Is this an irony? Yes, you can simplify Form 1040, but not at the expense of creating yet another new schedule. Isn't it apparent that the root cause of the dozens of hours every taxpayer needs to spend every year is the complicated tax system, not the complicated tax forms?

The IRS plans changes to Form 1040, which most taxpayers use to report their federal taxes, the agency said Tuesday. Taxpayers could begin using a revised form as soon as the 2009 tax filing season, said IRS senior spokesman Terry Lemons.

"What we are shooting for is a form that is simpler and easier to use for taxpayers," said Lemons, confirming mentions of the anticipated revision in a recent Government Accountability Office audit and a report by Tax Analysts, a non-profit organization that tracks tax issues.

As envisioned by the IRS, an as-yet-undetermined number of less-frequently used lines dealing with adjustments to income, credits, taxes and payments would be removed from the cover page of Form 1040 and relocated to a new Schedule O. That would simplify the current 77-line form, and free up space for any future tax reporting changes that could conceivably be approved by Congress and the White House.