I apologise, I think I actually meant to reply the the parent above you. I was intending to criticise the implied premise that the problem with filing is that

I apologise, I think I actually meant to reply the the parent above you. I was intending to criticise the implied premise that the problem with filing is that tax code is too complex, when its very possible in other complex tax justidictions to automate all of this away for most citizens (esp when the standard deductible is sufficient for almost everyone). There is evidence that its already possible to automate most of this away in the US because the data collection and calculation is already happening for most simple cases. I know this because I'm a dual citizen and I am constantly shocked at how terrible the IRS is and how relatively pleasant HMRC is. I just took it as non-sequitur to promote some other policy bug bear.