Though Congress keeps trying to simplify the process of filing a federal income tax return, it still hasn't gone far enough.
If that point wasn't clear before, it should be unmistakably plain to the many Americans now striving to meet the deadline for paying their taxes. The normal April 15 deadline has been moved back to April 17 this year because the 15th falls on a Saturday. That gives slowpokes two extra days to agonize over their 1988 returns - and there are not only plenty of slowpokes, but also plenty of agonizing.Just how much agonizing can be seen from the Internal Revenue Service's report that more than 6 million taxpayers will seek a four-month extension on their filing deadline this year. That's a 9 percent increase over last year and an indication that tax-filing remains a complicated process.
Another such indication is the fact that the taxpayer who fills out the long form will have spent an average of more than 15 hours in keeping rec-ords, learning the law, and doing the necessary paperwork and computations this year.
Still another indication is the fact that so many Americans continue to find it necessary to retain professional help in preparing their tax returns despite the added cost.
So Congress has been making the tax laws simpler, has it? Americans can believe that claim once they see long lines of accountants at the unemployment office.