One of the official forms that U.S. taxpayers can use to submit their yearly income tax return is IRS Form 1040. There are several variants of IRS Form 1040. The IRS form 1040 instructions has undergone several recent modifications. We’ll go over the distinctions and demonstrate how to submit a 1040 form during tax season.
Form 1040
One of the official forms used by U.S. taxpayers to submit their yearly income tax return is the IRS 1040 form. In order to calculate your tax liability or anticipated refund, you must submit your income and deductions in the various sections of the 1040 form. You might need to attach more documents, called schedules, depending on the kind of income you must disclose.
This is a list of all 1040 variants that you could encounter. To start preparing your tax paperwork, download the 1040 form.
Why does the 1040 form exist in many versions?
The 1040 form is currently available in four different versions (1040A and 1040EZ are no longer available):
Most taxpayers will use Form 1040 to record their income, calculate their annual taxes, and decide if they are eligible for a refund or more tax.
Form 1040-SR: Senior taxpayers (those 65 and older) should use this version. Form 1040-SR is almost the same as Form 1040, but it has a chart to calculate the taxpayer’s Standard Deduction and is written in a bigger type.
Form 1040-NR: Several pages longer than the other 1040 form variants, this form is intended for non-resident aliens.
Form 1040-X is used by taxpayers who have already filed a Form 1040 but need to make changes to their tax return.
What is a 1040 form used for?
The federal 1040 form is used by taxpayers to determine their taxable income and the tax due on it. Calculating Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is one of the initial processes. To do this, you must first declare your total income and then claim any permissible adjustments, also referred to as above-the-line deductions. Because it affects a lot of credits and deduction limits, your AGI is a crucial figure.
Your AGI will be reported on line 11 of your Form 1040 for the tax year 2024. Either the Standard Deduction or the sum of your Schedule A itemized deductions will help you lower it even further. Expenses like these are included under itemized deductions:
interest on a mortgage
Sales taxes or income taxes at the state and local levels
donations to charities
medical costs
Your taxable income will often be lower if you claim the Standard Deduction if the sum of your itemized deductions does not exceed the Standard Deduction for your filing status. Higher child tax credits and a new other-dependent tax credit will take the place of exemption deductions starting in 2018.
We will do this computation for you and suggest whether itemizing or the Standard Deduction will yield the best outcomes.
What schedules are utilized with Form 1040?
Despite Form 1040’s brief length, there are a number of schedules, or supplementary forms, that assist taxpayers in figuring out particular elements that are relevant to the form:
Schedule 1: Several frequent extra income sources or income adjustments are reported on this form. Alimony, profits or losses from the sale of a company property, unemployment insurance, business revenue, teacher expenditures, student loan interest deductions, and payments to a health savings account are a few typical examples of things reported on Schedule 1.
Schedule 2: There are two sections to this form, which is used to record extra taxes. Reporting alternative minimum tax and excess premium tax credit repayments for health insurance acquired through the health insurance marketplace is the first section. Self-employment taxes, unreported social security and Medicare taxes, additional taxes on IRAs or other tax-favored accounts, household employment taxes, first-time home buyer credit payback, additional Medicare taxes, and net investment income tax are all reported in the second section.
Schedule 3: This form, which is divided into two sections—refundable credits and non-refundable credits—is used to record extra credits and payments. Credits reported here include credits for domestic energy, child and dependent care expenditures, past-due taxes, and excess social security taxes paid in the past.
Schedule A: All itemized deductions are entered using this standard form. Medical and dental costs, mortgage interest, municipal and state taxes, charitable contributions, and losses from theft and accidents are a few examples.
Schedule B: Interest and dividend income above $1,500 must be reported on this form. You will immediately enter interest and dividend income on Lines 2 and 3 of Form 1040 if it falls below that amount.
Schedule C: This form is used to record company profits or losses. Owners of sole proprietorships or single-member LLCs, freelancers, and independent contractors are the usual users.
Schedule D: Capital gains or losses from investments are reported using this form.
Schedule E: This form is used to record income or losses from partnerships, S companies, estates, trusts, rental real estate, royalties, REMICs, and other pass-through organizations.
Schedule F: Farmers use this form to report their farming revenue and costs.
Schedule H: Taxpayers who have domestic help, such a nanny or caregiver, utilize this form. Social Security and Medicare taxes are reported here as the taxpayer is in charge of withholding income for those taxes.
In order to more fairly divide their tax responsibility, farmers and fishermen who decide to calculate their income tax by average their taxes from the three prior years utilize Schedule J.
Schedule R: Use this form to submit a claim for the disability or senior tax credit.
Schedule SE: This form is used to compute self-employment tax for independent contractors or company owners who generated a profit of at least $400.
The Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents are claimed using form 8812. You will fill out this form to determine the refundable component of the credit if the total child tax credit amount for all eligible children in your family is more than the total amount of taxes you owe for the year.