[amluto]

> 1) You go to a Free File partner.

I think this is already going a bit in the wrong direction. How about:

1) You download the info from the IRS in a publicly documented unencumbered format. JSON with a well-specified schema, for example.

2) You import it into your favorite tax program.

3) When you're all done, you upload the forms in a publicly documented unencumbered format back to the IRS, thus saving them lots of money compared to scanning a mailed copy.

Another major improvement would be for the IRS to publish all of the formulas backing all of the tax forms in machine-readable format. I suspect that a large fraction of the work involved in maintaining programs like TurboTax is manually importing all the forms.