Here we are at the start of a new year, and with that the start of a new tax season. Doing taxes ranks up there between having a root canal and preparing for a colonoscopy in terms of things to look forward to.

But when I heard there was a new tax form for 2019 - Form 1040-SR U.S. Tax Return for Seniors - I thought, ok, that’s good news for some folks. Right?

The new Form 1040-SR is, according to the IRS, “available as an optional alternative to using Form 1040 for taxpayers who are age 65 or older.” (That leaves me out of contention.) The IRS further clarifies for 2019 that “age 65 or older” means you were born before January 2, 1955.

OK, so if Form 1040-SR is an “optional alternative” to the Form 1040, what’s different about it and why would any senior want to use a form that reminds them that they are a senior? There must be some benefit to using the form, right? Maybe you get free Geritol for completing this new form?

Well, here’s what the IRS says in the 2019 Form 1040 and 1040-SR Booklet about Form 1040-SR: “The form generally mirrors Form 1040.”

So why are we using taxpayer funds to create a new form that mirrors an existing form?

I did a side-by-side comparison to confirm to what degree Form 1040-SR “generally mirrors” Form 1040.

(By the way, the 2019 Form 1040 looks quite a bit different than the so called “postcard” 2018 Form 1040, which in reality was a terribly designed two page form that easily could have fit onto one page, plus six separate schedules. The 2019 Form 1040 looks more like the previous 2017 Form 1040, when we had the pleasure of choosing among Form 1040, Form 1040A and Form 1040EZ the latter two of which went away in 2018.)

It is true. The two forms are nearly identical, with two minor exceptions:

1) Form 1040-SR includes a Standard Deduction Chart at the bottom of the form showing the Standard Deduction amounts. The Form 1040 tells you to go to the instructions to figure this out. Yet the bottom third of Form 1040 page one is blank. There is PLENTY of room to include the Standard Deduction Chart on the face of Form 1040 too.

2) Font Size- 2019 Form 1040-SR uses two full pages of space, yet 2019 Form 1040 leaves the bottom third of the form blank on both pages. Is this blank space for doodling or what?

From a practical standpoint, why wouldn’t our legislators hire smart people that could step back and say, hey, maybe we don’t need a new form to confuse people when this new form adds zero value to society. Maybe we can simply increase the font of the existing form size and call it a day?

Don’t blame the IRS. Let’s dive even deeper into this matter to find out who makes these stupid decisions.

Although the IRS designed these forms, it was at the direction of the 115th Congress (2017-2018), signed into law by Donald Trump on February 9, 2018 in H.R. 1892, the “Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.”

TITLE II--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 41106. Form 1040SR for seniors.

FORM 1040SR FOR SENIORS.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) shall make available a form, to be known as “Form 1040SR'', for use by individuals to file the return of tax imposed by chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Such form shall be as similar as practicable to Form 1040EZ, except that--

(1) the form shall be available only to individuals who have attained age 65 as of the close of the taxable year,

(2) the form may be used even if income for the taxable year includes--

(A) social security benefits (as defined in section 86(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986),

(B) distributions from qualified retirement plans (as defined in section 4974(c) of such Code), annuities or other such deferred payment arrangements,

(C) interest and dividends, or

(D) capital gains and losses taken into account in determining adjusted net capital gain (as defined in section 1(h)(3) of such Code), and

(3) the form shall be available without regard to the amount of any item of taxable income or the total amount of taxable income for the taxable year.

(b) Effective Date.--The form required by subsection (a) shall be made available for taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

So where did this ineffective new law originate? Who can we blame?

The text of this new law is nearly identical to the “Simple Tax for Seniors Act of 2004” introduced to the 108th Congress by Republican Senator Larry Craig on June 3, 2004, almost exactly four years to the day before he was arrested for indecent behavior in a men’s restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The proposed new law didn’t go anywhere, while Craig pled guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct.

The bill made a comeback in 2011, when Republican House Representative John Fleming and Senator Marco Rubio introduced it to the 112th Congress as the “Seniors’ Tax Simplification Act of 2011.” It went nowhere. It was presented again in 2013 and 2015. No changes were made in the bill other than the date.

Then the Honoring Hometown Heroes Act (H.R. 1892) was introduced to the House on April 4, 2017, authorizing governors to fly U.S. flags at half-staff in the event of the death of a first responder who dies while serving in the line of duty. It passed the House on May 18th. It passed Senate on November 28th.

What does this have to do with Form 1040-SR? H.R. 1892 was amended in a massive way in February 2018 and was renamed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Division A of the law is the Honoring Hometown Heroes Act. Divisions B, C, D and E incorporate other new laws. Division D includes the new Form 1040-SR.

And as mentioned above, the Bipartisan Budget Act was signed into law on February 9, 2018, nearly 14 years after the original vaguely-worded Simple Tax for Seniors Act was introduced.

So now you know the history of Form 1040-SR. If our legislators were competent, the new Form 1040-SR would not exist. Instead, Form 1040 would have slightly larger font size and Standard Deduction details shown on the face of the form to benefit all taxpayers equally.