I forgot a form on my tax returns, and it was the beginning of a nightmare. On my birthday, I received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), plunging me into a moment of deep shock. The letter was typed in large, bold print, stating, "Your tax return does not match our records." After multiple checks, I discovered that I had failed to report my earnings from a six-month stint at Business Insider. Such errors are not uncommon, even among tax professionals. Richard Lampel, a retired accountant, once shared that he, too, had forgotten to attach his W2 form. 2023 was a particularly chaotic year for me. Both my wife and I changed jobs, and we welcomed our second child. These life changes led to a critical oversight in our tax documentation. I immediately sent a photo of the IRS notification to our long-time accountant, Greta Von Rahn, with whom we had worked for a decade. She reassured me, explaining that such oversights are more common than one might think. Every year, millions of Americans make mistakes on their tax returns, leading to about 1.7 billion IRS notices. What’s even more disheartening is that solutions to this problem exist. The IRS already had detailed records of my earnings from Business Insider but still penalized me for the omission. In many countries, automated tax systems have streamlined the process. For instance, New Zealand’s taxpayers can log onto a website, verify the tax amount provided by the government, and complete their returns with just a few clicks. In Japan, the government sends out postcards with calculated tax amounts, allowing taxpayers to either accept or contest them. These systems reduce the burden on taxpayers and increase the accuracy of tax collections. Back in 2005, Joseph Bank, a law professor at Stanford University (and the father of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX), developed a pilot program called ReadyReturn. Under this program, single filers with straightforward incomes would receive pre-filled tax forms provided by the government. The pilot was highly successful, with 99% of participants expressing satisfaction. However, when Bank tried to push the program through state legislation, it was blocked by lobbyists from large tax preparation companies. Clearly, these companies prefer that taxpayers pay for their DIY software rather than benefiting from a free, automated service provided by the government. The current U.S. tax system remains cumbersome and error-prone. According to research by the Treasury Department and Dartmouth College economists, nearly half of all tax returns are simple enough to be automated by the IRS. Despite this, the transition to automated tax filing has been slow. Recently, during the peak of tax season, both Elon Musk and the Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced layoffs, including staff responsible for IRS technological modernization and customer service hotlines. Last year, it was estimated that Americans spent an average of nine hours on their tax returns, totaling over 7.9 billion hours—an enormous time and stress cost. The IRS notification we received required us to verify the discrepancy between our reported income and actual earnings. While the verification itself was straightforward, the IRS’s processing speed has been severely impacted by the pandemic, with some taxpayers receiving bills up to a year and a half after filing. Our options were clear: we could immediately file an amended return and pay the additional tax, plus nine months of interest and penalties; or we could wait for the bill, risking further interest and penalties, but potentially appealing for a first-time offender penalty waiver. Following Greta’s advice, we promptly filed an amended return. Our total owed amounted to $10,102, including about $1,000 in penalties and interest. The process was exasperating, especially in an age of advanced technology where automation could easily prevent such human errors. Industry experts agree that the U.S. tax system has significant room for improvement. Automating tax filing could enhance efficiency, reduce penalties for accidental oversights, and increase tax revenues for the government. The shortage of available accountants exacerbates this issue, pushing more people to file their taxes independently and increasing the likelihood of mistakes. Perhaps technology leaders like Elon Musk could consider using their expertise to streamline the tax filing process and contribute to greater societal well-being.