> There is simply no reason whatsoever not to implement return-free filing, beyond the large dollar amounts tax industry lobbyists spend on the Hill.
It's not all Intuit lobbying. Many politicians of a particular faction oppose return free filing because they want to keep tax proxess as painful as possible to make people emotionally susceptible to anti-tax and, more generally, anti-government rhetoric.
> We are governed by people who don't believe in government.
This is more true now than ever. An EPA head that doesn't accept climate change, or believe in the EPA at all. A DOE head that wanted to eliminate a specific department that he heads, but can't quite remember what it is; an FCC head that wants to remove most FCC regulations (this is not as bad as the other examples, though), a SoE that doesn't believe in public education...
It's not all Intuit lobbying. Many politicians of a particular faction oppose return free filing because they want to keep tax proxess as painful as possible to make people emotionally susceptible to anti-tax and, more generally, anti-government rhetoric.