Neither of those situations is particularly difficult to handle. My mother has all of those things and to this day she still files a traditional paper 1040 like she has for the past decades. And she's not college educated or especially bright. She just does it because an hour of her time is worth more than the nearly $200 all-in costs of doing a state and federal return with TT.

The IRS could go towards a model where they assume a standard deduction and verified dependents, and issue a refund based on that. Then let people file an amended return with itemized deductions if they wish.

The tax code in the US can be very complicated, but the for the vast majority of wager earners, it's pretty straight forward. The complications come on the business end of things.