I'm pretty sure your tax forms in France would also be 50 pages, and you would have to submit a detailed correction of the government forms if you wanted to act

I'm pretty sure your tax forms in France would also be 50 pages, and you would have to submit a detailed correction of the government forms if you wanted to actually minimize your tax burden. That has more to do with the complexity of your income and assets than anything else. My tax forms in 2021 were about 300 pages if you combine everything (including 1099s, W-2s, and other reporting forms), but that has to do entirely with stock trades, real estate, and small business profits, all of which would be a pain in any tax system. The simplest taxes in the US are 2 pages of forms (the 1040) plus a few W-2s. The average American can easily fill out their tax papers by hand. TurboTax just sells the dream of finding "hidden" deductions and credits, which basically don't apply to 99% of people.