Our Tax Return Weighed Over A Pound

This year, we achieved a new personal milestone for our federal tax return. Our return weighed over one pound when it was checked for postage. Yes, that was over one pound of paper and it cost $5.05 for postage.

Our return is not that complex. Most of the paper submitted was supporting documentation from the stock trades made in 2007. In the past, I had be transferring the data to an excel spreadsheet and attaching it. However, this year, I found out that the IRS accepts the gain/loss summary from my brokerage, if I attach it to the return. So I asked my broker to send an extra copy and I mailed it in as an attachment to the Schedule D.

Filing electronically would not have reduced the the amount of paper much, unless I entered each stock transaction, which would also have taken a lot of time. So I still would have sent the brokerage gain/loss statements separately with Form 8453.

Someday, I expect the government will require brokerages to withhold taxes, as is currently done for wages. If so, it will probably reduce both my time and paperwork involved for filing taxes.

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This is not financial or tax advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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