It usually is a simple process to file our federal taxes each year, copying more or less what we did the previous year. Free Fillable Forms generally works well, but it is always apparent that the instructions are written from the point of view of the IRS and not with the audience in mind. This year, I started running into confusing things right away--kind of ridiculous no one noticed and fixed these problems--and I decided to keep track here of all the confusion and how much extra time it took.
1. Line by line help for Free Fillable Forms sounds exactly like the line-by-line instructions for tax forms that you need as you go through them, so I started there. Clicking on the 1040 instructions brings you to an anchor lower on the page with--line-by-line instructions! I found them! That was too easy. So I started going through the instructions and filling out the form, thinking it was so great they seemed to streamline things this year and simplify the instructions! But I quickly got to the part of the 1040 instructions that says "Review the form instructions to determine" and I thought, "wait, I'm already in the instructions." I was baffled. The form says to "see instructions," and I was in the instructions, and the instructions say to "review the form instructions." Nooooo! I've been caught in an IRS never-ending whirlpool of confusing circular logic! Aaaarrrgghhhh!
So I looked for links to more instructions. Somehow I found this page of Forms, Instructions, Publications. Then after initially following the link to the form, I followed the link to "Instructions for Form 1040." Whew. Finally. That was a 10-15 minute delay, before I even got to line 1.
2. So next I needed to find Schedule 1. You would think it would be on the page "Schedules for Form 1040 and 1040-SR." Nope. That would be too easy! They have to hide it from you--if they put it there, you'd find it right away! And, of course, the Free Fillable Forms instructions does have Schedule 1, but it is the weird abbreviated line-by-line instructions for their own IT people to reference that says things like "Line 1 is a manual entry." I mean that might help if I was really confused about how the form works, but how hard is it to include a link to the real instructions?
Luckily, before I searched through the 1,146 PDF files that the IRS publishes, I had this vague memory that some of the schedules are in the 1040 instructions near the end. I scrolled to the end, then worked my way up to--the Schedule 1 instructions! Yay, I found them! But wait--where was Schedule 1?
Embedded in the instructions were Worksheets, which at first glance I thought may have been the schedule. For example, "State and Local Income Tax Refund Worksheet—Schedule 1, Line 1" sure sounds like you might be on Schedule 1 Line 1. But no, it is a worksheet that Schedule 1 Line 1 refers you to. So I still had to find Schedule 1. After unsuccessfully looking for helpful links and shortcuts on the 1040-related pages, I went back to the list of all the IRS's 1,146 PDF files. I typed in "1040" in the search box and hit "Find," expecting a long list to look through. But it was worse--I got nothing. Well, not exactly nothing, since I got a very unhelpful error message:
"No results were found that match your entry in the "Find" field. You may want to shorten your entry and try again (for example, enter 17 instead of Pub 17), or use the site search."
Okay, this is getting ridiculous... was I on Candid Camera? I changed the field showing "Product Number" to "Title," left "1040" in the search box, and hit "Find" again. I got one result:
"
| Special Instructions for Bona Fide Residents Of Puerto Rico Who Must File A U.S. Individual Income Tax Return |
Oooookaaaaaaay. Just letting you know I'm not a bona fide resident of Puerto Rico. Not that you asked--no one has ever asked me that. I've never been within 1,500 miles of Puerto Rico, much less lived there. But I must admit I am curious--if I WAS a Puerto Rico resident, how would I know if I'm bona fide? Well, if I ever need to know the bona fide answer, now I know what bona fide IRS form to look at--just search for bona fide publication 1040 and you'll find it!
Bona fide is such a funny term--it makes anything you put it in front of sound humorous, because it implies that people are being deceitful about it. Hmmm, if everyone else is doing it, maybe there are reasons why I should also pretend to be a Puerto Rican? Another reason to look at that form...
A couple more quick searches ("1" has 433 results, "schedule" has no results) showed me I was in the wrong spot. Back to the beginning... actually before the beginning, since the IRS Publications link was at the top of the Free Fillable Forms page.
Okay, I just noticed that there is a button at the bottom "Instructions for this form," and a button at the top "Add/view forms." Ooops, my bad. Click that top button, then the button on the left side that pops up, and you get a list. Schedule 1 is right there. Can you tell I'm starting to get old? I'm writing this in solidarity with old people who can't remember anything, since I'm rapidly joining them. I used to be young, really I was. It is startling how quickly mental acuity fades.
BTW, it times out quickly, so you have to hit save a lot. Every time you log back in the view is set to your browser's initial size, so if you make it bigger it stays small and you have to refresh the page. After a while repeating these steps got annoying.
Okay, so the "print this form" link just logs you out. There is no way to print the 1040 FFF in 2022. How am I supposed to get a copy for my records? No download link either.
FAQ is not helpful:
"
Ensure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements listed in the System Requirements FAQs above.
Make sure your browser's pop-up blocker is disabled.
You must also have Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 version or higher installed to view the instructions and print your return.
You can also save a copy of the return to your computer and then print the saved copy."
None of those things worked, and the last one wasn't even possible. So I took screenshots and submitted those with my state taxes.
Sooo, that was may experience filing our federal taxes this year. It is almost like the IRS doesn't want you to have a short, positive experience: "Welcome to the dungeons of bureaucracy where we live, we are going to subject you to our horror too."
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