As the Sinclair quote goes, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Intuit has a $3b/yr interest in thinking that return-free filing is a bad idea. I think this country would be better off if people didn't have to spend that money and the inordinate time commitment that filing taxes currently consumes. And I think that Intuit not believing this is a rationalization of the need to protect that revenue stream.

As someone who was employed by a company that was acquired by Intuit, I've been very conflicted about my own good fortune being connected with Intuit's activities in this area. About 6 months ago, I decided to divest all my Intuit stock, not because I felt it wouldn't perform well, but because I don't want to be making money off what I see as unethical behavior. Intuit is, in most respects, a very ethical company. But in this one area, I don't think they are.