"Everybody I know wants a simpler tax process," a caller to the latest episode of our podcast, "Pitchfork Economics," asked. "So why isn't it happening?"

It's a great question. Filing taxes in the United States is so incredibly complex that many people hire experts to file their taxes on their behalf. And when it’s all said and done, many Americans pay more in taxes than they have to because they don't realize they qualify for various credits and deductions.

But there’s hope: Filing taxes doesn't have to be a complicated and demoralizing mess. In fact, in many countries, you don't have to calculate your taxes at all. In countries across Europe, the government sends each citizen an estimated tax filing, which itemizes their deductions, earnings, and charges. Plus, anyone can dispute their government's estimated filing and prepare their own returns if they like.

We could do this here in the U.S. Before you even begin filling out your tax returns every year, the IRS already knows what you owe them, and it would only take a trivial amount of extra work for the IRS to send every American an estimated tax filing – so why don’t they?

If you follow the money, you’ll find the real reason taxes are so difficult for everyday Americans to understand. H&R Block and the makers of TurboTax spend millions of dollars every year to convince lawmakers to keep the tax system complicated and confusing so that consumers are forced to buy their products.

Even worse, trickle-downers love to make the tax system more complicated so that they can advocate for a “simpler” flat-tax system where everyone pays the same percentage of their income. On the surface, this flat tax sounds fair, until you realize that middle-class families would pay a few hundred dollars more per year and millionaires would pay several hundred thousand dollars less.

It should be simple: The IRS already knows what you owe them, so they should just send you the bill! We’re working to convince our lawmakers to forgo the lobbying arm of the tax preparation industry and create an easier tax filing process – but we don’t know where you stand. Answer our poll to tell us what you think, John:

Should it be easier to file taxes in the U.S.? 

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Thanks, 

Paul Constant

Are you fired up to finally build an economy that works for all Americans? Ready to learn more from the world’s leading economic and political thinkers? Listen to the Pitchfork Economics podcast now!

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