<i>Requiring taxpayers to file returns without being told what the government already knows makes as much sense “as if Visa sent customers a blank piece of paper, requiring that they assemble their receipts, list their purchases — and pay a fine if they forget one,” said Joseph Bankman, a professor at the Stanford Law School.</i><p>Agree.<p>The problem is that the "big box accounting shops" like H&#38;R Block, Jackson Hewett, et al. throw their weight around and complain.  Paper tax returns are horribly inefficient, but that's how the big box accounting shops make the majority of their income.<p>Given that taxes (withheld) are essentially an interest-free loan to the government, it seems <i>more</i> than logical that the government could pay a "dividend" of sorts to people by simplifying the filing process without the use of some overpaid H&#38;R Block agent, a CPA or tax lawyer.