How many real source numbers are there that aren't functions of functions of each other?

*shudders* prologue *twitch*

I tried to do mine manually last year, but between the partial W2 income, the partial 1099-MISC income, and the partial 1099-DIV income I just threw up my hands, went out, spent the $40, and bought the tax software. I swear someone should pass a law stating that the printed-out tax code can weigh no more than a two-year-old child can easily carry.

If I had just bought the tax software instead of going to H&R Block this year... I'd be $196 richer right now.

Larcenous fuckers.

#3 is "Profit", right?

It just occured to me that you could probably make a perl script to interpret the instructions (given how similar they are) and prompt for any values it doesn't have (like #1).

I think somebody made that already.

Gotta keep all those CPAs and Tax accountants employed somehow. Where would they all go if the IRS didn't hire about 40000 of them??

Its a fucking mess. I still wish we'd just go to a VAT system. It'd suck up front, but it'd beat the hell out of this April 15th bull.

Which form is that?

Probably the "I sold a company so taxes are really not EZ" form.

{Please refer to my user pic}

I used to love those "choose your own adventure" books. I haven't seen them for ages!

Final project for one of my CS classes: implement the 1040EZ (most of it) in Scheme. Bleh.

buahahaha

2nd thought, d00d that sucks :)

you, with a solid grounding in relational databases, i'm sure can easily see how the government could speed this up enormously (and save money, on both sides) by putting it all online and generating that data themselves. gah.

the government gives you an rpg for free and you complain??

anyways, yesterday night i just filed my tax report for 2004 using the java app (filling; validation; simulation and submission) distributed by the portuguese 'irs' in a little under 15 minutes. and that includes summing different expenses, etc. hey, something had to be good in portugal.

You know, if Bush and Grover and his boys at Citizens for Tax Reform have their way, your life would be easier....

Think about it... Bush is your friend.... yessssss....

sweet jesus, man, when was that picture taken?

I've just used turbotax for web the last few years. I even itemized one year (and then scrapped it because i ended up owing more) and though not exactly easy, it was pretty painless. its not so much like a choose your own adventure as a really long, boring, online quiz.

You are a consumer!
What type of American are you? Find out at Quizillirs.com!

It seems the US tax code is so complicated only because the doors have long been thrown open for lawmakers to hack in incentives for certain behaviors and constitutencies in the form of exception clauses.

This is why there are absurd minutiae such as being able to get a credit for:

diesel fuel and kerosene used other than as a fuel in the propulsion engine of a train or diesel-powered highway vehicle (but not off-highway business use)

Who except the people that clause actually applies to, has any idea who it applies to or what its purpose is?

The US tax code is like spaghetti code that's been around for decades, that no one owns (in a pride and care and hygiene sense), that no one understands in totality, and that each new generation of legislature just hacks their shitty ideas into.

Meanwhile, we have an artificial market for people to study it for shortcuts and guide others through its shifting waters.