Opinion: Lobbying efforts keep tax season complicated.

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Spring was once an innocent time, signifying longer days, brighter skies and the end of the school year. Now, after entering adulthood, many college students find the sweet smell of flowers to be a dark omen signifying what is soon to come: tax season. March will soon fade into April, and with April will come the added stress of filing taxes. Out comes pen, paper and calculator as Americans are left scratching their heads while they attempt to figure out what they owe the government. Others shell out upwards of a hundred dollars to tax filing services to avoid the headache. Everyone hates America’s tax filing system. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Americans would benefit from a return free filing system such as the ones used by countries such as Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. However, the lobbying efforts of tax filing companies such as Turbotax and H&R Block have prevented the government from creating its own free tax filing system.

In the U.S., it is up to individual taxpayers to figure out what they owe the government. However in 36 other countries the government sends their citizens either a tax refund or a bill without expecting them to calculate that number, a process known as return free filing. This is because in most countries, including the U.S., the government already knows the amount of money each person owes.

Most of us hate math, and it’s common for us to make small mistakes. In math class this can lead to a bad grade or a failed test. But, when filing taxes, mistyping a number on a calculator isn’t just a mistake — it’s a crime. The average American spends about 12 hours each year doing their taxes. The process is long and complicated. Most of us will make a mistake somewhere down the line and get a number wrong. Some of us overpay while others underpay.

Everyone hates filing their taxes. Rarely do we find something this universally agreed upon. It’s expensive, inaccurate and a waste of everyone’s time. A much simpler and easier option exists. So if no one likes the system we have right now, why do we still have it?

The answer, of course, is corporate interests. Tax filing companies only survive so long as the American government neglects to do what other countries have already done — create a free and simple tax filing system. So, of course, tax filing companies have done everything and their power to prevent that from happening.

In 2002, the Bush Administration proposed that the American government create a way for Americans to file their taxes online. This posed a major threat to the existing tax filing systems. In response, tax filing services reached an agreement with the federal government. Rather than create its own tax filing program, the American government would require the companies to create a free option for those who wanted a simple, electronic way to file their taxes. This free option would be available to the bottom 60% of earners.

TurboTax does in fact offer free tax filing to the bottom 60% of earners. However, due to deceptive tactics, this free tax filing service is nearly impossible to find. As Propublica reported in its series on TurboTax, TurboTax intentionally hid its free filing service, TurboTax Free File, from Google search results. Instead, Google “TurboTax Free” or “TurboTax Free File” and you will find the strategically named TurboTax Free Edition. TurboTax Free Edition is not, in fact, free, something that most people don’t discover until after having clicked a button on the site promising that they can “File for $0.” TurboTax Free File, on the other hand, was never advertised on TurboTax’s website. This did not prevent TurboTax from advertising its filing system as free.

Turbotax’s deceptive campaign has worked extremely well. In 2019, 40% of Americans filed their taxes through TurboTax, and though 60% of them should have been eligible for free filing services, only 2.5% used them. The majority of people end up paying around $100 to file their taxes online, with some paying as much as $200.

There is some good news. The IRS has removed the provision in the Free File program that prevented it from instituting its own online tax filing system. Hopefully the government will move toward creating one in the future. As a response to this, Inuit, TurboTax’s parent company, opted out of the government free file program in July of last year. While this is a step in the right direction, the damage has been done. The company has already tricked millions into paying for services that should be free. People still lack access to a free, easy way to submit their taxes online, a service that the government ought to provide. As long as there is a profit to be made, tax filing services will continue to lobby the government to keep the process of filing our taxes complicated.

April 18 is right around that corner. Unless you plan to spend hours trying and ultimately failing to file taxes online for free, get ready to brush up on your math skills. Or you could throw in the towel and pay TurboTax to do your taxes for you.