Every American has to declare their income per year, which requires the knowledge of how to complete the blank Form 1040. As there are certain specifics related to various categories of taxpayers, you have to be aware of them to fill out this yearly federal tax form correctly. Here is when our guide can help you do everything the right way.
What Is a 1040 Form?
If you gain some profit throughout the year, you have to report your gross income to the IRS. They have created the 1040 form to enable you to inform them about the entire sum of money you made annually. You need to complete this document regardless of being self-employed or hired by a company. If you run a business, you have to additionally report income or loss from the profit. For it, you need to attach Form 1040 Schedule C to the document.
The IRS 1040 form will help you define the taxable sum left after you do all deductions and credits. You will understand how much money you have to pay to cover your taxes and clarify the amount you will get as a refund. Below, we provide brief yet comprehensive instructions on the effortless way you can do it.
How to Fill Out Form 1040
For the state to get accurate information on whether you should pay money, you have to know how to file the 1040 form. This year, the procedure of signing a tax return includes the following steps:
1. Collect all tax-related docs in advance
This refers to all documents you have on your income and deductions. Include 1099 and W-2 forms to have them at hand.
2. Report your profit in specific lines
This stage implies writing down your personal data such as the name, address, postal code, and the like in the appropriate fields of Form 1040. Specify any profit you gained from alimony, farming, unemployment salary, earnings or expenditures from sales of business property, etc.
3. Attach schedules to report extra income sources
It might happen that you will lack lines for additional sources of profit. In this case, attach either Schedule E for rental real estate and partnership earnings or Schedule C for business income.
4. Calculate the deductions
After you define all standard and itemized deductions, specify this data in the template. This will ensure your tax liability.
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Sign the document
By doing so, you will make the form legal. You can conveniently do it online using popular online platforms such as PDFLiner, without the need to print out the document and sign it in an old-fashioned way, with paper and a pen.
How to Sign Tax Return
Good news for those who don’t want to mess up with printing their documents: The IRS recognizes an e-signature as legal. This means that you can easily sign the completed Form 1040 online. There are a lot of handy tools that can aid you on the way. For instance, PDFLiner provides users with rich functionality and an especially friendly interface. Signing documents with this service is effortless even for beginners. Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can do it.
Step 1: Find the “Sign Field” on page two
To do it, simply scroll down the page. When you see the field, click on it.
Step 2: Launch the “Signature Wizard”
This field can help you generate a brand-new signature from scratch. Tap the “Add New Signature” button to do it. However, things are even simpler if you are a returning user: You can store the previous signature and always have it at hand, saving more time on completing your docs.
Step 3: Choose the way to generate your e-signature
If you decide to create a new signature, there are four options to choose from:
- Type in your name to have your signature in handwritten format;
- draw it using your mouse;
- upload an image of your existing signature;
- make a photo of the signature with your camera.
When the signature is ready, you can paste it into the 1040 form. You can use the instructions above for any document you want to sign.
How to File the 1040 Form
When the form is ready for filing, decide whether you want to do it online or offline:
- If you choose to file this document by regular mail, you can visit the official IRS website to get the address.
- Nowadays, most taxpayers find it more convenient to file this paper via email: It significantly speeds up the delivery to the IRS and getting your tax refund. You can address a trustworthy dedicated platform to do it in a mere moment.
As for the deadline, the IRS stated that taxpayers have to submit the form by April 18 this year. However, if you do not manage to file it on time, you may ask for an extension.
A Little Prep Saves Money
As you can see, there’s nothing overcomplicated in filling out Form 1040 correctly. All you have to do is gather your tax files, follow our guide, sign the form, and keep the deadline in mind. A lot of online services can help you ease the job, so choose wisely and find the one to which you can entrust your income-related data.
