2018 1040 Draft form

[bizlady]

Shorter form, but it may or may not be any simpler

New tax form is indeed smaller, but filing is no simpler - StarTribune.com

 

[OAG]

Probably for the majority of filers it will be simpler since they may not need any of the additional forms. Personally I will have a single form beyond the 1040 to add to it or I could get by using it.

 

[jebmke]

I will still have the nearly the same entries in the software. Since I efile it doesn't matter how many forms there are.


This is mainly a PR stunt. The software companies will have to hustle to keep up. Especially adapting state returns to the new federal format. Another good reason to file in October. By then the software should be reasonably stable.

 

[Clone]

Years ago you could deduct lots of little misc deductions. Most of those disappeared under the 'must exceed 2% of your AGI' type limit. That meant that you no longer needed to keep all of those receipts. Now with the increased standard deduction, many folks will find out that they will be ahead taking the standard deduction, and no longer need to keep those receipts.



My return (based on the TurboTax page count) was 134 pages for the Federal, and 246 when you add in the two states where I file. A number of those are worksheets, some are instructions, and some are Estimated Tax Payment Vouchers. Based on the comments from the article, the folks that are squealing about 'OMG it is going to be 6.5 pages now' really don't understand the concept.



How it actually turns out financially is still yet to be determined.

 

[meierlde]

Note that the form does not include any financial items i.e. no income, dividends, interest capital gains etc. I guess the model is you pay all you get. Also no place to put withholding. It is about the top 1/2 of the 2017 1040 so I call this just plain fake news.

Anyway with modern software unless one wants to one never need see the forms.

 

[pb4uski]

....This is mainly a PR stunt......

+1

 

[kaneohe]

Note that the form does not include any financial items i.e. no income, dividends, interest capital gains etc. I guess the model is you pay all you get. Also no place to put withholding. It is about the top 1/2 of the 2017 1040 so I call this just plain fake news.

Anyway with modern software unless one wants to one never need see the forms.

The income is on the back of the card.......most of it anyway....no CG....need a
schedule for that. W/H also on the back.
Click on the smaller image below in the link.

 

[karen1972]

The easiest was the phone-in option which they eliminated in 2005. When you only had a W2 and some interest it took less than 10 minutes and it was done. Honestly, they could just send most people a pre-filled in form or make it available on-line and say here is our estimate, please sign here if it is correct and return.

The only time I worried about the number of forms was when I was paying someone to do taxes as the more forms, the bigger the bill.

 

[scrabbler1]

I was hoping to be able to use 1040A like I had been able to use a few times since I retired. If I am able to use the standard deduction and I have only cap gain distributions (no Schedule D), then my taxes become fairly simple; only the somewhat messy QD and LTCG worksheet in the instruction booklet remains.


Now, I have to include two separate schedules just for the CG and estimated taxes. So much for simpler.

 

[RunningBum]

Yep, more schedules for CGs, foreign tax credit, and estimated tax credits. I guess a lot of people don't have those, so fewer lines for them to skip over. The annoying part for me is all the old references, like using line 37 for AGI, etc, are gone, and new schedules must be referenced. So googling for any tax tips and info will get more confusing since forms are different. Change without really improving much really isn't good. No more worry about schedule A for me, which is a bit of a simplification.

 

[kgtest]

many folks will find out that they will be ahead taking the standard deduction, and no longer need to keep those receipts.

I stopped keeping my receipts December 31st. Along with decreasing my retail purchases since I had no reason to save receipts anymore, I have no reason to collect them.

 

[RunningBum]

I stopped keeping my receipts December 31st. Along with decreasing my retail purchases since I had no reason to save receipts anymore, I have no reason to collect them.

If you're talking medical receipts, I keep them anyway for my HSA. I've only taken from the HSA once (most convenient place to get really quick cash at the time). Otherwise I'm saving the receipts so I can draw against them later whenever I want. I can't pull the whole balance out, but I've got enough receipts for a good portion of it.

 

[jebmke]

I keep my medical receipts for one year for the HSA then reimburse myself. But I really don't have many "receipts." Our pharmacy, doctors and dentist provide an annual statement in January for the prior year so that covers most of the dollars. Saves having to keep track of each invoice, and those pesky pharmacy slips.

 

[scrabbler1]

Even though it is likely that I will be taking the standard deduction, I still keep my receipts because I never know if will have a big medical issue which will jack up my OOP, deductible medical expenses and cause me to itemize. I am only ~$3,500 away from itemizing.

 

[RunningBum]

I keep my medical receipts for one year for the HSA then reimburse myself. But I really don't have many "receipts." Our pharmacy, doctors and dentist provide an annual statement in January for the prior year so that covers most of the dollars. Saves having to keep track of each invoice, and those pesky pharmacy slips.

I don't find it that much work. Every medical receipt gets a code written on it (2018-01, 2018-02, etc), and I make an entry with that code in the spreadsheet. Then I put the receipt in a shoe box and forget about it. Just the cover page for almost every receipt is good enough.

When I start withdrawing, I'll just mark expenses matching the withdrawals as used. Once the HSA is drained I'll keep the receipts through the audit period, then toss them. I just haven't figured out when to withdraw from the HSA vs. other accounts. That's another topic.