What Happened to the IRS Tax Form 1040-A?
Learn about the discontinuation of IRS Form 1040-A following tax law changes and how the current universal Form 1040 system now serves all filers.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040-A is an obsolete tax form, discontinued after the 2017 tax year. For many years, it was known as the “short form” and provided a simplified filing option for Americans with straightforward financial situations. It served as a middle ground between the simpler Form 1040-EZ and the more comprehensive Form 1040.
The Purpose of the Discontinued Form 1040-A
Form 1040-A was designed for individuals whose financial pictures were not complex. To be eligible, a taxpayer’s taxable income had to be less than $100,000. The form also limited the types of income that could be reported to sources like wages, salaries, tips, interest, ordinary dividends, and unemployment compensation.
Taxpayers with other sources of income, such as self-employment earnings or capital gains, were ineligible to use Form 1040-A. A restriction was that it did not permit taxpayers to itemize deductions, so filers had to take the standard deduction. This meant individuals who might have benefited from itemizing deductions for mortgage interest or state and local taxes could not use this form.
The form did, however, allow for a limited number of specific deductions and tax credits. These included the student loan interest deduction, educator expenses, the child tax credit, and education credits.
The Transition to the Redesigned Form 1040
The discontinuation of Form 1040-A resulted from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which prompted the IRS to simplify tax filing. Both Form 1040-A and Form 1040-EZ were eliminated after the 2017 tax year and consolidated into a redesigned, universal Form 1040 that all individual taxpayers now use.
The redesigned Form 1040 is a “building block” return. The main form is short, and for taxpayers with more complex finances, it is supplemented by a series of numbered schedules. This system replaces the need for separate forms like the 1040-A.
For instance, certain income and adjustments that were on Form 1040-A, such as the student loan interest deduction, are now reported on Schedule 1, “Additional Income and Adjustments to Income.” This modular approach allows taxpayers to attach only the schedules relevant to their specific tax circumstances.
Amending a Prior Year Return Filed with Form 1040-A
If you discover an error on a tax return from 2017 or an earlier year that was filed on Form 1040-A, you must use Form 1040-X, “Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,” to make the correction. You will need a copy of the original Form 1040-A. On Form 1040-X, you will report the figures as they were originally filed, the net change for each line item, and the corrected amounts, along with a written explanation of the changes.
You must attach any new or corrected tax forms or schedules affected by the change. For example, if you are now claiming a missed deduction, you would attach the relevant form for that deduction. Once completed, the form must be mailed to the IRS service center specified in the form’s instructions.