You may notice some changes to your 1040 tax forms this year. Due to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, credits and deductions have changed, and your 1040 forms will reflect the new changes.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the names attached to your tax forms, your 1040 is your general income tax form. You use your 1040 to declare your income and figure out your tax refunds. There used to be multiple general income tax forms. The standard 1040 could be applied to most standard tax-paying individuals or families. There was the 1040 EZ for simple tax filings such as a single individual with a job, and there was the 1040A. If you are catching up on tax returns for previous years, you can still use the old forms. However, from this tax season onward, there will only be the new 1040 tax forms.
There are now only 6 schedules on the new 1040, and the credits and deductions are different. Some spaces will remain exactly the same, while others have changed. If you are one of the many people that fills out their tax forms using software, you may not even notice a difference. As for the non-electronic 1040 document, you will notice it is smaller, but no more simple or complicated than before, depending on the credits and deductions you plan to claim.
