The remote launching code. That's only one sign of the increasingly complicated task Americans face if they try to fill out federal tax forms by themselves. It's also a reason more people are turning to professionals to do their taxes, and business is booming for tax preparation computer software and Internet sites. Millions of taxpayers will finish their returns this week to meet Monday's midnight deadline for most people.
Some people decide to settle for only the most basic forms.
In an unpublished draft report, the General Accounting Office discovered that in 1998, more than 510,000 taxpayers who chose to take the standard deduction could have gotten a bigger deduction by itemizing because they had mortgage interest payments. In 1945, the instructions for the basic 1040 income tax form ran four pages. Ten years later, they ran 16 pages and by 1985 had reached 52 pages. This year, the booklet is 117 pages. Roughly 58 percent of taxpayers will have a paid preparer do their taxes this year.