Tax question

Factual Questions
1

In the instructions for form 1040, there is an “Itemized Deductions Worksheet—Line 29” which has


line10: Divide line 9 by 1.5
line11: Subtract line 10 from line 9

According to the above, if line9 = x, then line10 = x/1.5 and line11 = x - x/1.5 = x/3
So, why didn’t they just say


line11: Divide line 9 by 3

Am I missing something?

FYI: line10 is not used in the remainder of the worksheet, only line11 is, so I don’t see the rationale for calculating it.

2

The search for a method to the IRS’s madness is often unfulfilling. My WAG is that some other worksheet or schedule refers to line 10.

3

Good point. However, even if that were the case, since line10=line9/1.5 and line11=line9/3, couldn’t they simply have “line11=line9/3” in there, and then, in the other worksheet say something like “Take line11 from Itemized Deductions Worksheet and multiply it by 2”