@mike805 @seachanger thanks for the deeper context. it still bears the "WTF" question. for a country that claims to be ahead of all others, the US is really REALLY behind. filing taxes by mail? private commercial software that handles fiscal obligations? no state-operated online filing system? in Brazil we've been filing our income tax online for 2 decades, on free software developed by a state entity. in Portugal (and the rest of the EU) it's even easier because most of the forms come up pre-filled (we automatically declare as we go and only include incomes/expenses that might've fallen out of the system or originated abroad), it has an automatic review system that warns you about errors and inconsistencies so you can correct them before you submit and this is all done directly on the web browser, on the usual Fiscal Authority services portal, it usually takes less than 30min to do it, for the average citizen. how come the "greatest country in the world" doesn't have that?
@cairobraga @mike805 @seachanger it really comes down to the power of money: the tax preparation industry has spent money since the 90s lobbying Congress not to authorize the IRS to offer that service. The well-funded government incompetence narrative supports that, too, since many Americans just assume those businesses are right when they say the government doesn’t have the skills to do that, and since most Americans don’t travel internationally few people know most other countries offer it.