The draft forms for 2023 have now been released by the IRS, and sure enough, Form 1040 now fits into a 5x8 inch rectangle (both sides)[1] . Thereu2019s been some actual simplification (for example, the exemptions section has been removed.) But the big change is that great sections of Form 1040 have been moved to other new schedules. Obviously this makes 1040 shorter, but it doesnu2019t do anything to reduce the total number of lines, and it certainly doesnu2019t simplify anything.Form 1040 was actually never really very complex in the first place. The real work was being done by the ream of supporting schedules, worksheets and documentation that accompanied it. This has not changed. And now there are additional forms, whose only purpose is to reduce the size of Form 1040 to a postcard.For example, suppose you had Capital Gains and Rental Income. Previously, you would enter capital gains on Form 1040, Line 13 and Rental Income on Form 1040, Line 17. Pretty simple, if you ignore that you would also include a Schedule D, Schedule E, Form 8949, and Form 4562, and calculate your taxes on the 2-page Schedule D Worksheet.Now, after the great form simplification, you enter capital gains on Schedule 1, Line 13, and Rental Income on Schedule 1, Line 17. You would total up Schedule 1, and copy the total on Form 1040, line 6. And as before, you would also include a Schedule D, Schedule E, Form 8949, and Form 4562, and tackle the formidable Schedule D Worksheet.In effect, all theyu2019ve done is replaced 2 lines on 1040 with one line on 1040, and three lines on Schedule 1. In terms of complexity, thatu2019s two extra lines. In terms of weight, thatu2019s a net increase of one page. But hey, one of those pages now fits on a postcard.My opinion of the postcard return: itu2019s like a poorly done magic trick at a childrenu2019s party. Voila!, itu2019s tax simplification and a postcard-return! But even the kids can see how the trick is done. We know itu2019s not real, and now our intelligence has been insulted as well. My real indignation is not that itu2019s more complicated, or that it fails to be less complicated. Iu2019m angry that the political magicians are so contemptuous as to think that we can be played with such little effort.That aside, let me just add that the reaction in the press is overblown. An article in Inc. Magazine suggests that the new format is more error-prone, more confusing, and more time-consuming. It is none of these things. If any CPAs out there start missing deductions because they canu2019t cope with multiple forms, then they should probably not be in the tax business. The new format should also not be a problem to most DIY-ers who never see the forms anyway until they are done entering information into their softwareu2019s user-friendly interface.In other words, the physical size of Page 1 of a tax form bears no relationship whatsoever to the complexity of the tax system.Footnotes[1] https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/...