Tax Software: A Special Kind of Hell
Why does so much software make me feel bad?
In 1944, the Associated Press interviewed Albert Einstein about whether he did his own taxes:
Asked what his reaction was to the maze of income tax questions, Professor Einstein, whose theory of relativity is supposedly understood by only seven persons in the world, replied:
“This is a question too difficult for a mathematician. It should be asked of a philosopher.”
Einstein’s quote is one of many that gets passed around each Spring at tax time. We hear the same laments each year — taxes are too high, they’re too complicated, they’re too scary. So what do Americans do when something is scary and complicated? We pay somebody else to do it for us.
The tax preparation industry is a big — and almost entirely unnecessary — business. It brought in $13.9 billion last year.
I’m sure that some people really need the advice of a dedicated tax professional. If you own a sizable business or have diverse and unusual financial holdings, you should probably retain an accountant. But most Americans have pretty simple finances. They earn salaries and own some mutual funds; they have retirement accounts and health insurance.
