link to original reddit post by /u/mrpenguin_86
I see a lot of people complain that everyone should just get with the program and automate taxes. The government gets all these data about your finances from companies anyways, so why do we file tax returns? The feds get my W2s! Why do I pay Turbo Tax whatever to tell them what's on my W2?
Save your complaints! This is all done intentionally. Go peruse random IRS publications and get a sense of what is going on: special interests! From teachers to farmers to railroad employees to fund managers to realtors, every big special interest and any special interest worth its weight has lobbied for decades to carve out deductions and credits for its members. This is why no one will ever do much to simplify the tax code. You as an Admin Professional II might not see anything more than the standard deduction, but your friend the realtor who also owns a family farm has a return twice as big as yours because he gets sweet passive income from his rentals and not pay SE tax, can get a bunch of deductions for work as a real estate professional, and provides an easement for 'conservation'!
It's as if the government is picking winners and losers.
The more you know!