[sokoloff]

I'd use "preparer" everywhere you use "collector" above. The private companies don't actually collect the money; that goes straight to/from the government. The private companies, whether silicon or carbon-based, just serve to help you prepare your tax return (ie: calculate your total tax and file the return).

I agree with you on the complexity points, as I spend in the just barely four-figures annually for my CPA/EA to prepare our family returns. Our filing generally runs in the 50-100 page range and I don't even run a business.

I disagree on the duty to inform point. It is your duty as a citizen (and optionally a business owner) to understand the laws that are relevant to you, and not the government's duty to push that information to you in a customized-to-you fashion.

[vonmoltke]

> I disagree on the duty to inform point. It is your duty as a citizen (and optionally a business owner) to understand the laws that are relevant to you, and not the government's duty to push that information to you in a customized-to-you fashion.

I agree with you to a point. Citizens and businesses have a responsibility to understand the laws that apply, but government has a responsibility to make those laws as easy to find and understand as practical. The source of most complaints about government services in the US can be traced to lack of customer service, of which this is a form. The government has no impetus to spend resources on this problem; the cynical would claim they actually have a perverse incentive to make laws as obtuse as possible in order to bring in fines for innocent mistakes.

The IRS used to be much worse in this regard. A couple decades ago they didn't give a flying fuck about the taxpayer. "Understanding the laws" back then basically amounted to dumping a pile of legalese the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica in front of the taxpayer and expecting them to go through it and figure out what applies to them. That is the behavior that spawned the tax preparation industry in the US in the first place.

[chii]

> push that information to you in a customized-to-you fashion.

but the IRS somehow knows exactly what you owed them and why, so why can't they just perform that calculation before hand, and then tell you it, instead of forcing an onerous process on everyone else, and waste people's resources paying for tax-preparation services?

[sokoloff]

The largest blocker in my experience is that they don't have that information processed for 6-18 months after the filing deadline.

Source: personal experience with a period of very-late filing in my younger and dumber days.

Other factors are that they can't possibly know your total liability. They literally don't know exactly what you owe them.

Cash-based employment or trade, sales of securities purchased prior to the very recent cost-basis rules, basically anything schedule C or E (small business or rental property), etc, etc.

They might be able to auto-file something close for the simple W-2 employee case with no investments, but they don't have a secret computer system with your full return auto-prepared and just waiting to catch you for forgetting to enter $12 in bank interest from a long-forgotten account.

[ctdonath]

The IRS knows the maximum you owe. If you just want them to send you a bill and you pay it without contention, that could be arranged. If you want to use any deductions, then you'll have to work thru the paperwork explaining why you don't owe them so much.

[chrisan]

> but the IRS somehow knows exactly what you owed them and why

They know how much you owe them before deductions.