Ask The Taxgirl: I Forgot Schedule M

Taxpayer asks:

I forgot to include the Schedule M with my free e-file.
Should I do an amended return or ?
Thank you.

Taxgirl says:

Nope. There’s no need to amend because… there is no Schedule M for individual taxpayers for the 2011 tax year. The Schedule M was used to figure the Making Work Pay Credit but for the 2011 tax year, there is no Making Work Pay Credit; it has been replaced with the payroll tax “holiday.”

And because I can’t help myself, I’m just going to say it: this is why I hate the transitional nature of our Tax Code. Congress has literally no idea of how confused taxpayers are each time that they change the rules like this. It’s maddening. It’s expensive. And it needs to stop.