I don't think that that's true. If they really defined what was deductible at what level, and have that stuff reported to them, which is mostly done already, then they could do that.

Personally, I'd feel uncomfortable with that, because I know the quality of the employees that the government generally hires. But, then, I can usually do a 1040EZ, or at least a really simple 1040A with no penalty, so it doesn't take me too long to do it.

BTW, I bring it up most every year, but some of you may want to check out TaxACT, a free piece of tax software. I've done my taxes with it for the last several years and have been quite happy. Their electronic filing is also usually pretty cheap, and I've done that once or twice.