Taxing the Taxpayer: My Experience With a System Built to Confuse

 Last year, I wanted to do the right thing: pay my taxes. I used H&R Block, thinking it would be straightforward. Instead, I found myself paying just to pay. The U.S. tax system is so complicated that the average person has to hire someone just to file correctly—and if you mess up, it’s on you.

Here’s where it gets ridiculous.

I changed jobs and had to relocate. My new company hired a relocation firm to handle it. Every service the relocation company covered was taxed. Then they added all of that into a lump sum and sent the bill to my employer. My company then paid even more—just to cover the taxes on the taxes—and added it to my paycheck. That amount showed up on my W2, inflated my income, and pushed me into a higher tax bracket.

So let’s pause:

1. I got taxed on relocation services.

2. Then taxed again on the company’s payment to cover those taxes.

3. And finally, taxed again because my W2 now made me look richer than I actually was.

Someone please explain how that makes any sense.

It doesn’t end there.

Because my tax return came out high, I chose a monthly payment plan. The H&R Block agent didn’t mention anything about fees or interest. I assumed it was just a matter of breaking it into chunks. Two weeks later, the IRS sent me a letter spelling out the charges and the interest.

I called H&R Block. The agent confirmed the amount and said I could pay it off directly. What he didn’t mention? That the monthly payments couldn’t be canceled. He said it would cancel “automatically.”

I went ahead and paid the full amount online. Next month, I got charged again for the same monthly payment. After two hours on the phone with the IRS, a tax advocate, collections, and another H&R Block agent, I finally learned the truth: the IRS will only stop monthly deductions after they realize they’ve been overpaid. And even then, you just have to “hope” they fix it. No one could guarantee a refund. No one knew how long it would take.

How is this okay?

We’re expected to understand a tax system built like a maze. We get charged for services we don’t fully understand. We hire professionals, and even they can’t navigate it without errors. And in the end, the burden still falls on us.

This isn’t just about money—it’s about the lack of transparency, the inefficiency, and the feeling that we’re all just stuck in a system that serves no one but itself.

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