[xhkkffbf]

While it is true that many people have simple taxes, the philosophical shift is huge. It's just much better for the US citizen to be able to tell the government what he or she owes and then put the onus on the government to seek redress. In some countries, the government sends out a tax bill as if it's a fait accompli and the poor citizens just have to take it.

I realize there are some people who just want to frame this as Intuit is just a bunch of greedy people, but they're providing a service just like others. HR Block does offer some competition and it's often possible to get a free version of their software. I've seen some of my neighbors get the free option. It's real.

I like the option to control my taxes. It's worth the extra work.

[doikor]

> In some countries, the government sends out a tax bill as if it's a fait accompli and the poor citizens just have to take it.

I highly doubt this happens in any working democracy.

What the government does in those countries is just send the tax form pre-filled allowing the tax payer to make any corrections as they wish. You are just as much in control of your taxes in such a system as the US one but it just has a lot less work for most.

In an authoritarian/etc system you end up paying whatever the government says you have to pay no matter how the system works.

Really if you are living in a country where you can’t dispute your taxes when you think the government made a mistake you are living in a failed democracy or authoritarian/dictator system.

[mecha_ghidorah]

>In some countries, the government sends out a tax bill as if it's a fait accompli and the poor citizens just have to take it.

In Australia at least we get a pre-filled form, but we still need to validate and submit it. If there is a discrepancy we can correct it then. The government isn't just "sending a bill", and because of pay as you go taxes happening via the employer most people are more likely to get money back than they are to owe more - for example if you get a pay rise you are taxed on each pay cheuque as if you were getting that pay rate for the whole financial year, but often people have part of the year at the old lower pay rate and so might get some back.

[morpheuskafka]

That's why the IRS is proposing an automatic preparation option, not "the government sending you a bill." The legal distinction between what their program initially suggests and what you file remains, and is deeply baked into the tax code.