[dragonwriter]

> This is one of those areas where Congress has purposefully injected friction into the system specifically so that businesses can seek rents.

Its sticky because that's not the only purposes; GOP politicians who want to campaign against taxes to push serial tax cuts weighted to the rich as the solution to every problem also want to preserve the current filing system as a source of leverage because it makes the perceived burden of taxes higher, though some of them (e.g., flat taxers) are willing to trade it off in exchange for a permanent massive downward redistribution of tax burden.

[dantheman]

Each party has their own exemptions they push. Notice the Democratic support state tax exemption - complete nonsense.

[dragonwriter]

> Each party has their own exemptions they push.

I'm not talking about pushing “exemptions”, I’m talking about motivation for specifically not allowing the IRS to prepare and provide taxpayers with a baseline calculation based on information they have as a complete return for the common simple cases requiring supplemental filing for compelx cases.

> Notice the Democratic support state tax exemption

Both Democrats and Republicans support the State and Local Tax Deduction; the GOP supports a dollar cap so as to increase pressure for low-tax state policies (more than would exist without the deduction at all or with an ubcapped deduction), Democrats prefer it be untaxed which leaves the federal hand off state tax policy.