As an American citizen, you will be expected to file a number of forms and documents every year, designed to help determine how much tax you should be paying to the IRS. The Internal Revenue Service has several forms that taxpayers are required to fill in when completing their tax returns, and one of the most common options is the Federal tax form 1040. It's important to understand 1040 forms and instructions. The 1040 form regards every piece of information about any specific taxpayer's credits, income, and deductions, and stores that information in one single location. Originally, the form first came into practice during 1913, and since then there have been very few changes to the overall basic setup. All taxpayers, no matter their circumstances continue to use the 1040 form, although the schedules and number of other forms have increased over time.
Types of 1040 Forms and Instructions
1040 forms and instructions come in many different varieties. The first and most commonly used option is referred to largely as the "long" form, because it is much longer than other available forms, and often takes a greater amount of time to complete. The regular 1040, as this form is known, is two pages long. On the other hand, there is an alternative option known as the form 1040A, which is just slightly shorter than the long form, and can be used primarily by taxpayers who have an annual income of under $100,000. What's more taxpayers using the 1040A form must not itemize their tax deductions. For those in search of an even shorter form, the 1040EZ exists , which is a solution that is only one page long, and can easily be used by individuals under the age of 65, so long as they have no adjustments to declare regarding their income.
Some less common types of the 1040 forms are form 1040x AND 1040NR. The 1040NR form is intended for use by non-residential aliens who receive a regular income from a source in the United States. Alternatively, the 1040X form can be used when a person needs to suddenly amend or make changes to their tax returns following a previous submission. The 1040X form is very simply, as it only allows for adjustments to be made to the original return, rather than creating a new return entirely. The downside to this form, however, is that it can take a long time to process, as the processing must be done manually.
The Evolving 1040 Form
Once, taxpayers within the United States used to receive 1040 forms and instructions in the mail. However, in the recent years, decisions to mail out this information have stopped, because the majority of taxpayers no longer file on paper. This doesn't mean, however, that paper copies of the tax forms available are not there to be accessed. You can get these forms in your local post office, or from an IRS center. At the same time, you may even decide to print your own forms directly from the IRS website.
As with any matter concerning the IRS, chances are that 1040 forms will continue to evolve as the years pass.