[problems]

> Because of the complexity of tax regulations, I don't think a free/open-source/nonprofit tax preparation system is the right answer to this problem.

Maybe our taxes are simpler, but in Canada we have many free tools even endorsed by the government for tax preparation and they're quite popular.

Some of them are even offered by Intuit and H&R Block in order to keep people using their software.

[jawns]

Yes, the U.S. has free options, too. In fact, that's what the OP's article focuses on, and I referenced the Free File system in my comment. I didn't mean that no free options should exist.

I mean that coming up with a "disruptive" competitor to the big guys that essentially does what they do, but doesn't charge you, isn't as easy as it seems.

[maxerickson]

Credit Karma is offering free filing for more complicated returns:

https://www.creditkarma.com/tax

They want access to all that sweet financial data that appears on tax forms though (they make money marketing credit products), so I'd probably read the privacy policy pretty closely before using it.

[problems]

At least in the software case it pretty much is that easy.

It's incredibly straight forward, no special user interface or IO, just basic UI and basic math, just a bit on the tedious side to get all the forms together and up to date.