3 ms·

But are the "commoners" taxes really complicated? If you only have w2 income it's just a simple 2-page 1040 form.

adolph 8y ago
Lots of people have young kids: Add another two pages for the "Child and Dependent Care Expenses" form. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2441.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2441.pdf
bzbarsky 8y ago
A bare-bones tax return involving only W-2 income for a couple with moderately high-paying jobs (doctor, lawyer, engineer, in some areas police officer, nurse, school principal, that sort of thing; enough to end up at $250k+ between the two of them) will include the following forms for the 2018 tax year: * 1040 (including Schedule 4, to report Form 8959 bits on) * 6251 (they probably don't owe AMT now, but need to fill out the form to prove it) * 8959 (because wage income over $250k). If they have any savings that's not cash under a mattress, probably add form 8960 and 1040 Schedule B or D or both (but now we have non-W2 income, of course). If they own a house, likely add Schedule A. If they have kids, probably add Schedule 3 for the child care credit and form 2441. Plus the various worksheets involved (child credit, not to be confused with the child care credit, the actual tax computation worksheet, etc), which I guess don't have to be filed with the IRS, at least. Now I agree that this is not really complicated in the grand scheme of things. I also agree that for people at lower income levels the 1040 is the only thing involved if no kids, add form 2441 if they have kids and are not stay-at-home parenting.
scott00 8y ago
A form so simple it only needs 117 pages of instructions.
- bzbarsky 8y ago
  I mean, it's got 4 pages of instructions for whether you should file it at all, and if so where to send it. It's got a third of a page for what to put in the "name and address" fields. It's got half a page for what to put in the "SSN" field. A bunch of that deals with edge cases that are not relevant to most people, who don't even read this part of the instructions and just write down their name, address, and SSN. 8 pages of EIC credit table. 10 pages of tax table. Longish, but pretty simple. Now there are in fact things in there that are not simple. Filing status is usually simple, unless you try to figure out "head of household", in which case it's not. But in general, the 1040 is quite simple as tax forms go, and the instructions are mostly long because they are written out with a lot of detail and to be easy to follow, and have to cover various edge cases.

Lots of people have young kids: Add another two pages for the "Child and Dependent Care Expenses" form. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2441.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2441.pdf

bzbarsky 8y ago

A bare-bones tax return involving only W-2 income for a couple with moderately high-paying jobs (doctor, lawyer, engineer, in some areas police officer, nurse, school principal, that sort of thing; enough to end up at $250k+ between the two of them) will include the following forms for the 2018 tax year: * 1040 (including Schedule 4, to report Form 8959 bits on) * 6251 (they probably don't owe AMT now, but need to fill out the form to prove it) * 8959 (because wage income over $250k). If they have any savings that's not cash under a mattress, probably add form 8960 and 1040 Schedule B or D or both (but now we have non-W2 income, of course). If they own a house, likely add Schedule A. If they have kids, probably add Schedule 3 for the child care credit and form 2441. Plus the various worksheets involved (child credit, not to be confused with the child care credit, the actual tax computation worksheet, etc), which I guess don't have to be filed with the IRS, at least. Now I agree that this is not really complicated in the grand scheme of things. I also agree that for people at lower income levels the 1040 is the only thing involved if no kids, add form 2441 if they have kids and are not stay-at-home parenting.

scott00 8y ago

A form so simple it only needs 117 pages of instructions.

bzbarsky 8y ago
I mean, it's got 4 pages of instructions for whether you should file it at all, and if so where to send it. It's got a third of a page for what to put in the "name and address" fields. It's got half a page for what to put in the "SSN" field. A bunch of that deals with edge cases that are not relevant to most people, who don't even read this part of the instructions and just write down their name, address, and SSN. 8 pages of EIC credit table. 10 pages of tax table. Longish, but pretty simple. Now there are in fact things in there that are not simple. Filing status is usually simple, unless you try to figure out "head of household", in which case it's not. But in general, the 1040 is quite simple as tax forms go, and the instructions are mostly long because they are written out with a lot of detail and to be easy to follow, and have to cover various edge cases.