt with enrolling people in government sponsored childcare benefits and the application we had people fill out was about 16 pages long, not including the portions with just rules on them.
I have a theory that they came from very strict religious backgrounds and have been deconstructing and finding their authentic selves… and I get that, rock on!
As a government employee, I feel this down to my core. I work for Social Services. As much as the clients don't like the bureaucracy, the employees don't like it either. We unfortunately don't make the policy and have to go through all the bs just to get the cases authorized. It's a two way street of exhaustion.
THANK YOU for discussing how unfairly the system can be weighed for people seeking aid. My mother and I had to to take off multiple days of school/work just to get me qualified for our state level disabled assistance program so I could get funding/support for college!
I'm glad you uploaded this video but I think you missed an opportunity (at least in this video, you might have mentioned it elsewhere). Specifically I'm referring to how the reason why paying income taxes in the USA is so complicated is because tax preparation companies lobby Congress to prevent making it easier like other countries do. It's a deliberate effort by these large corporations to make it more difficult so US citizens instead pay them to help with it. IMO it is a form of legalized extortion.
Thank you for bringing this up. The IRS came up with a great plan for everyone to be able to file their taxes online for free. Better for citizens, better for the IRS. But tax preparers lobbied to run the program through tax preparation companies. They set their own rules on who can file for free and who will need to pay extra to e-file.
I mostly disagree. The primary reasons are that 1) politicians are lobbied by many industries, and then politicians carve out special interests, and 2) the bigger reason is politicians want to make it more complicated to show their "accomplishments". For example, the Trump and Biden administrations have both added numerous new taxes that, for the most part, could have been handled much easier (such as raising or lowering the rate or repealing loopholes). Some of the new taxes include global intangible low taxed income, foreign derived intangible income, transition tax, base erosion and profit shifting tax, stock buy back tax, and global minimum tax.
@@joeb1522 Respectfully I think you missed part of my point. As we both agree, yes industries lobby Congress for there own interests. But in the case of tax preparation companies they have *demonstrably* lobbied Congress specifically for the intention of making paying taxes more difficult and complicated for citizens. Why? Because their own profits depend on most of the work being put in the taxpayers themselves so they'll prefer to pay the tax prep companies instead. Another problem with your argument is that while taxes are complicated just about everywhere, in most other industrialized countries the income tax system is *much simpler* and more convenient for their citizens compared to the USA. This is because in these other countries much of the work is done on the government's side instead of putting it on the citizens. It's in a way roughly analogous to how in the USA the medical system is also much more complicated, costly, and usually produces inferior results. These are deliberate inefficiencies built into the US systems to maximize the profits of special interests at the cost of the poor and middle classes.
Other countries don't put the burden of figuring out taxes on individuals. In Japan, for example, all the taxes are figured out by the government, which already has much of the information we have to "file" via taxes, such as our wages, benefits, etc. Thank you for these amazing and helpful videos!
In Poland, as long as you're just a regular employee, that's also the case. However, there are several tax deductions, which the government wouldn't know you want to use (you can deduct charity, house thermomodernization or even internet connection fees) so it's again the bureaucracy preventing from executing your rights
I same for my country, we have an automatic irs, if you want tax deductions then you can confirm your receipts online, or file them manually. we pay an accountant is only 15€
Heck even France has return free filing. When you look in to it, the only reason why this system exist in the U.S, is the same reason why Medicare and everything else is screwed up. Because of greedy people at the top, thought they could take more money.
Thank you for this video, very true about the "time tax" . I dread when I have to call and submit changes for my Medicaid. Long, annoying wait time on phone, and then usually a rude person.
I definitely feel this one! Not only are forms confusing but as a graphic designer these government websites are "designed" to make things difficult to navigate. Basically the opposite of the purpose of graphic design.
My HMO regularly denied the first claim I put in. So, I just started making duplicates of the paperwork. They always took the second one. But what a waste of my time!
I feel like I just watched a man age younger. Philip started off looking like a typical middle class dad in his 40s and now looks like a 18 year old high school senior. Not judging him, I like his style, just a bit of a surprise is all.
The intro reminded me to do my own taxes, so I did them in less than 15 minutes and then returned to the video to hear that in the US they take 11 hours. As a student with a parttime job, I am incredibly thankful that my government already fills in everything they know about me (like my income from the job) and just asks me 'hey is this correct, did you switch jobs/have a kid/get married etc' and when these changes are added I am done. I now know that I will be refunded just over a hunderd euro's in overpaid taxes. And all it took was going to the site, saying 'nope nothing changed, still a broke student' and now in a month or so I will have my money back. It is kind of amazing yet sad that your system is this way. I hope you all get through it okay.
How long it takes to do taxes does vary in the U.S. I used to do my own taxes when I was young and it took about an hour. Once you have a lot of deductions (children, interest payments on a home, etc.) it gets much more complicated if you want to be sure you aren't leaving money on the table. (paying more tax than you have to) So, what country are you in?
I have an actual question: what purpose did this comment would serve? This is equivalent of me going to India or similar in the summer and saying “Too bad the heat is so bad due to climate change! We have air conditioning EVERYwhere in the States! It’s so much better!” What would add to the conversation, exactly? And how would I be anything less than smug in this scenario?
Only way this changes is is we get the big money out of U.S. politics, so, yeah. HR Block, Intuit, et.al. spend $Millions lobbying the government NOT to just streamline the process here, so we Americans have to spend money with them navigating the bureaucracy for us.
@@MzShonuff123 Lot of Americans aren't aware that we're unique in this. Hopefully it leads folks to question why we put up with this, and push politicians to reject HR Block's lobbying and fix the problem. (Hopefully, if not likely.) This is a man-made problem, and one with a simple fix.
@@MzShonuff123 I am sorry you read it that way. I guess it was mostly meant as first a thanks for reminding me to Two Cents. But also I guess I just learned that my system is apparently a lot better than I thought it was. So maybe I was trying to empathise with all the people who have to deal with this (for me) new and shitty system. Honestly idk what purpose my comment had, it was just a thought I felt like sharing. I am just a young person trying to learn finance-y things on the internet.
I’ve been living off food stamps for a couple of years now. It is a lot of paperwork. I’m working to break away from the system and have financial freedoms
I remember a presentation I did for my American Government class was also that politicians like bureaucracy because they have staffers that can "cut through the red tape" and become conduits through the burden which gives them free brownie points with the individual constituent and makes for a good story of how the congressman "helped the little guy" out through the problems they were having.
Wow, I guess I never realized that. I’m on SSI and SNAP, and I just figured the government was doing it’s job. SNAP is a snap to keep up with, but SSI is definitely harder. It took 11 months to apply to SSI because my code number was deleted at the approval place, and had to be resend. But, It happened, and I’m happy we did.
I recent having to spend time to get made up in the morning and drive to work. My employer does not pay for that. I do. Remote work really highlighted that fact.
I'm reminded of how companies such as ISPs will make it extremely easy to sign up for services with as little as a couple of clicks, as well as to increase your services, but to reduce or cancel services, they force you to phone a call-center and sit on hold for an hour in order to try to make you give up and abandon the attempt before you finally get to a "customer-retention agent" who tries to pressure you into not cancelling and tries to actually upsell you instead. If the government hasn't made that blatant violation illegal, then it certainly won't make its own dark-patterns illegal. 😒
(Since others are giving personal anecdotes, I'll throw mine in as well. After graduating, I applied for interest-relief on my student-loans, but they kept sending it back with a complaint about something being wrong or incomplete or whatever again and again, only pointing out on problem each time instead of highlighting everything once, waiting a few weeks each time, until the deadline passed. That was definitely not Hanlon's Razor, it was intentional. 😠)
Another reason governments are a hassle to deal with is they basically have no skin in the game. Governments have no incentive to serve the people better, because they can't lose 'customers' to a rival government, especially if the services are for the poor. And even when they can lose citizens, like rich people leaving, they can write laws that punish people for leaving for better jurisdictions, so they write the rules so they don't have to deal with any competition, while at the same time enforcing antitrust laws against corporations, while being the biggest actual monopoly themselves !
The government is the people (for the people of the people etc). Their skin in the game is the well-being of everyone. The more people who are happy and healthy to work the more tax they can get to help others back to work. In theory anyway ..
@@akttt9876 Its more of a tragedy of the commons, than any kind of general altruism. Maybe government people like the fame of some kind of 'national success' in general, but when the numbers get too large, its all just statistics, and its impossible to care for individuals, so they really don't care about you, unless you actually show up in their office and they can't just ignore your problems.
I've always said this which is why you want government doing the least things possible. Always better for the private sector to be getting things done. Once the government gets a hold of it, it'll be extremely inefficient, take forever, and be a worse job.
@@thedopplereffect00 where did you get 50% from? My perspective is from my own understanding that governments should be in service to the people they represent. If the taxation system is unjust it should be fixed and I would vote accordingly.
In Australia the Tax Commissioner makes reports on tax collection. If the administration cost of a tax, fee, levy is more than the income received, he recommend to the government that is be removed. There is no income tax for earnings below AU$18,200. 40% of the population pays no tax at all. Dividends are taxed at the company rate, before distribution to shareholders. If they are at marginal income, they get a tax return.
This weas an excellent video. I've been talking about this for years. Systems that offload the bureocracy to the benficiary of the "benefit" really go out of their way to make it difficult to access. Trying to access unemployment and maternity leave benefits this year and completely floored by how arduous it is. And I'm good at forms.
Great video! Considering my doctor said i should go on disability in october and I’ve yet to fill out the forms because I’m working 10hrs a week and can pay my bills and don’t want to do the work due to low energy… i feel this 👀.
See, this drives me nuts. People with disabilities have the least energy to put up with all the bureaucratic bullshit. But they make it hard so that you'll give up, when you're the person who needs it most! It all makes me so angry.
I knew there was a lot of this administrative burden for "poor people" benefits... but I had never considered how "rich peope benefits" like IRAs were easy to get and also a government handout. If we're giving EVERYONE tax cuts for saving for retirement, even people who don't need it, why not give EVERYONE food stamps? Mind blown.
I know a handicapped couple literally suffering in despair cause they don’t even know how to get help. State social workers abandoned them. Its quite disturbing actually.
I have a feeling that it comes down to some people having a fundamental idea that poor people are lazy and that making them jump thru hoops to get help is a test of some sort. Or this idea that, if it was hard for me to get where I am today, I'm going to make sure that others have to pay their dues.
@@Josh-179 if you're working 50 to 60 hours a week just to get by, you know there are government benefits that could possibly help you if only they weren't so hard to apply for. Also there are lots of other countries who spread benefits much better than we do here. And they're not even paying that much more in taxes.
@@ninjaguysith , it's not just to get by but to make 6-figures. Most successful people work that many hours. Most poor people think that people who make a lot of money aren't the "working class" when in fact they work the hardest. Hence the successful part.
Its also a tax when you have to jump through bureaucratic hurdles on behalf of a loved one in need. Don't even get me started on folks who quit their jobs to become full time caregivers because their parent can't afford residential care, which can bite them hard when it comes time for them to be old themselves in the form of lost Social Security.
OMG! You're finally saying what I complain about all the time, but nobody seems to listen or they treat me as if I were just "another Karen". Thank you!
Good vid, different way to view the system. Kinda make you think if it adds to stuff like crime. It may be easier for someone fallen on hard times to shoplift vs filling out complicated forms. Banks and credit card, and insurance companies are notorious for this tactic too. Kinda like the no surprises act leads you in a loop, you have to get the cpt codes, them you call the insurance they say it's the hospital responsibly the hospital says it's the insurance responsibly, if you do get the codes and give them, and its billed wrong well you gave them the codes so its on you
Powerful episode. This almost goes hand in hand with anther interesting view point: Crimes that are punished with a simple fee are just to punish the poor. Another example of regressive policies as $100 to me might blow my budget away but you can pay and not break a sweat.
Many of these resources aren't budgeted to help everyone who is eligible. This 'tax' helps maintain the narrative that the most worthy are the ones getting the spots in the programs. Those who waited their turn, those who tried the hardest, those who wanted it most. Americans are obsessed with making poor people earn and prove their right to exist.
In Australia you can go online and the government *pre-fills* the tax return for you - for a lot of people they just need to read, adjust if necessary and click to submit!
Same in the Netherlands. But a lot of the systems put in place to help the poor and the disabled out are still (a bit of) a hassle. I think a large factor in maintaining this is also the shame associated with this type of help as opposed to programs available to the rich. If you're told you should feel bad for being in a certain program and you have less political clout as a group anyway, you're less likely to call attention to and protest the unfair burdens it places on you.
Maybe this is an Iowa thing. Our ebt is all on the phone, DHS calls you, almost no one working two jobs would qualify and the online application takes 10minuets. No drug tests. Must be really hard in other places
While not the exact stats you were claiming we needed, couldn’t we get an idea by seeing how much fraud is happening in other countries that has less administrative burden?
I handle this literal thing all the time with medi-cal and such that I get doctors thinking I work in healthcare administration with how much I know and get through it all. 😅not even close.
At least we don’t have student debt, and have free healthcare, free maternity leave, payed vacation,free daycare. You going to say it not free you pay higher taxes, but bargaining power of the collective is stronger than individuals.
The VA is really bad for this. A small percentage of americans are veterans (about 7%) and even a smaller number are disabled, yet veterans have to jump through hoops, many even hire lawyer firms who gets a cut of the benefits. Its sad because Vets have earned this!
Interesting from a Danish perspective, our tax form is online and consists of fields with explanations, relating to driving expenses for work etc. Usually takes me less than 10 min to complete yearly, as they collect a ton of information from automatic sources, such as workplace, stock trading etc. And Insurance claims form is 5 text fields, and can be done over the phone in like 5 min.
(As someone who works with a local government, building permits specifically) I can tell you that people are so used to having to give up their time that when we actually try to cut the admin process to make it easier on all of us, people still insist on doing it the old way. Like no, please don't come all the way downtown to ask a simple question. The application is on the website, please just fill in to the best of your ability & someone will review it & get back to you in the order it was received. "No sir! You do not need an appointment to find out your easements! Please just call/email/text this specific person(s) with your question & someone will get back to you the same day!" Like ppl get offended that we don't require them to take hours off their day to make a simple building permits. & Don't even get me started on commercial contracts, ugh. A few years before I worked there the older workers were telling me that ppl used to hang out in their lobby for hours just chilling & talking to wait for their turn. Some of the older contractors talk about it with nostalgia, like why? Our time is precious! Why would you want to waste it hanging out here??
I've been on Snap and unemployment. I never needed to get drug tests, fingerprinted, or keep time sheets. I don't know of any state that requires all of those forms for one thing. It's probably one state requires some things, another state requires different things and they're adding them together. Also requirements for recertification are often way easier than getting benefits in the first place. Nowadays, with internet the process is pretty streamlined.
I may be good at dealing with the bureaucracy of paperwork, applying for different programs, taxes ect. But I hate it I just hate doing it its mind numbingly boring
This is really PBS for adults, and I keep forgetting that at times hahaha. Then I hear Philip say “assholes,” and I’m like oh, this is isn’t your regular PBS kids 😂😂
Thank you guys for such fun, informative and deep thought videos. I use three of your videos in my freshman English course to discuss, debate, write about financial issues. You all should come up with a curriculum for highschoolsers. I'm willing to help.
This is why some people choose just to be homeless, they don't have to pay time tax or regular tax. And those who get paid under the table and don't file taxes, they are saving time and money and enjoy the benefits of the country without adding to it.
Louis Rossman was harassed by big government in NY for years. The lesson should be less government, not give them more money "to make them more efficient" it never happens
You say prevent a small amount of fraud but that's assuming 5-15% is small (which it absolutely is not) and that the percentage wont increase when regulations are relaxed (which it absolutely would).
Love how as soon as Phil became a dad he starting aging in reverse. Damn, he looks so young and sexy right now. He gave birth to his own rebellious teen.
@1:03 Prime example of fighting a ticket in NYC. Posted a temporary registration on my windshield, and still got a ticket. They claim it was illegible. Utter B.S.
You need to do an episode on how terrible the method of American tax submisions are. Consider Australia, for example. In Australia every tax payer can log onto the government website to access the tax department and then go through their tax online. This is a simple type in number system. But it gets even better: 1. all employers upload the annual pay tot eh system, so it is automatically there for the tax office to see. 2. The system allows you to directly upload your interest gained from banks 3. The system links in your private healthcare payments to calculate your public healthcare benefits. 4. The tax department supplied phone apps and systems to allow you to record tax returns on things as you pay for them (all year). 5. It notifies you of mistakes you might have made 6. it regularly reminds you to file tax returns for 7 years if you have not. Basically, the American system is there to help fund accountants to do your tax. Whereas the Australian system generally can be done by yourself efficiently. Accountants are still hired to do tax, but it is becoming less and less of a desire unless you have many investments or complicated finances. the average tax payer never needs an accountant. As an Australian with investment properties, i spend about 1 hour doing my tax each year. 2 hours if you include that i help my wife too.
I live in Asia and tax is so easy I basically call our version of the IRS on the phone and say "I need help" and the person on the phone basically does it with me. Then it's a simple matter of printing out the form, filling in the blanks, and then scanning the paper and uploading it on the system.
@@edselgreaves6503 yes, it makes sense for a government to help their citizens in doing the right thing when paying taxes. less misunderstandings makes everyone happier. Australia has a welfare system to help people get online and complete the forms as well. There are paper copies for those that want it, but the online versions are way easier.
I thought the video was going to be about Social Security and Medicare. Those of us who earn our income (not the super rich who generally have little to know "earned income") end up paying ~15%. But only half of that is shown on your paycheck stub. If employers didn't have to hide the other half, we'd see that the actual amount is double what appears on paycheck stubs.
Though to be fair, the building permit time tax is there for a reason, I'd rather be sure my structure is safe and whatever I'm doing is allowed by code, the process needs to be more efficient. Also blame intuit (the company behind turbotax) for the US tax system being the way it is...if it wasn't for them sticking their noses in our tax process.
sad but true, painful to watch this. if this happens in the US, much more in a poor country. recalling all the time wasted in school, employment, government agencies, turns out these were intentional, on top of incompetence.
I yeeted out of the SNAP application process because I received a 50-page packet in the mail of steps I needed to do and forms that I needed to fill out and re-send via snail mail. I don't even have stamps for snail mail.
As a housewife, I can confirm that administrative burden is almost a part-tome job. Last year I spent 20 hours (no exaggeration) on the phone trying yo get approved for a covered Healthcare service. I eventually gave up and just paid out of pocket. So mad.
If it’s not too intrusive to ask why did it take so long? Were they asking too many questions or did you fail to understand the procedure?
@@luisfilipe2023 or people lied. Said documents wasn’t there that was. If you ever worked in a health insurance office you see how shady things can be. Also if the person was doing it wrong, why is it so if and or but on what covered that doctors get pre approval and later say that wasn’t approved because x y and z wasn’t done. If people with phd cannot follow the process right how can an average American.
It´s cheaper to save, get on a plane, go to Mexico and get treatment there.
@@luisfilipe2023 possibly she failed to understand, I mean most housewifes are not that bright about paperworks and shits.
@@applebanana9375I'm proud of you. If you keep practicing like you are now, you'll eventually be able to fully read and write English.
A year ago I helped my boyfriend get his unemployment benefits from 2020 that he didn't get because the process was too complicated... it took about a month and dozens of phone calls, many nights without much sleep and me feeling like i'd had a heart attack. It was awful... yet 100% worth it. Things need to change.
Thank you for addressing this. Disability programs are horrendous for people who are already struggling.
My dad after the ADA act declared him disabled had to sue the state of washington to get his benefits.
That comment about the time it takes to call the permit office is real. I am trying to build a retail store in Virginia and literally just got off the phone with them right before watching this episode. This was probably the 27th time in the last 3 months that I have had to call them about a tiny minutia of bureaucratic detail that wasn't clear and was holding up my permit. Each time, I have to wait on the phone so long since their callback feature never seems to work. I have probably spent 2 entire workweeks over the last 3 months trying to get this building permit done.
You really are trying to "pick yourself up by the bootstraps", help the economy, call it what you'd like and this is how you're treated. F the government.
My boss has been trying to get permits for the new liquor store building to replace the current building he owns. He has been trying since 2019 to these permits.
Someday he’ll pass on that permit burden to his grand sons and grand daughters
@@chowsquid 🤣🤣
I know it doesn't solve the problem but if you have a Pixel phone you can use the "hold for me" feature which allows you to multitask by putting the phone on hold and then plays a loud sound when the person you're calling finally answers (ua-cam.com/video/sBTCJUZlHdA/v-deo.html). It's also kind of satisfying to be able to put THEM on hold if you're not quite ready to answer.
This video was informative and depressing at the same time.
The government puts out requirements to the citizens and makes it time consuming and difficult to meet the requirements.
I grew up poor and on government benefits and as an adult, I still am on government benefits until my husband finishes his medical degree and training. I am so grateful for the time my mother spent figuring out the welfare and rental system and educating me. I've already avoided a bunch of traps and gotten benefits I likely wouldn't have known about. It still sucks time out of my life every single week, but at least it's a lot less time than it would've been.
So glad you are doing an episode on this!! We need to teach us in the middle class how so many states put so many hoops between citizens and the benefits they are entitled to
Other than Social Security and Medicare that you pay into all your life, you're not "entitled" to anything.
@@Josh-179 taxes pay for everything including government programs. Therefore if the program exists and one qualifies then they are entitled to that benefit. I understand you may not agree to having those programs in the first place but that's a whole nother conversation
@@deestupi , There's a misunderstanding of what I mean by entitled. Legally, yes you are entitled by qualifying for assistance because the government has implemented that. My money forced into government to give to someone else is legalized theft. Your only entitlement is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Much of the planet doesn't even have that. You're not even entitled to food, water, clothes, and shelter just because you were born. Our society has just seen to it that most people are provided these things if you can't afford it. But it's not a human right. I mentioned SS and Medicare as the exception in the context of paid entitlements because there's a separate line item on your taxes for those specific things. All other welfare assistance comes out of general taxes on a discretionary basis.
@@Josh-179 that's your opinion. If enough is produced in this country for everyone to be fed clothed sheltered and have healthcare then i do not care what means we use to guarantee those things. It could be taxes, it could also be employers paying their employees more. You call our tax system legalized theft but i disagree with you. The tax system is an agreement between the governed and the those governing. Now you and i differ of what those agreements should consist. So luckily we can vote for representatives and referendums to change those agreements. As far as what other countries have or don't have i find that countries with higher taxes and great government systems have better education rates, mortality rates, and better health overall.
@@Josh-179 You're very contrarian aren't you.
Here in Australia the tax form is online and pre filled with almost everything and you just need to report what they miss. Taxes are easy to deal with and can be done in under an hour
I worked at a nonprofit that dealt with enrolling people in government sponsored childcare benefits and the application we had people fill out was about 16 pages long, not including the portions with just rules on them.
Phil has completed his transformation from looking like my dad to rockstar
Right? From dad to daddy 🥵
Dude looks like he’s in a metalcore band now lol
I have a theory that they came from very strict religious backgrounds and have been deconstructing and finding their authentic selves… and I get that, rock on!
Reminds me of the cartoon My Dad the Rockstar 😂
It just looks messy, lazy, and unprofessional. Kind of like their political ideology.
As a government employee, I feel this down to my core. I work for Social Services. As much as the clients don't like the bureaucracy, the employees don't like it either. We unfortunately don't make the policy and have to go through all the bs just to get the cases authorized. It's a two way street of exhaustion.
THANK YOU for discussing how unfairly the system can be weighed for people seeking aid. My mother and I had to to take off multiple days of school/work just to get me qualified for our state level disabled assistance program so I could get funding/support for college!
I'm glad you uploaded this video but I think you missed an opportunity (at least in this video, you might have mentioned it elsewhere). Specifically I'm referring to how the reason why paying income taxes in the USA is so complicated is because tax preparation companies lobby Congress to prevent making it easier like other countries do. It's a deliberate effort by these large corporations to make it more difficult so US citizens instead pay them to help with it. IMO it is a form of legalized extortion.
Thank you for bringing this up. The IRS came up with a great plan for everyone to be able to file their taxes online for free. Better for citizens, better for the IRS. But tax preparers lobbied to run the program through tax preparation companies. They set their own rules on who can file for free and who will need to pay extra to e-file.
@@WoefulMinion Exactly, and even then the tax preparation companies still try to dishonestly stear people away from the free services they ofter.
@@George89999 Of course... 🙄
I mostly disagree. The primary reasons are that 1) politicians are lobbied by many industries, and then politicians carve out special interests, and 2) the bigger reason is politicians want to make it more complicated to show their "accomplishments". For example, the Trump and Biden administrations have both added numerous new taxes that, for the most part, could have been handled much easier (such as raising or lowering the rate or repealing loopholes). Some of the new taxes include global intangible low taxed income, foreign derived intangible income, transition tax, base erosion and profit shifting tax, stock buy back tax, and global minimum tax.
@@joeb1522 Respectfully I think you missed part of my point. As we both agree, yes industries lobby Congress for there own interests. But in the case of tax preparation companies they have *demonstrably* lobbied Congress specifically for the intention of making paying taxes more difficult and complicated for citizens. Why? Because their own profits depend on most of the work being put in the taxpayers themselves so they'll prefer to pay the tax prep companies instead.
Another problem with your argument is that while taxes are complicated just about everywhere, in most other industrialized countries the income tax system is *much simpler* and more convenient for their citizens compared to the USA. This is because in these other countries much of the work is done on the government's side instead of putting it on the citizens. It's in a way roughly analogous to how in the USA the medical system is also much more complicated, costly, and usually produces inferior results. These are deliberate inefficiencies built into the US systems to maximize the profits of special interests at the cost of the poor and middle classes.
Other countries don't put the burden of figuring out taxes on individuals. In Japan, for example, all the taxes are figured out by the government, which already has much of the information we have to "file" via taxes, such as our wages, benefits, etc. Thank you for these amazing and helpful videos!
Our government has the same information for workers. They're just trying to catch people lying so they can get em for tax fraud.
In Poland, as long as you're just a regular employee, that's also the case. However, there are several tax deductions, which the government wouldn't know you want to use (you can deduct charity, house thermomodernization or even internet connection fees) so it's again the bureaucracy preventing from executing your rights
I same for my country, we have an automatic irs, if you want tax deductions then you can confirm your receipts online, or file them manually.
we pay an accountant is only 15€
as youve seen, its a billion dollar industry. turbo tax aint gonna like this and they lobby against easier tax laws.
Heck even France has return free filing. When you look in to it, the only reason why this system exist in the U.S, is the same reason why Medicare and everything else is screwed up. Because of greedy people at the top, thought they could take more money.
Thank you for this video, very true about the "time tax" .
I dread when I have to call and submit changes for my Medicaid. Long, annoying wait time on phone, and then usually a rude person.
Thank you for bringing attention to this. The benefits that are meant to help you often become so burdensome that they keep you stuck in poverty.
I definitely feel this one! Not only are forms confusing but as a graphic designer these government websites are "designed" to make things difficult to navigate. Basically the opposite of the purpose of graphic design.
My HMO regularly denied the first claim I put in. So, I just started making duplicates of the paperwork. They always took the second one. But what a waste of my time!
I feel like I just watched a man age younger. Philip started off looking like a typical middle class dad in his 40s and now looks like a 18 year old high school senior.
Not judging him, I like his style, just a bit of a surprise is all.
Maybe just exploring himself more.
I think he kinda looks like Howard Wolowitz now. 😂
Respect to Philip's neck for supporting his right-sided hair
Is this the guy with the mustache?
@@MyspacHor911 yes, the same person 😅
It’s giving “tonight will be the night that I fall for you,” and I really love it lol.
Just wanted to say that you two are awesome people! Thank you for bringing awareness to this issue. Xx
The intro reminded me to do my own taxes, so I did them in less than 15 minutes and then returned to the video to hear that in the US they take 11 hours.
As a student with a parttime job, I am incredibly thankful that my government already fills in everything they know about me (like my income from the job) and just asks me 'hey is this correct, did you switch jobs/have a kid/get married etc' and when these changes are added I am done.
I now know that I will be refunded just over a hunderd euro's in overpaid taxes.
And all it took was going to the site, saying 'nope nothing changed, still a broke student' and now in a month or so I will have my money back.
It is kind of amazing yet sad that your system is this way. I hope you all get through it okay.
How long it takes to do taxes does vary in the U.S. I used to do my own taxes when I was young and it took about an hour. Once you have a lot of deductions (children, interest payments on a home, etc.) it gets much more complicated if you want to be sure you aren't leaving money on the table. (paying more tax than you have to) So, what country are you in?
I have an actual question: what purpose did this comment would serve? This is equivalent of me going to India or similar in the summer and saying “Too bad the heat is so bad due to climate change! We have air conditioning EVERYwhere in the States! It’s so much better!” What would add to the conversation, exactly? And how would I be anything less than smug in this scenario?
Only way this changes is is we get the big money out of U.S. politics, so, yeah. HR Block, Intuit, et.al. spend $Millions lobbying the government NOT to just streamline the process here, so we Americans have to spend money with them navigating the bureaucracy for us.
@@MzShonuff123 Lot of Americans aren't aware that we're unique in this. Hopefully it leads folks to question why we put up with this, and push politicians to reject HR Block's lobbying and fix the problem. (Hopefully, if not likely.) This is a man-made problem, and one with a simple fix.
@@MzShonuff123 I am sorry you read it that way.
I guess it was mostly meant as first a thanks for reminding me to Two Cents.
But also I guess I just learned that my system is apparently a lot better than I thought it was. So maybe I was trying to empathise with all the people who have to deal with this (for me) new and shitty system.
Honestly idk what purpose my comment had, it was just a thought I felt like sharing. I am just a young person trying to learn finance-y things on the internet.
I’ve been living off food stamps for a couple of years now. It is a lot of paperwork. I’m working to break away from the system and have financial freedoms
Thank you SO MUCH for explaining that everyone gets money from the government in one way or another.
I don't. But what I give them is astronomical.
I've been giving them money my entire life, when is it my turn?
Thank for encouraging me. I have been genuinely discouraged from continuing to fight for the help i need am qualified for
Anyone ever dealt with Mail In Rebate? They design it for people to fail or give up.
I remember a presentation I did for my American Government class was also that politicians like bureaucracy because they have staffers that can "cut through the red tape" and become conduits through the burden which gives them free brownie points with the individual constituent and makes for a good story of how the congressman "helped the little guy" out through the problems they were having.
Wow, I guess I never realized that. I’m on SSI and SNAP, and I just figured the government was doing it’s job. SNAP is a snap to keep up with, but SSI is definitely harder. It took 11 months to apply to SSI because my code number was deleted at the approval place, and had to be resend. But, It happened, and I’m happy we did.
This video was very informative, but it's also very depressing. I hate how people tend to use this to say how inefficient gov is.
Thank you for bringing this up. 👍👍👍
I recent having to spend time to get made up in the morning and drive to work. My employer does not pay for that. I do. Remote work really highlighted that fact.
I thought he said “a**holes” instead of “hassles” at first @3:26 😂
Bring back the moustache!
I'm reminded of how companies such as ISPs will make it extremely easy to sign up for services with as little as a couple of clicks, as well as to increase your services, but to reduce or cancel services, they force you to phone a call-center and sit on hold for an hour in order to try to make you give up and abandon the attempt before you finally get to a "customer-retention agent" who tries to pressure you into not cancelling and tries to actually upsell you instead. If the government hasn't made that blatant violation illegal, then it certainly won't make its own dark-patterns illegal. 😒
(Since others are giving personal anecdotes, I'll throw mine in as well. After graduating, I applied for interest-relief on my student-loans, but they kept sending it back with a complaint about something being wrong or incomplete or whatever again and again, only pointing out on problem each time instead of highlighting everything once, waiting a few weeks each time, until the deadline passed. That was definitely not Hanlon's Razor, it was intentional. 😠)
Another reason governments are a hassle to deal with is they basically have no skin in the game. Governments have no incentive to serve the people better, because they can't lose 'customers' to a rival government, especially if the services are for the poor. And even when they can lose citizens, like rich people leaving, they can write laws that punish people for leaving for better jurisdictions, so they write the rules so they don't have to deal with any competition, while at the same time enforcing antitrust laws against corporations, while being the biggest actual monopoly themselves !
The government is the people (for the people of the people etc). Their skin in the game is the well-being of everyone. The more people who are happy and healthy to work the more tax they can get to help others back to work. In theory anyway ..
@@akttt9876 Its more of a tragedy of the commons, than any kind of general altruism. Maybe government people like the fame of some kind of 'national success' in general, but when the numbers get too large, its all just statistics, and its impossible to care for individuals, so they really don't care about you, unless you actually show up in their office and they can't just ignore your problems.
I've always said this which is why you want government doing the least things possible. Always better for the private sector to be getting things done. Once the government gets a hold of it, it'll be extremely inefficient, take forever, and be a worse job.
@@akttt9876 is that why 50% of earners pay zero net taxes?
@@thedopplereffect00 where did you get 50% from? My perspective is from my own understanding that governments should be in service to the people they represent. If the taxation system is unjust it should be fixed and I would vote accordingly.
I am so glad I live in Canada, where life is a lot easier. (when it comes to taxes and government forms)
In Australia the Tax Commissioner makes reports on tax collection. If the administration cost of a tax, fee, levy is more than the income received, he recommend to the government that is be removed. There is no income tax for earnings below AU$18,200. 40% of the population pays no tax at all. Dividends are taxed at the company rate, before distribution to shareholders. If they are at marginal income, they get a tax return.
This weas an excellent video. I've been talking about this for years. Systems that offload the bureocracy to the benficiary of the "benefit" really go out of their way to make it difficult to access. Trying to access unemployment and maternity leave benefits this year and completely floored by how arduous it is. And I'm good at forms.
Ah, the joy of living in a sociopathic society. Thank you both for highlighting this serious problem.
Great video! Considering my doctor said i should go on disability in october and I’ve yet to fill out the forms because I’m working 10hrs a week and can pay my bills and don’t want to do the work due to low energy… i feel this 👀.
See, this drives me nuts. People with disabilities have the least energy to put up with all the bureaucratic bullshit. But they make it hard so that you'll give up, when you're the person who needs it most! It all makes me so angry.
I knew there was a lot of this administrative burden for "poor people" benefits... but I had never considered how "rich peope benefits" like IRAs were easy to get and also a government handout.
If we're giving EVERYONE tax cuts for saving for retirement, even people who don't need it, why not give EVERYONE food stamps?
Mind blown.
As a European I cannot relate to this at all. Well, at least for the government stuff most is fairly straightforward.
I know a handicapped couple literally suffering in despair cause they don’t even know how to get help. State social workers abandoned them.
Its quite disturbing actually.
I have a feeling that it comes down to some people having a fundamental idea that poor people are lazy and that making them jump thru hoops to get help is a test of some sort. Or this idea that, if it was hard for me to get where I am today, I'm going to make sure that others have to pay their dues.
Sounds like a good dose of equity to me!
Getting government benefits should be hard. Sorry. I've worked an average of 50-60 hours a week all my life to not go to the government.
@@Josh-179 if you're working 50 to 60 hours a week just to get by, you know there are government benefits that could possibly help you if only they weren't so hard to apply for. Also there are lots of other countries who spread benefits much better than we do here. And they're not even paying that much more in taxes.
@@ninjaguysith , it's not just to get by but to make 6-figures. Most successful people work that many hours. Most poor people think that people who make a lot of money aren't the "working class" when in fact they work the hardest. Hence the successful part.
Its also a tax when you have to jump through bureaucratic hurdles on behalf of a loved one in need. Don't even get me started on folks who quit their jobs to become full time caregivers because their parent can't afford residential care, which can bite them hard when it comes time for them to be old themselves in the form of lost Social Security.
OMG! You're finally saying what I complain about all the time, but nobody seems to listen or they treat me as if I were just "another Karen". Thank you!
Good vid, different way to view the system. Kinda make you think if it adds to stuff like crime. It may be easier for someone fallen on hard times to shoplift vs filling out complicated forms. Banks and credit card, and insurance companies are notorious for this tactic too. Kinda like the no surprises act leads you in a loop, you have to get the cpt codes, them you call the insurance they say it's the hospital responsibly the hospital says it's the insurance responsibly, if you do get the codes and give them, and its billed wrong well you gave them the codes so its on you
Both y’all’s hair looking lovely. Thanks for sharing your two cents on these important (and often overlooked) issues.
Sweet Brown said it best when she said "Ain't nobody got time fo dat!!"
Powerful episode. This almost goes hand in hand with anther interesting view point: Crimes that are punished with a simple fee are just to punish the poor. Another example of regressive policies as $100 to me might blow my budget away but you can pay and not break a sweat.
I'm fairly certain UA-cam is suppressing channels like this one, I've been a subscriber for years, but I had to actively search to find this video.
Many of these resources aren't budgeted to help everyone who is eligible. This 'tax' helps maintain the narrative that the most worthy are the ones getting the spots in the programs. Those who waited their turn, those who tried the hardest, those who wanted it most. Americans are obsessed with making poor people earn and prove their right to exist.
In Australia you can go online and the government *pre-fills* the tax return for you - for a lot of people they just need to read, adjust if necessary and click to submit!
Same in the Netherlands. But a lot of the systems put in place to help the poor and the disabled out are still (a bit of) a hassle. I think a large factor in maintaining this is also the shame associated with this type of help as opposed to programs available to the rich. If you're told you should feel bad for being in a certain program and you have less political clout as a group anyway, you're less likely to call attention to and protest the unfair burdens it places on you.
Same here, if you are lower than a certain wage you don’t even need to nothing
Maybe this is an Iowa thing. Our ebt is all on the phone, DHS calls you, almost no one working two jobs would qualify and the online application takes 10minuets. No drug tests. Must be really hard in other places
I remember in 2020 when everyone was on unemployment, man that was such a hassle trying to get my money.
While not the exact stats you were claiming we needed, couldn’t we get an idea by seeing how much fraud is happening in other countries that has less administrative burden?
I'm loving Phil rocking the early 00s emo look. 🤘🏻
I'm all for a smaller less involved government. I find it hard to believe that more government means less bureaucracy.
I handle this literal thing all the time with medi-cal and such that I get doctors thinking I work in healthcare administration with how much I know and get through it all. 😅not even close.
That 5-15% of fraud within government benefits should be compared with the % of fraud within government support of “upper class” services as well
Thats crazy how you can overcomplicate things in a weird way just to make your shady moves less visible for others
We're in $32,000,000,000,000.00 in debt ($247,000 per tax payer).
Imagine how bad it would be if getting free money was easier!
I'm Finnish, 25 year old, and I have spent like 1 hour in total on taxes in my entire life!
The grass is greener on the other side, I'm telling you!
You’ve also paid a 40% average tax rate versus closer to 20% in the US. Imagine making 10k per month and only taking home $6k. Yikes
At least we don’t have student debt, and have free healthcare, free maternity leave, payed vacation,free daycare.
You going to say it not free you pay higher taxes, but bargaining power of the collective is stronger than individuals.
The VA is really bad for this. A small percentage of americans are veterans (about 7%) and even a smaller number are disabled, yet veterans have to jump through hoops, many even hire lawyer firms who gets a cut of the benefits. Its sad because Vets have earned this!
Interesting from a Danish perspective, our tax form is online and consists of fields with explanations, relating to driving expenses for work etc. Usually takes me less than 10 min to complete yearly, as they collect a ton of information from automatic sources, such as workplace, stock trading etc. And Insurance claims form is 5 text fields, and can be done over the phone in like 5 min.
(As someone who works with a local government, building permits specifically) I can tell you that people are so used to having to give up their time that when we actually try to cut the admin process to make it easier on all of us, people still insist on doing it the old way. Like no, please don't come all the way downtown to ask a simple question. The application is on the website, please just fill in to the best of your ability & someone will review it & get back to you in the order it was received. "No sir! You do not need an appointment to find out your easements! Please just call/email/text this specific person(s) with your question & someone will get back to you the same day!"
Like ppl get offended that we don't require them to take hours off their day to make a simple building permits. & Don't even get me started on commercial contracts, ugh. A few years before I worked there the older workers were telling me that ppl used to hang out in their lobby for hours just chilling & talking to wait for their turn. Some of the older contractors talk about it with nostalgia, like why? Our time is precious! Why would you want to waste it hanging out here??
Tax credit is arguably not government assistence but the others for sure are.
I've been on Snap and unemployment. I never needed to get drug tests, fingerprinted, or keep time sheets. I don't know of any state that requires all of those forms for one thing. It's probably one state requires some things, another state requires different things and they're adding them together. Also requirements for recertification are often way easier than getting benefits in the first place. Nowadays, with internet the process is pretty streamlined.
I miss his old haircut and mustache. Lol
I may be good at dealing with the bureaucracy of paperwork, applying for different programs, taxes ect. But I hate it I just hate doing it its mind numbingly boring
‘Administrative burden’……a necessary evil or hidden and accepted oppression ?
This is really PBS for adults, and I keep forgetting that at times hahaha. Then I hear Philip say “assholes,” and I’m like oh, this is isn’t your regular PBS kids 😂😂
Also thank you for this video, it’s perfect timing too because I’m literally doing adult stuff like taxes right now.
Food for thought! Thank you for the point! 👍
Guys... This vidéo was perfect ! The timing and all BRAVO !
Great content ! Great subject
Keep it up !
TLDR: Time tax. Time spent completing forms, lining up for services.
The poorer you are, you more you pay.
Thank you guys for such fun, informative and deep thought videos. I use three of your videos in my freshman English course to discuss, debate, write about financial issues. You all should come up with a curriculum for highschoolsers. I'm willing to help.
How about you do not owe taxes to irs,dmv,state income, property, but you have to look in to understand and take action
This is why some people choose just to be homeless, they don't have to pay time tax or regular tax.
And those who get paid under the table and don't file taxes, they are saving time and money and enjoy the benefits of the country without adding to it.
Somewhere, Louis Rossman is screaming "YES"
Louis Rossman was harassed by big government in NY for years. The lesson should be less government, not give them more money "to make them more efficient" it never happens
It's everything everywhere all at once
God bless Canada 🇨🇦❤️
Phil: “It’s not a phase”
You say prevent a small amount of fraud but that's assuming 5-15% is small (which it absolutely is not) and that the percentage wont increase when regulations are relaxed (which it absolutely would).
Love how as soon as Phil became a dad he starting aging in reverse. Damn, he looks so young and sexy right now. He gave birth to his own rebellious teen.
@1:03 Prime example of fighting a ticket in NYC. Posted a temporary registration on my windshield, and still got a ticket. They claim it was illegible. Utter B.S.
Another great episode
Me paying 100 bucks for turbo tax, then 500 more than my regular 7k withdrawals from my payroll
Opportunity costs...
You need to do an episode on how terrible the method of American tax submisions are. Consider Australia, for example.
In Australia every tax payer can log onto the government website to access the tax department and then go through their tax online. This is a simple type in number system. But it gets even better:
1. all employers upload the annual pay tot eh system, so it is automatically there for the tax office to see.
2. The system allows you to directly upload your interest gained from banks
3. The system links in your private healthcare payments to calculate your public healthcare benefits.
4. The tax department supplied phone apps and systems to allow you to record tax returns on things as you pay for them (all year).
5. It notifies you of mistakes you might have made
6. it regularly reminds you to file tax returns for 7 years if you have not.
Basically, the American system is there to help fund accountants to do your tax. Whereas the Australian system generally can be done by yourself efficiently. Accountants are still hired to do tax, but it is becoming less and less of a desire unless you have many investments or complicated finances. the average tax payer never needs an accountant.
As an Australian with investment properties, i spend about 1 hour doing my tax each year. 2 hours if you include that i help my wife too.
I live in Asia and tax is so easy I basically call our version of the IRS on the phone and say "I need help" and the person on the phone basically does it with me. Then it's a simple matter of printing out the form, filling in the blanks, and then scanning the paper and uploading it on the system.
@@edselgreaves6503 yes, it makes sense for a government to help their citizens in doing the right thing when paying taxes. less misunderstandings makes everyone happier.
Australia has a welfare system to help people get online and complete the forms as well. There are paper copies for those that want it, but the online versions are way easier.
Inflation is a hidden tax.
Taxes on businesses is a hidden tax on those company's customers.
I though you gonna talk about inflation....that would be another secret tax for everybody for sure!
I thought inflation was the hidden tax. I don't know when the last time you got a mortgage was, but pee is taken as collateral... 😂
Beautifully done and well said.
Hearing Phillip say "assholes" was so weird lol
"Hassles," dude.
"Hassles."
That’s what I heard too lol
Only PBS can put out content like this because they’re publicly funded. 👈 This is why I donate
I thought the video was going to be about Social Security and Medicare. Those of us who earn our income (not the super rich who generally have little to know "earned income") end up paying ~15%. But only half of that is shown on your paycheck stub. If employers didn't have to hide the other half, we'd see that the actual amount is double what appears on paycheck stubs.
Most people would be far ahead investing that 15% towards a balanced portfolio, but our government is evil and forces its choice on you.
Though to be fair, the building permit time tax is there for a reason, I'd rather be sure my structure is safe and whatever I'm doing is allowed by code, the process needs to be more efficient.
Also blame intuit (the company behind turbotax) for the US tax system being the way it is...if it wasn't for them sticking their noses in our tax process.
sad but true, painful to watch this. if this happens in the US, much more in a poor country. recalling all the time wasted in school, employment, government agencies, turns out these were intentional, on top of incompetence.
I yeeted out of the SNAP application process because I received a 50-page packet in the mail of steps I needed to do and forms that I needed to fill out and re-send via snail mail. I don't even have stamps for snail mail.
Phillip Olson went from
Guy with 70s stash
To
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind 😂