I is for IRS

Ah, spring! When a young woman’s thoughts turn lightly to thoughts of piles of receipts and forms to fill out to convince the government that yes, we really did pay our share of the government’s expenses last year. Okay, maybe not so lightly.

I was annoyed when I received the postcard from the IRS saying they weren’t sending forms this year. Our post office doesn’t have them. I didn’t see them at the library. That means downloading them and printing them (No, I’m not doing e-file). I can do that — I’ve often done it for worksheets and forms that weren’t included in the booklet anyway. It’s just annoying, increases the amount of time and energy I have to spend, and makes finding the appropriate instructions, tax tables, etc., frustrating. I like being able to flip through the pages. I like being able to fold pages in half so I can reference pages in two different sections of the book. I like having the paper there as reference when I need it.

In my opinion, a better way for them to have handled it would have been to provide the option to order the booklet sent.

Ah, well. Can’t expect them to actually be helpful, can I? This is the IRS — after all, butt of fear, loathing, and jokes across the country. Okay, back to work on the forms. *sigh*

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.