I have no problem with the IRS...it's the tax preparers that are out of line.

H&R Block charges according to which tax forms they use. Since a few years ago...a person could check the box "send tax forms to preparer" and it's done.
The whole process is done in a few seconds and they still charge $300

^^
My accountant charges $1000 to do our taxes. I have income from multiple sources so it's complicated.
The thing that pisses me off is the tax code is so inscrutable I have to hire an expert to fill out all the forms, but the IRS holds ME responsible for making sure they are filled out properly. How the hell would I know?

FYI the trend in tax prep is offshore labor. Services advertised to cpa firms say you just upload the tax forms and their presumably $2/hr indian labor does the return. You can pay extra to get 'data verification' that promises 9x% accuracy.

****ing joke imo. First of all on simple 1040s the return is 100% correct or it's wrong. No room for error there. Secondly the idea of people who are completely out of reach of US authority getting your clients tax info is, IMO, beyond the pale and criminally negligent on the part of firms using these services. I'm biased of course since taxes are how i make a living but IMO this is every bit as intelligent as sending your DNA away for analysis.

The IRS told most of its employees they could
work from home during the pandemic.
They liked that and don't want to come back.
The IRS, said OK you can continue to work from home.

So now there is a six month backlog of returns to process.
That's partly why they need 83,000 more "agents".

edited to reduce chances of getting audited.

Can't you get an accountant that would be responsible for any mistakes? (Of course, any problems with un-reporting on your part would be exempt.)
When I use H&R...it's in the agreement.

You tax preparer indemnifies you but if they're wrong, the IRS will be coming after you, not them.

In a worst case scenario, it will be up to you to get H&R to step up while the IRS has liens against you.

After spending hours creating excel templates to print on the store bought forms, I got the W-2’s and W-3 complete and mailed off. I’m happy to share the templates if anyone wants them.

My underlying problem is most likely something related to me being an engineer. I tried 2 different accountants many years ago when my taxes got complicated with some inherited oil properties. I found mistakes that both accountants made and have been doing my own taxes ever since. There is a family accountant I could use but haven’t although I do call him for advice occasionally. TurboTax has made it much easier but even then I’ve used their help line to answer some obscure form or box details. I tried to use the H&R Block software one year but it didn’t even have all the forms I needed! This has definitely gotten too complicated but I also get deductions I wouldn’t get if it was simpler so I guess I’m part of the problem too.

It is a real tragedy that it requires special software, and a computer and above average intelligence, and access to the internet just to do the taxes required by congress. It is just a full employment act for accountants and the IRS. It is 100% the fault of all of congress and the special interests looking for special breaks for themselves.

I honestly don't know how to fix it, but step one is repeal the entire tax code, and start off from new. The new tax code should be written for the average high school graduate to understand. That will happen right after the Unicorns appear with bigfoot riding them to bring world peace and end hunger.

There are "mistakes" and there are "misinterpretations."
I'm not an accountant so I can't properly relay all the details, but my accountant got in a dispute with the IRS about an interpretation of the code. The solution was for me to pay the tax bill plus penalty plus interest while my accountant and the IRS hashed it out. I was paying the accountant for fighting with the IRS on my behalf. Long story short the IRS sat on over $30k of my money for 2 years before they finally agreed with my accountant and handed the money back.

^^^ I don't blame you, I would be upset about it also.

I'm glad my return is simple...no itemizing and just ss, pension, and interest to claim.

I'd used the free IRS document for years. Then my stuff got a little more complex, so I took it to a guy. When I got done paying and looking at what he did, I thought "I could do that. So I used Turbo Tax for many years. Our stuff got more complicated, so we tried going to a place. I wasn't impressed, and they basically filled in something like their own proprietary Turbo Tax. So am still using Turbo Tax. It's never steered me wrong. Get the right version and it'll have the stuff that you need.