The new 1040 wasn't easy for the IRS either: A report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said that it created a lot of extra work for IRS staff, who needed to make extensive revisions to other forms and regulations that referenced it. TIGTA said that the IRS had to revise other tax forms, instructions, and publications with updated reference to the new Form 1040 and remove references to eliminated tax forms such as Form 1040A and 1040EZ. Overall, the change required further revisions to 113 other forms, 66 sets of instructions, and 64 publications. In addition, because of the timing of the redesign decision, the IRS had to update some tax forms that were already released as final.  

Beyond all this, TIGTA noted that the new Form 1040 is missing places to enter the date of divorce or separation on Schedule 1, additional Income and adjustments to Income, to determine if taxpayers are eligible to deduct alimony payments. 

However, Bloomberg noted that about 90 percent of people file electronically, making the entire postcard-sized redesign moot for most.