Simplifying Income Tax Returns

By Wolf Von Eckardt

The IRS may have come up with an easy-to-understand form

It is that time of the year again. Some 96 million Americans fuss, cuss and struggle with sheaves of tax forms covered by a barely penetrable typographic thicket. If the amount on line 54 of form 1040 is larger than on line 62, the citizen must pay the balance to help the Federal Government establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty. Taxes are unavoidable, but is the thicket?

The typographic tangle has proliferated since the 16th Amendment authorized the federal income tax in 1913. Now at last designers have cleared up the tax form to the extent that the myriad laws, rules and regulations permit. This year 30,000 Georgia taxpayers received a newly designed and simply phrased form called 10405. This test design replaces the old short form 1040A. Deductions, income and credits are listed in logical order. The language, say the designers, can be understood by a ninth-grader. The form looks attractive and--almost--inviting. If the Georgia taxpayers approve, the new layouts will be used on all federal income tax returns.

In 1978 Congress instructed the Internal Revenue Service to seek help from experts in simplifying tax forms. The IRS asked for proposals to overhaul the entire system of returns. For individuals, the principal forms are the complex 1040, which covers every eventuality from property losses to lottery prizes, and the short form 1040A, for people with moderate incomes and no itemized deductions.

The IRS contract was awarded in 1979 to Siegel & Gale, a New York City consultant organization that has rewritten and redesigned hundreds of legal forms and loan applications for such companies as Citibank, 3M and Pitney Bowes. Working with firms specializing in accounting, behavioral research and readability, Siegel & Gale came up with forms designed for the convenience of the taxpayer rather than the tax collector. The typeface is Franklin Gothic for the main heads, the same headline type used in this magazine. The text type is Century Schoolbook, a highly legible face that was developed more than 60 years ago. The designers use ample white space to give their work freshness and clarity. They have added a bright red color throughout for emphasis. Complicated material has been arranged in orderly columns. The new system makes it easy to pick out what is relevant and skip what is not. A new table of contents on the inside cover gives an overview of the task ahead. And then the sequence starts: Step 1, Step 2, in an easy downward flow, until at Step 8, which is the bottom line, "Refund or tax payment due."

It is a shame how little attention graphic designers have paid to forms. For millions of citizens, in particular the poor and the elderly, filling out questionnaires has become a necessity of life. The procedure is required by government (tax forms, food stamps and welfare aid applications) as well as business (insurance policies, loan agreements, product warranties). "Many, if not most of these documents are unclear, inappropriate or incomprehensible to their intended users," says Andrew M. Rose, a psychologist who specializes in document design.

Bureaucrats generally perceive forms in terms of their own convenience. They rarely consider those who have to fill them out. Most forms are crowded with a multitude of typefaces and contain insufficient white space to rest the eye and help understanding. Some forms look far more confusing than they actually are.

Although forms usually call for printed or typed answers, the many dotted lines, narrow boxes and other entanglements discourage the use of a typewriter. The space provided often does not match standard pica or elite typewriter characters. Siegel & Gale not only has tried to avoid these pitfalls but has even extended the principles of legibility and simplicity to its new tax-instruction booklet. It was created by the firm's graphic designer, Ann Breaznell, who has seen to it that the taxpayers can tell at a glance from subtitles in the margins what they need to read. The examples used to explain a rule are illustrated not only in words but with completed forms that demonstrate the steps. Related documents, like the W-2 sum-up of wages and withheld taxes, are reproduced. The tax tables are models of clarity. The language is as clear as the typography. "Exemption" becomes "personal deduction." "Zero bracket amount" becomes "standard deduction."

In carefully run tests with small but representative groups, Siegel & Gale found that people made few mistakes and considered the new form superior to the old. The more generous space does require more paper and, possibly, higher postage. But any added cost should be offset by a decrease in auditing expenses caused by errors.

The tax forms of many other nations are as troublesome as U.S. returns. The Swiss and the Japanese, for all their industrious tidiness, have shockingly complex questionnaires. Great Britain turns out a respectably bureaucratic but rather tiresome form. The Canadian forms are easiest to understand and fill out. If Siegel & Gale's designs prevail, however, the U.S. is likely to win the world's tax-form typography championship.

But that is only the beginning. Warns Roscoe L. Egger Jr., commissioner of U.S. Internal Revenue: "The U.S. form still won't be simple and easy to complete. We cannot have a truly simple tax form until we have a thoroughly reformed, simple tax law."

--By Wolf Von Eckardt

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