1370 Taxing Forms

I got this notice in the mail recently that disturbed me. It was a little three-by-five, cheap, postcard-sized form. It looked almost exactly like those invitations you get to watch free condo presentations.
The kind of thing that usually takes an instantaneous unlooked-at trip to my recycle bin.
Fortunately, for some reason I looked at it and saw the words Internal Revenue Service. That got my attention. Turned out it was a notice from the feds that they’re no longer going to send the paper tax packet they’ve been sending me since I first went to work at age 16. Documented non-under-the-table non-migrant farmwork that is.
The IRS notice said that in order to save costs, they’ll no longer be shipping the tax forms. They’re still printing them, as I can stop by a local taxpayer assistance center and pick them up.
But the big thrust of the feds’ notice was a pitch to do e-filing. “It’s so easy,” they said. “And popular. Everyone is doing it.” Sounded more like a pitch for reefer madness.
Not me. I’m still too e-paranoid to have sensitive financial data on my computer—much less electronically send it out.
I know. Everyone does it. Everyone does Facebook too. And the feds hacked into Iran’s computers and sent a worm directly to a nuclear plant to disable it. What could go wrong? We all know the internet is perfectly secure.
The feds did give me one more option. I can download and print my own forms. Great. As if taxes aren’t enough, now I have to stand the cost of paper and ink. Oh well, we all need to do our part.
That 1.5 trillion deficit will probably be recovered pretty quick if we all print our own tax forms.
America, ya gotta love it.