The Most Important Income Tax Forms

What are the Necessary Income Tax Forms?

To legally and accurately file your Federal Income Taxes, you must obtain the necessary income tax forms from the Internal Revenue Service and your employer.

IRS Form 1040: The Form 1040 is the U.S. Individual Income Tax Return form. This Income Tax form is the starting point for the filing of individual Federal Tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service. Any full-time resident of the United States can use the standard Form 1040 to establish their taxable income. Those with uncomplicated tax returns; however, can file a simplified version of the form known as the 1040A or 1040EZ.

This form is typically suitable for individuals who contain no itemized deductions, no capital losses, and minimal complications in regards to credits or rebates. The IRS form 1040 contains two pages and 11 attachments known as schedules. The filing of the 1040 is required on April 15th of the taxable year. The schedules or attachments of the 1040 are as follows:

Schedule A: The individual taxpayer will itemize his or her allowable deductions against their income.

Schedule B: The individual taxpayer will record all interest and/or dividend income earned through investments. The filing is required if the individual receives more than $1,500 from these sources or if the individual holds certain foreign accounts.

Schedule C: This portion of the Form 1040 requires the taxpayer to list all income and expenses related to self-employment. This portion of the Form 1040 is required for sole proprietors.

Schedule D: Used to affirm capital gains and losses incurred during the taxable year.

Schedule E: This portion of the form is used to report income and expenses arising from income generated from the rental of real property, royalties, and from pass-through entities, such as trusts, partnerships, estates or S-Corporations

Schedule F: Portion of the Form 1040 used to report income and expenses related to farming.

Schedule H: Used to report taxes on help obtained from the employment of household aid.

Schedule J: Used when computing farm income over a period of three years

Schedule L: Portion of the Form used to compute an increased standard deduction

The form 1040A, which is the shorter version of the standard Form 1040 individual tax return form, is limited to taxpayers with a taxable income below $100,000. An individual taxpayer who uses this form can only obtain income from the following sources: wages, salaries, tips, interest and ordinary dividends, capital gains distributions, unemployment compensation, pensions, annuities, IRAs, taxable scholarships and fellowship grants, taxable social security and railroad retirement benefits.

The following forms are also required when filing your income taxes

Form 1041: The income tax form used by estates and trusts for tax returns

Form 1065: The income tax return form used by partnerships for tax returns

Form 1098: The income tax return form used to report interest that a taxpayer has paid on his or her mortgage. This interest is tax-deductible at the federal level.

Form 1099: A form offered by the Internal Revenue Service that is used in the United States income tax system to prepare and subsequently file an information return used to report various types of income obtained other than salaries, tips, and wages.

NEXT: Understanding Your Tax Return