> It’s pretty simple to do your own taxes unless you have your own business and partnerships and whatnot.

IDK about that. As a non-resident alien for tax purposes for a couple of years I couldn't use any of the existing software (TurboTax, etc). I even tried to contact a tax accounting firm like HRBlock and they had no idea about things I needed to file that I discovered on my own reading the IRS publications. So I did the taxes on my own and every time it was the most painful thing happening that year (yes, that likely means I lead an otherwise stress-free life), it took 3 weeks at least spending most evenings a few hours making little progress on it each day. And at the end of it I never felt very confident about it and I likely left on the table possible deductions.

But if there's one thing doing that helped with is appreciate how easy and painless is to do it as a resident alien with something like TurboTax (takes a few hours instead of weeks) and it helped me understand the terms and instructions of some of the more complex issues that you may have to deal with even with TurboTax.

HRBlock is not a tax accounting firm. They are a service firm who hire people to sit in retail storefronts and key your info into TurboTax (or their internal equivalent).

You need a real CPA with a tax focus if you have "complicated" taxes.

> As a non-resident alien for tax purposes

It seems like you are (were) a good candidate for a more comprehensive service for sure. Perhaps a better wording would have been "it's pretty simple as a resident and (W-2) employee," which encompasses the majority of those filing, and who probably don't need a service like TurboTax or an accountant.

Actually IMHO, the difficulty with any of these things are tracking the right metrics. Particularly for "hobby" style businesses. You find out at the end of the year trying to avoid paying a bunch of taxes on something that didn't really make any money, that you mixed up or failed to compute your vehicle mileage correctly (or whatever).

So, having an accountant handling all the details, in the en puts the information at your fingertips that otherwise you have to scrape out of the box of receipts/etc. The tax filing parts are easy.

> It’s pretty simple to do your own taxes

So why do people complain about it so much? To the point where they're writing their own custom software (?!) to do it?

Mostly because it's an unpleasant task that can involve large sums of money if you put things in the wrong boxes. And even relatively straightforward brokerage accounts and second income sources start cranking up the complexity in a hurry.

I don’t find that to be true about brokerages. I have 4 different brokerages, and each one sends a well labeled 1099-B/DIV/INT.

Non W-2 or 1099 incomes with various deductions get things complicated though, and I would punt that to an accountant.

I don’t know. But if you’ve opened up the IRS free fillable forms website, and put up the accompanying instructions on your second monitor, and know how to read English, I don’t see how it’s difficult, if you’re income is from a W-2. Everything is kind of labeled and laid out for you.

When I was in middle school (1980s) we did a tax return on paper, I think it was part of a Social Studies class? We were given a fictitious W2, number of dependents, etc. and had to fill out a 1040 and a State return (on paper of course, no computers then). This permanently demystified the process. I think a lot of people who pay HRBlock or similar to do their taxes have never tried to do their taxes manually and are just afraid to try.

I have always done my taxes myself, on paper, even years when I had capital gains, education credits, 1099s, and small business (single member LLC) income. It's a bit time consuming but not difficult per se.

I believe that's only for filing a federal tax return, and for filing your state tax return you still have to either use a tax preparation website or do it on paper.

California has a had a wizard-style site for... I'm not sure a decade or so.

Here:

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/index.html

Maybe a bit of an open secret? Found with "site:ca.gov", halfway down the DDG page.

Other little-known, useful USA services:

weather.gov new.nowcoast.noaa.gov

Many states offer online filing systems, might even be the majority now. You just have to visit the state’s tax department website.

Because everyone (for certain values of everyone) has a niche issue that current software doesn't address or addresses poorly, or they just don't want to pay for something that the government should provide. It's their damn tax code, the least they could do is make it as simple as possible to PAY THEM MONEY.

> Spend a couple hours reading the instructions...

lol bro, I'm employed and married with 2 kids.

I guess that's considered a partnership.

;)

I used to do it myself when I was a W-2 employee, and I remember spending a few hours on it the first or second year, but after that it’s pretty quick since the process and forms don’t change much. Kids are just a couple credits and maybe a form for dependent care deductions.

But I also had a few hours to burn. I understand preferring to spend that time with kids instead. But it is worth noting that it’s a much smaller time commitment after the first couple years.

Yes, and you should understand how it works. That means doing it a few times. Like learning how to multiply before using a calculator.