The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: Opinions

CHRIS ANTHONY

Hurry, hurry! Subtract line 36 from line 22. Attach W-2s and Schedules C, D and SE. No, you can't use Schedule C-EZ.

But you can attach forms 2106 and 3903! Domestic production activities deduction? Retirement savings contributions credit? Now here's how much you owe the government.

Confusing, huh? Welcome to the annual income tax frustration felt by millions of Americans.

Filing taxes puts a damper on this gorgeous spring season, forcing hardworking Americans to scurry about, frantically trying to meet the April 15 deadline.

And once again, it is painfully clear that the current tax structure is a convoluted mess in desperate need of restructuring.

Trust me. I know.

Despite being a tax novice, I thought I had it all figured out when filing my return last year. As a 21-year-old, having just one job in 2007 made filing the 1040EZ form, well, a little too "EZ."

"This isn't so bad," I thought, completing my return in about an hour.

Now, tried and tested as a 22-year-old, I discovered that my simple tax experience didn't last forever. I had five jobs in 2008 and some trust fund income, so I had to graduate to the regular 1040 form.

Suddenly, I was in a world I knew nothing about.

What are ordinary dividends? Qualified dividends? Do I have any student loan interest deductions?

What about tuition and fees deductions? What are education credits?

After hours of poring over the 1040 instruction booklet, I came to a startling realization.

"I have no idea what the hell I'm doing," I told my father.

My father didn't miss a beat.

"Does any American really know what they're doing on their income taxes?" he quipped.

Surely, some people know what they are doing, but they must be few and far between. The tax code is thousands of pages long and features millions of words. That makes it more than a little difficult when trying to learn the nuances of our tax structure.

But don't take my word for it.

U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said, "With its 6,000 pages and 500 million words, the complexity of our tax code is the prime source of frustration and anger felt by millions of Americans toward their government."

Many people simply give up and seek assistance. Of the roughly 140 million people who filed returns for 2007, a little more than 63 million received some sort of assistance, according to the Internal Revenue Service Web site.

When roughly half of taxpayers need assistance with their returns, the process is simply too difficult.

And for a college student like me, it's only going to get worse. I don't own any real estate or any stocks now. But I plan to, and then I'll need to figure out the complexities associated with those as well - or I will have to shell out heavy cash to have somebody prepare my return.

Obviously, I don't have answers to this mess. Heck, I don't even know how to do my taxes.

But I do know that when Americans are being taxed heavily, the government needs to make the process easier and less time-consuming on taxpayers.

- Chris Anthony is a page designer for The Red & Black.

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