Experimental Tax Form Leaves Math for IRS

A year from now as many as 20 million Americans may be able to file their federal tax returns without making a single mathematical calculation.

About 3,000 Texans are getting a shot this filing season at the new, experimental Form 1040EZ-1. If the tests are successful, Internal Revenue Service officials say, EZ-1 could become a permanent fixture.

With the new half-page form, you:

* Attach the stick-on name-and-address label provided by the IRS.

* Fill in your Social Security number.

* Answer whether you want $1 to go to the presidential campaign fund.

* Say whether a parent can claim you as a dependent.

* List your taxable interest income.

* Attach your W2 forms provided by your employer.

* Sign and date the return.

“That’s all you need to do!” IRS Commissioner Fred T. Goldberg Jr. said in a letter to the test taxpayers. “When we receive your information, we’ll figure your tax and send you a refund in six to eight weeks, or bill you, if you owe tax. We’ll also send you a statement showing how we figured your tax.”

The standard 1040EZ requires filers to total their income, compute their maximum standard deduction and personal exemption, figure taxable income, list the total tax withheld, check IRS tables to determine tax liability and subtract to determine whether a refund is due.

The experimental 1040EZ-1 is being mailed to selected Texas taxpayers who already have received the regular two-page 1040EZ. They will be asked to choose between the two forms.