(Radio Iowa) – With the federal tax filing deadline now one week away, a University of Iowa accounting professor suggests America adopt what’s being done in many European countries, where the government prepares your taxes for you — for free. Professor Ryan Wilson says our current electronic filing process is automated, so it wouldn’t be a great stretch for the I-R-S to go the next step and prepare our taxes, too. Wilson says the government already has most of the information it needs to pre-populate tax returns, and those with more complex investments could always opt out. For the majority of Americans, Wilson says it would reduce anxiety while saving time and money.

He says a program called ReadyReturn is already being used in the U-K, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain, where the government prepares its citizens’ taxes. In some countries, you get a text from the government and if you text back ‘YES,’ then you’re done.