I think people vastly underestimate the degree to which having a necessary 3rd party interpret the tax code down to plain-ish english serves as a liability tran

I think people vastly underestimate the degree to which having a necessary 3rd party interpret the tax code down to plain-ish english serves as a liability transfer from the government to that 3rd party and the taxpayer. Basically no taxpayers like the current situation. It persists because the government itself likes it hence why seemingly flimsy low effort lobbying is all it takes to persist the status quo. If the government says "check this box if you X" and people are mislead and check the box and the government fucks them for it they will complain to politicians who will (pretend to) fix it, likely at the expense of the bureaucracy. If the 3rd party "check this box if you X" and people are mislead and check the box and the government fucks them the government can say "well it's your responsibility" and the 3rd party can say "well you signed the liability waver" and the racket can basically go on to infinity as long as they keep tweaking it to prevent a class action.