An act of Congress, an IRS policy change, and the digital divide have created a nettlesome tax season for public librarians.
For the first time this year, the IRS is not mailing paper income tax packages in the mail. This is to save money and to encourage taxpayers to file electronically. As this alteration sinks in, public libraries, long uncompensated purveyors of tax forms and assistance, have seen a steady flow of questioning patrons, unaware of the policy change.
Then there is Congress. When it extended the Bush tax cuts on December 17, it created some havoc for the IRS, which had “to reprogram its processing systems.” In other words, it had to rewrite forms at the last minute (including the Form 1040 instruction booklet and the Form 1040 Schedule A for taxpayers who itemize deductions) and delay delivery.
luckily, we had a whole box of 2009 1040 booklets to give out
we don’t care if you go to jail. maybe next time you’ll stop yelling at us when we’re trying to explain why the forms are late.