(1) Lawrence A. Zelenak, a professor of law at Duke University, is the author of Learning to Love Form 1040: Two Cheers for the Return-Based Mass Income Tax, in which he bravely describes the origins, history, and current complexity of the federal income tax. He also offers philosophical reasons and practical suggestions for changing the way things are done.

If, as Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said, “taxes are what we pay for civilized society,” the filing of Form 1040 draws our attention to our duties as citizens in a way that no other levy, including a national sales tax, could. … Simplifying tax preparation could help bolster the bond between taxation and citizenship. (NYT 4/1/13)

(2) Kevin Cantwell, a professor of English at Middle Georgia State College, had a lovely and clever poem published in the April 1999 issue of Poetry magazine. Sex and Taxes follows two young lovers through a springtime weekend divided unequally between bed and desk:

… Weekend’s ample
procrastinations to forget the least
of what we want to do.

If the poem and Benjamin Franklin are correct about the certainty of only death and taxes, what might that indicate about the durability of this couple’s own relationship? More exploration is called for:

& textures sheer with damp I slowly pull
from you with your quick help. …

(3) And finally, If You Need More Time to File Your Tax Return.