At long last, the IRS has recognized that at this point, the amount of time spent gathering information to support the home office deduction likely far outweighs the resulting tax benefit.

FORBES: Deducting Your Home Office (Read: Couch) Just Got A Whole Lot Simpler

For business owners who have taken the deduction in the past, the complex option is less daunting because much of the information remains consistent year after year.

WSJ: Easier Tax Form, Smaller Deduction

The government could, for example, design a program to subsidize mortgage interest payments under the same terms as the current deduction, only instead of including it in your tax return, you'd send the relevant financial information to a different agency, which would cut you a check.

WSJ: Best of the Web Today: Give Us a Break