[GFK_of_xmaspast]

> You can't know if your itemized deductions will exceed the standard deduction

Yes I could, because I had a rough reckon of what my deductions would have been and knew I didn't have to bother.

[logfromblammo]

That required you to have prior knowledge of what you could have deducted. If you didn't have such knowledge, your ignorance might have caused you to pay a higher amount of tax than you otherwise needed to.

This is why automated tax software asks so many questions about potential deductions.

[GFK_of_xmaspast]

You fill out a form a couple years in a row you start to notice things?