Bankman on Simple Filing for Average Citizens: the California ReadyReturn

Joseph Bankman (Stanford) has published Simple Filing for Average Citizens:  the California ReadyReturn, 107 Tax Notes 1431 (June 13, 2005), also available on the Tax Analysts web site as Doc 2005-11952, 2005 TNT 113-33.  Here is part of the Conclusion:

The ReadyReturn pilot progam . . . shows that (at the state level, at least) returns can be delivered to taxpayers in a cost- efficient and timely manner. More important, the pilot shows that a ReadyReturn-like program will be enthusiastically received by a considerable portion of the eligible population. One intriguing future possibility is that the federal government might set up a joint state-federal pilot program with California. The state could supply the IRS with wage data. As a service to its residents, the state might also provide the IRS with computer and other support. The residual costs of a pilot program would seem small in comparison to the upside of tens of millions of happier taxpayers. But for any of that to occur, the ReadyReturn program must first escape an untimely death at the hands of a few for-profit companies and its ideologically committed opponents.