Taxing treadmill

Americans without accountants don’t have to go it alone in preparing their taxes | Marvin Olasky

Compatibility surveys, matchmaking services, and especially pastoral counseling all have their place, but the real test of matrimonial longevity is—can a husband and wife jointly fill out complicated income tax forms? For richer and for poorer, sure, but what about when a middle income couple is surrounded by W-2s, 1099s, schedules A through E and four-digit forms for depreciation, amortization, casualty loss after totaling a car, and much besides?

The easy way to avoid wading through the plethora of pages is to hire an accountant, an inevitable step for the very wealthy—but for the rest of us it seems vaguely un-American. Did Pike hire someone to climb Pike's Peak? Would a pastoral author hire a ghostwriter? (Don't answer that.) What's the satisfaction of having someone else fill out a crossword puzzle for you? No, for 31 years now Susan and I have filled out our own income taxes, even as they have grown more complicated.