Dear universe,
There are 10+ different organizations that have to give me some kind of tax form so that I can file my taxes. I'm really happy that they are now all electronic. It is much easier to download them off the organization's website than to get them in the mail.
However, if these organizations are going to generate a PDF, can't they also generate a .irs file? A .irs file is an imaginary XML format that I wish existed. It would include all the data from the PDF but in a parsable format. I could take all the .irs files put them on a USB stick and hand it to my tax preparer or feed them into TurboTax.
I know it wouldn't completely automate tax preparation, but imagine how much easier tax prep would be if this existed? I wouldn't have to suffer though watching my tax preparer slowly retyping things (Why am I paying him to do that?). Tax prep software would take each file and, possibly with a little human help, know where to apply the numbers.
I can't be the first to have thought of this.
Why doesn't it exist?
I guess you'd like to check out how Estoniean e-government works.
"Everyone in the country votes and pays taxes online. An ID card that all Estonians carry not only identifies them in the physical world, but also works in electronic environments. The ID card can be used to encrypt documents and add a digital signature, a legal equivalent to a regular paper signature. It also allows people to access almost any e-service in Estonia, including those of banks, utility companies, and the state's own portal. It even allows citizens to pay parking tickets with mobile phones."
http://ohmygov.com/blogs/general_news/archive/2009/02/13/e-government-in-estonia-a-model-for-u-s.aspx
it is much better than .irs and TurboTax :)