It's nuts. Intuit isn't worth that much.
The fact that our government has made such a process for fulfilling a legal obligation speaks volumes about the mafia-like nature of our federal government.
I pay lots of property tax where I live. But its just a bill. I can and sometimes do dispute the amount owed. But imagine if each year instead of that process I had to hire an independent team to determine what I owe, make a case for that, then submit that to my local tax authority. That's basically what the IRS does with individuals.
If you're an eg. independent contractor, you have to fill out a full report (income, expenses, income tax already prepaid, benefits paid, etc.), but you also do it on a governments website and sign it using a digital certificate (that is free for citizens).
No 3rd party software, no paying anything (unless you have an accountant do that for you, but it's relatively simple to do it by yourself), and the most time-consuming task is calculating all the yearly earnings and expenses.
Not in a free society. An ineffective government is a conspicuous drain.
If they precalculated your taxes and sent you a bill (or refund) it would (a) be easier, (b) be more accurate and (c) encourage simplification of the entire system. I consider that both more effective and more fair.