Arthur sighed. He pulled the separate Schedule B form from his stack. It required him to list every source of interest. It was tedious. It required arithmetic. But as he read the instructions for Part III, a chill went down his spine.
He grabbed the thick, daunting stack of paper titled It felt less like a guide and more like an ancient grimoire written by bureaucrats determined to crush the human spirit. He had tried using tax software, but a confusing error message regarding "Qualified Business Income Deductions" had frozen his screen. He decided to go old school. He regretted it immediately. 2024 form 1040 instructions
He looked back at the Form 1040. If he just wrote the number on Line 2b, the IRS computer would accept it. It was the path of least resistance. It was the easy way out. But the Instruction booklet seemed to glare at him from the table. The specific mention of Schedule B nagged at him. Arthur sighed