I just finished doing my taxes for the City of Lansing. What a mess!

It seems that after 20 years they have decided to redesign their tax form. Unfortunately, they have made it much more confusing and complicated.

The instructions reference forms that don’t exist and tables that are missing. I think the instructions were written by someone who was not fluent in the English language. And, this is the corrected version. The original was not usable.

For example, the instructions above one table state “Do not use this table unless you have be a resident for the past 12 months”. What was the table for? Why to prorate taxes for people who have not been a resident for the past 12 months. I think they meant to say “…if you have been..”

On one of the work sheets it asks you to indicate “T, S, B”. I have no idea what “T, S, B” mean and the instructions don’t tell you. I left it blank.

Well, I suspect the city has gotten a lot of flack for the crappy form. Maybe they will do better next year.