If you don’t care about deductions you can fill out a 2 page 1040 with your W2. As they calculated for you.

but people do care and so they are willing to pay $60 for tax help

About 80% of filers take the standard deduction.

You’re referring to itemizing deductions. But you still qualify for income deductions like IRA and credits like child without itemizing.

With the way these conversations often go back and forth, I sometimes wonder how many people have actually done their own taxes by hand with the official forms, vs have only ever used some program or service.

I think the way people think about tax is it’s a chore to be done. And offloading it to someone else is good capitalist specialization.

But I think when you understand tax policy you think and act differently in regards to financial decision. So outsourcing it reduces insight into think that perhaps most impacts middle class finances besides job.

I have done so. I had no kids and no IRA.