Tax Day Could Be Easy. They’re Fighting To Make It Hard.

Tax Day Could Be Easy. They’re Fighting To Make It Hard.

From Lever Time by David Sirota

April 15, 2026 · 34 min · Season 7 · Episode 19

About this episode

David Sirota discusses the complexities of tax filing and the potential benefits of return-free filing.

Tax Day sucks — confusing forms, piles of receipts, and expensive tax prep software. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A simple fix called return-free filing, proposed by Ronald Reagan decades ago, could save Americans millions of hours and billions of dollars. So who keeps shooting it down? Today on Lever Time, David Sirota traces the 40-year dogfight over your tax return. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: David Sirota

Topics covered

  • tax filing
  • return-free filing
  • tax preparation
  • government policy
  • independent journalism

Keywords

  • Tax Day
  • tax returns
  • return-free filing
  • tax prep software
  • government policy

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