Opinion: Filing tax returns shouldn’t be this difficult

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Don't panic yet, but US tax returns are due in less than two weeks . If you've been asking why the American tax filing process is so difficult, you're not alone. In his op-ed for CNN, former Intuit CEO Bill Harris, who ran TurboTax for 10 years, highlights the urgent need to use technology to make the tax process easier for taxpayers and the IRS itself.

As Harris points out, tax systems in other countries, such as the Netherlands and Japan, are simple enough that most taxpayers can file in a few hours or less. But in the US, the average American spends 13 hours filing taxes. That may be due to the complexity of federal and state tax laws, Harris says. When the income tax was first enacted in 1913, the tax code was just 27 pages long; it has since expanded to more than 17,000 pages. "Not only is the tax code incredibly lengthy, it also is frequently changing, with an average of 399 changes each year from 2000 through 2022," Harris writes.

While there's "no prospect of radical simplification of the tax laws," the US can start rebuilding the IRS' internal systems that process tax forms, which currently rely on decades-old software, Harris says. He also suggests that the IRS and states build online portals that make the filing of very simple tax forms easier, cheaper and faster. The good news: Pilot programs are already underway and will be available over the next few years -- as long as they have the proper funding, Harris says.

?????? Read the full opinion piece by Bill Harris.

???? Expecting a refund or already got yours? Here are seven ways to put it to good use .

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Today’s PM Plug-In was produced by CNN’s Janet Ahn and Matt Tettelbach.