The New 1040

Interesting! Had not heard about all of these changes!
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-wor ... than-ever/

There has been some talk about this in the industry. I believe Accounting Today had a write up. Sec. of Treasury said that a draft version of the new 1040 will be released next month!

The New York Times apparently has the drafts and have posted them: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/your ... tcard.html Anyone who does form-and-schedule will love the six additional schedules that they created just to make the postcard.

Plus the IRS has to create and program the new Form 1040SR.

Yes, I had not heard they were changing the 1040 so much; such as eliminating some of the lines and making schedules instead. Seems to sort of defeat the purpose!

Yes, I had not heard they were changing the 1040 so much; such as eliminating some of the lines and making schedules instead. Seems to sort of defeat the purpose!

Exactly.

You cannot materially "simplify" a taxpayer's tax return preparation and filing task by changing the forms in this way.

It's the same kind of problem that we have with Form 1040A and Form 1040EZ. These forms are not now and have never been "simplifications." Indeed, the use of these short forms involves more complexity than using the traditional Form 1040 -- for the reason that you have to comply with precisely the same complexity of tax law with the added complexity of having to determine (1) whether you qualify to use a short form, and (2) which short form to use. And, using the Form 1040A or 1040EZ does not lower your tax bill or increase your tax refund.

For non-tax practitioners (i.e., normal people), using a Form 1040A or Form 1040EZ might appear to be more simple than Form 1040 because there are fewer lines on the Form 1040A and Form 1040EZ than are found on Form 1040. We're talking cosmetics. But that fact does not make the tax law "more simple" for the user of Form 1040A or Form 1040EZ.

I don't have a copy of the 1943 Form 1040A, but I do have a copy of the instructions for that form. The instructions say:

The form sent you with these instructions is called the short form, and is numbered 1040A. It is simpler and quicker to fill in than the long form 1040.....

Again, that does not make much sense. The tax law is the same, whether you use Form 1040 or Form 1040A. So, the fact that the 1040 includes all those "extra lines" should not mean that it takes longer to fill in the 1040. You simply ignore the lines that do not apply.

Indeed, the fact that the 1040A was really more complicated than the 1040 is highlighted by the fact that roughly half of the first page of the year 1943 instructions consisted of -- guess what??!!-- an explanation of "Who may use Form 1040A". You wouldn't even need to read that explanation if you were using the long Form 1040; you would simply fill in the same income information to be shown on Form 1040A, and leave the rest of the lines blank.

Filing a long Form 1040 with, for example, a blank on the line for "interest income" is an affirmative representation under penalty of perjury that the taxpayer's amount of interest income for the year is zero.

Again, it's cosmetics. Having the taxpayer fill in a shorter form with fewer lines may induce, in some taxpayers, the illusion that the short form is "simpler."

Am I going to need to buy smaller paper for my printer?

Am I going to need to buy smaller paper for my printer?

LOL

Again, it's cosmetics. Having the taxpayer fill in a shorter form with fewer lines may induce, in some taxpayers, the illusion that the short form is "simpler."

This follows a similar pattern as the gradual slide of the tax code towards lower marginal tax rates but with increasing layers of phaseouts and disallowances, which ends up producing the same result in terms of revenue. Nothing has really changed but it looks better to the constituency.

Where do you put the stamp and mailing address on the postcard?

[quote=]I don't have a copy of the 1943 Form 1040A, [/quote]
4 page 1040
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1943.pdf

2 page 1040A
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040a--1943.pdf

[quote=]I don't have a copy of the 1943 Form 1040A,

4 page 1040
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--1943.pdf

2 page 1040A
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040a--1943.pdf[/quote]

Thanks!

I had a link to old forms, but the link was to a different place on the IRS web site.

I remember taxpayers calling into HRB asking what form they were required to use (you can use the 1040, it just has more lines and you may not need them all!), as well as the nonsensical question from FASFA to applicants wanting to know which version they file, as if different tax laws applied.

Will we get inquiries about whether we charge less for this postcard version? "Yes, but I charge much more for the worksheets!"

Spidell, "Long is the new short!"

https://www.facebook.com/SpidellPublish ... 377507929/