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Tax forms in the United States are used by taxpayers
and tax-exempt organizations to report financial information to the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They are used to report income and
calculate taxes owed to the government of the United States.
1040
The Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, is the starting form
for personal (individual) Federal income tax returns filed with the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States. The first Form 1040
was published for use for the tax years 1913, 1914, and 1915. Beginning
with the tax year 1916, Form 1040 was converted to an annual form (i.e.,
updated each tax year with the new year printed on the form).
Any full-time resident individual U.S. income taxpayer can use Form 1040
(often referred to as the "long form" to distinguish it from the other
1040 variants). Those with uncomplicated tax situations (for example, no
itemized deductions, no capital gain or loss, etc.) may be able to use
the simplified Form 1040A (the "short form") or the even simpler Form
1040EZ (the "easy form") instead of Form 1040. Some versions of Form
1040 are colored blue (though not the case when tax return software
packages are used).
Income tax returns for individual calendar year taxpayers are due by
April 15 of the next year. Should April 15 fall on a Saturday, Sunday,
or holiday, the returns are due on the first succeeding day that is not
a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. If Patriots Day (a state holiday in
Massachusetts) falls on the Monday in question, then filers in southern
New England and some parts of New York State have until Tuesday to file,
since the IRS processing center for these areas is located in Andover,
Massachusetts. Generally, income tax returns for fiscal year taxpayers
(an individual taxpayer may choose a fiscal year other than the calendar
year, though this is uncommon) are due on or before the 15th day of the
fourth month following the close of the fiscal year (if the 15th falls
on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the return must be filed by the next
business day).
Form 1040 consists of two full pages not counting attachments. The first
page collects information about the taxpayer(s), dependents, income
items, and adjustments to income. The second page calculates the
allowable deductions and credits, tax due given the income figure, and
applies funds already withheld from wages or estimated payments made
towards the tax liability.
Form 1040 has 11 attachments, called "schedules" (Schedules A and B are
printed opposite sides of the same sheet) which may need to be filed
depending on the taxpayer:
Schedule A itemizes allowable deductions against income; instead of
filling out Schedule A, taxpayers may choose to take a standard
deduction of between $5,150 and $14,300, depending on age, filing
status, and whether the taxpayer and/or spouse is blind.
In most situations, other Internal Revenue Service or Social Security
Administration forms such as Form W-2 must be attached to the Form 1040,
in addition to the Form 1040 schedules. There are other, specialized
forms which may need to be completed along with Schedules and the Form
1040.
A 1040 form appears on the family crest of Brutus Thorndike, the main
character of the Born Loser cartoon strip.
United States Internal Revenue Service - includes downloadable forms and
publications
The Form 1040 lines that lead to the most mistakes - MarketWatch
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