Their taxes are easy, too. Just a handful of clicks through a free e-filing system. Most can also use a free in-person filing service (VITA.)
Most of the thousands of hours you hear about comes from working through legitimate complexity (complicated assets, stock splits, self-employment, etc.)
That’s not to say it wouldn’t be good to have more computing thrown at automating the rules for that complexity.
If you're an American and have 0 deductions you're seriously incompetent as an adult. The standard deduction is available to almost all taxpayers and requires no evidence, documentation, or proof of any kind:
Most of the thousands of hours you hear about comes from working through legitimate complexity (complicated assets, stock splits, self-employment, etc.)
That’s not to say it wouldn’t be good to have more computing thrown at automating the rules for that complexity.