New IRS Form 1040

[james.hendrickson]

For everyone who is starting to prepare their taxes, the new simplified form 1040 is available at IRS.gov.

It looks like this:



Here is the link to the form on the IRS's webpage.

Don't forget:

1) For tax year 2018, form 1040A and form 1040EZ are going away.
2) The return is basically two pages, the signature section is the bottom of the first page and you'll attach your W-2s on the left margin of page two.
3) If your tax situation is more complicated (like a lot of people here at the SA forums), you'll want to complete one of the new Form 1040 schedules. Here are some rough rules of thumb for which schedules you need to file.

Schedule 1: => Schedule 1 is for additional income and deductions.

Schedule 2: => Schedule 2 is used if you owe AMT or need to make excess advance premium tax credit repayment.

Schedule 3: => Schedule 3 is for claiming non-refundable credits like the foreign tax credits, or general business credits.

Schedule 4: => Schedule 4 is for self-employment tax, household employment taxes, and taxes on qualified retirement plans.

Schedule 5: => Schedule 5 is for refundable credits other than the earned income credit, American opportunity credit or child tax credit.

Schedule 6: => Schedule 6 is used when you have a foreign address or a third party designee other than your paid preparer.

[frugal saver]

I saw the notification of the new form yesterday in my accounting group on Facebook, and had to rush to download the new form and the instruction book, lol. I was hoping to get out of a lot of the extra stuff, but alas, we'll still be using Schedule B for interest/dividends, and Schedule D/Form 8949 for stock sales, and the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gains Worksheet is still there in the instruction book.

[disneysteve]

I don’t particularly care about the new form as I don’t do our taxes myself. But I guess we’re only a few days away from being able to start gathering tax info.

[Like2Plan]

I purchased Turbotax and did a quick run through with the soft numbers (from bank statements and pay slips, etc). The tax liability that TT calculated was within $1.00 of what my excel spreadsheet calculated.
It is way easier to calculate this year.

[~bs]

new form design is pretty bad... the only reason I can see that the IRS would take a 2 page form and split to 7 or 8 is because they're planning on expanding those sections in future years. So much for simplifying taxes.

It is a a good idea to get an idea of what you owe for taxes. But if you have substantial investments generally a bad idea to file early unless you like risking having to amend.

[creditcardfree]

I usually use a program, but I was taught how to do them manually when I was a teen. I like to know what is being put on the form by the software makes sense. I will have a little bit of a learning curve this year, but probably won't be too bad. Wage and interest income, standard deduction, child tax credit (for over 16), American Opportunity Tax Credit for one daughter and probably the Lifetime Learning Credit for the other. I think we will get a refund...as I wasn't aware of the new $500 child tax credit when I calculated our withholding.

[Thrif-t]

I usually use a program, but I was taught how to do them manually when I was a teen. I like to know what is being put on the form by the software makes sense. I will have a little bit of a learning curve this year, but probably won't be too bad. Wage and interest income, standard deduction, child tax credit (for over 16), American Opportunity Tax Credit for one daughter and probably the Lifetime Learning Credit for the other. I think we will get a refund...as I wasn't aware of the new $500 child tax credit when I calculated our withholding.

Can we take get the child tax credit and the AOTC for the same child?

[creditcardfree]

Can we take get the child tax credit and the AOTC for the same child?

Yes, as far as I know. Now prior to 2018, no because the child tax credit was only for those up to age 17. Most college students are not under 17, so we weren't able to claim them both. I'm not seeing anything that says we cannot take both, but it is a fair question. I hope we can!

[Thrif-t]

Taxes with college kids and all these credits can get kind of confusing! I guess the older I get I'm just not as with it, keeping everything straight. I have 2 in college and my oldest is graduating in May. I've always gotten the AOTC for her but now for Spring 2019 I used the last of the money in the 529 to pay tuition. I was thinking I would need to forgo the Lifetime Learning Credit (Can only take the AOTC for 4 years)...anywho, I was reading a thread on Bogleheads, and someone commented that they go ahead and take the 529 as an unqualified disbursement and pay the tax and then are able to take the credits. Duh, I wouldn't of thought of that. But I'll be keeping it in mind (hopefully I won't forget!ha) when it's time to do 2019 taxes and see if its advantageous to do.

[creditcardfree]

Thrift, yes if is a bit confusing. And Lifetime Learning is slightly different (books aren't counted if I remember right) We will be using the Lifetime Learning Credit for our youngest (first semester this fall). This will be final year of AOTC for oldest daughter, we will use Lifetime Learning in the future for her if we have out of pocket expenses that would qualify. Interesting move on taking nonqualified 529 disbursement, but if it's advantageous a very wise move!

[Thrif-t]

mmm, just thought of something else. DD has a december birthday, just turned 23, so in 2019 she will be 24, I might not be able to do it anyway? For some reason I'm thinking at 24 they are an independent on taxes and I won't be able to claim any credits on her.

[creditcardfree]

mmm, just thought of something else. DD has a december birthday, just turned 23, so in 2019 she will be 24, I might not be able to do it anyway? For some reason I'm thinking at 24 they are an independent on taxes and I won't be able to claim any credits on her.

I think that is probably true of the Dependent Credit, but there is an interactive tax assistant that helps you know for sure. It's here.

[Smallsteps]

I usually use a program, but I was taught how to do them manually when I was a teen.

I think tax time is a great time to teach kids about this system.
I was mortified by many co-workers and people who simply have no idea how to do taxes.They just hand over to places like HR Block or like businesses.
These were NOT difficult returns but I was shocked at what they paid for this service.
I know some complications as you add investments or are trying to navigate some deductions that require a professional, but it is important to have at least a basic understanding because these store front places and even tax programs ask very general questions and some may miss something.
Also with at least general knowledge you can see any mistakes that could have been made.