1040 Form to be Shorter
December 17th, 2006 by digerati
The form you love to hate is getting a face lift. The IRS plans to change the ever popular 1040 form that most American’s use to pay their federal income tax. The changes could take effect as soon as 2009.
“What we are shooting for is a form that is simpler and easier to use for taxpayers,” said Lemons, confirming mentions of the anticipated revision in a recent Government Accountability Office audit and a report by Tax Analysts, a non-profit organization that tracks tax issues.
As envisioned by the IRS, an as-yet-undetermined number of less-frequently used lines dealing with adjustments to income, credits, taxes and payments would be removed from the cover page of Form 1040 and relocated to a new Schedule O. That would simplify the current 77-line form, and free up space for any future tax reporting changes that could conceivably be approved by Congress and the White House.
Lemons said the changes are still evolving, explaining that “it’s still really early in the (planning) process.”
Although Form 1040 typically undergoes virtually unnoticed revisions from year to year, it hasn’t been subjected to a major overhaul since 1977. According to the IRS, that revision scrapped a two-column format at the top of the tax-filing form and moved the signature line from the cover page to the final entry.
From original article “IRS working to trim a bit of Form 1040’s red tape” at USA Today. I like how the title also cut some red tape…
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