If you are a full time citizen of the United States of America and you are already earning an income, it’s impossible not to encounter the IRS tax forms—the form that is dreaded by so many come April. In a nutshell, IRS tax forms are forms filled up by American citizens as a means to report their income to the Internal Revenue Service for tax computations. In these forms, one report how much he or she has earned for that particular fiscal year, report tax deductions (if applicable), and calculate how much tax one owes the government.
When to submit tax forms
The deadline for submitting IRS tax forms is on or before April 15 of every year. If that date falls on a weekend or a holiday, tax forms submissions can be done the day after. However, while the deadline of tax forms submissions are the same for everyone, not all tax forms are the same. It depends on how much a person or company makes, as well as any items and factors that could result to tax reductions.
The most common IRS tax form is the Form 1040, although this form actually has other variants as well. The Form 1040 is known as the long form, the 1040A is called the short form, and the 1040EZ is called the easy form.
The 1040 tax forms
The long form is for individuals with more complicated tax situations. Its first page should contain the taxpayer’s income items, dependents, and any other adjustments to income, while the second page is allotted for allowable deductions, the computer tax vis a vis the figures given, and tax withheld from individual’s income. It also has “attachments,” which can be found on the opposite side of the form. There are 11 attachments for more complex tax computations (for instance, one of the attachments, Schedule M is for claiming the “Making Work Pay” credit, also known as the stimulus).
Obviously, the attachments make the 1040 tax forms harder to file and accomplish.
The 1040A, the short form, is for individuals earning less than 100,000 dollars. When filling up this form, the person opts to take the government’s standard deduction (standard, because the deductions are not computed according to individual figures). With the person only gets income from wages, interest, fellowship grants, unemployment compensation, and the likes, he or she can use the 1040A tax return form.
The last 1040 tax form, the 1040EZ, is for people with less than 100,000 dollars of income who opts for standard deduction and must be among the following: single; under 65 years of old; no dependents; and only gets income from wages, taxable scholarships, unemployment compensation, and the like.
Needless to say, there are other financial situations that are not covered by these clauses; hence requiring them to use different (and probably more difficult) tax forms. Those who will be unable to submit tax forms on or before the given time will have to face penalties according to specific local and federal laws.