Of course it's a catch-22, it's the 1040!

Well, tis' the season, when the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) [1] crawls out of its hole and charges a ton of money regardless the state of its shadow. So I'm all set to fill out the 1040-EZ [2] when Bunny holds up a 1099-DIV I received because of some stock I own. “I think you should fill out the normal 1040 [3],” she said. “You don't want to get into trouble for not reporting $26.35 of income.”

“I see you learned how to hyperlink your speech,” I said.

“Ha ha.”

“Sigh. I suppose you are right.”

So I'm reading the instructions when I see the following:

Use Form 6251 to figure the amount, if any, of your alternative minimum tax (ATM). Also see the Instructions for Form 6251 to see if you must file the form.

“1040 Instructions [4]”

Okay, I think, let me check the Form 6251 instructions to see if I need to bother filling this out …

Who Must File

Attach Form 6251 to your return if any of the following statements is true.

• 1. Form 6251, line 31, is greater than line 34.

• 2. …

“Instructions for Form 6251 [5]”

Let me get this straight … I have to fill out Form 6251 before I can know if need to fill out Form 6251 …

I always did find it amusing to fill out the full 1040 [6] (but I'm outside the Alternative Minimum Tax income range [7]—that is, if Wikipedia is to be trusted).

It also turns out that the extra $26.35 of extra income did not bump my income to the following line in the 2012 Tax Table, although if it did, I would have owed an additional $14.

Woot‽

=> [1] http://www.irs.gov/ | [2] http://www.irs.gov/file_source/pub/irs-pdf/f1040ez.pdf | [3] http://www.irs.gov/file_source/pub/irs- | [4] http://www.irs.gov/file_source/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf | [5] http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i6251.pdf | [6] https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1451626657/conmanlaborat-20 | [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Minimum_Tax#Avoiding_AMT

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