[roddds]

I'm sorry if this is stupid - I'm not American and this is entire conversation about taxes here is nuts, but:

>Is the free-filing system designed to maximize your return?

Why does it need to? I mean, why do you need a tax return, if your taxes would be lower if you just got charged the right amount in the first place? And then isn't the role of society to audit their own taxes, and at the same time support candidates that vow to simplify the tax code?

[remarkEon]

To simplify what is an absurdly complicated topic, the US Tax Code gives you a lot of "breaks" for certain things. For a lot of those things, the government won't know they happened unless you tell them (and you prove it). In most cases (i.e. for regular salaried or hourly employees) your taxes are automatically deducted, and then at the beginning of the new year you basically give the government a list of things that happened that could/would/should reduce your taxable income, which results in you getting money back from the government (sometimes).

[geodel]

Well this is indeed stupid.

> if you just got charged the right amount in the first place?

right amount is loaded phrase. There is big range and disagreement over what is right amount.

> And then isn't the role of society ... to simplify the tax code?

It is about as intelligent as saying isn't it role of society that ensure we all live peacefully, then we don't need armies, defense budgets and so on.