Editing Form 1040 (section)

=== Original form structure and tax rates ===

[[Image:Form 1040A, 1937.jpg|thumb|Form 1040A for the 1937 tax year]]

The first Form 1040 was published for use for the tax years 1913, 1914, and 1915;<ref name= howyoumustpay>"[https://www.proquest.com/docview/97579204/ How You Must Pay Your Income Tax: Treasury Issues Form 1,040, Which Individuals Must Fill Out and File by March 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241224153056/https://www.proquest.com/docview/97579204/ |date=December 24, 2024 }}". ''The New York Times''. January 6, 1914. p. 3.</ref>
the number 1040 was simply the next number in the sequential numbering of forms.<ref>{{cite journal
|journal=SOI Bulletin (Statistics of Income)
|volume=13
|number=2
|title=80 Years of Income Tax Statistics
|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6okwTEVpGRMC&pg=PA6 6]
|url=https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/93rpfallbul.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517113604/https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/93rpfallbul.pdf
|archive-date=2017-05-17
|quote=The fact is, the number 1040 was simply the next number up in the system of sequential numbering of forms developed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.}}</ref> For 1913, taxes applied only from March 1 to December 31.<ref name= howyoumustpay/> The original Form 1040, available on the IRS website as well as elsewhere, is three pages<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/100-years-of-tax-form-1040-2014-02-12 |author=Jonnelle Marte |date=April 15, 2015 |title=100 years of tax form 1040 |publisher=MarketWatch |access-date=July 31, 2016 |archive-date=August 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828132120/http://www.marketwatch.com/story/100-years-of-tax-form-1040-2014-02-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> and 31 lines long, with the first page focused on computing one's income tax, the second page focused on more detailed documentation of one's income and the third page describing deductions and including a signature area. There is an additional page of instructions.<ref name=irs-1913>{{cite web|url = https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/1913.pdf|title = Return of Annual Net Income of Individuals|publisher = [[Internal Revenue Service]]|date = October 3, 1913|access-date = January 1, 2016|archive-date = February 7, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210207021331/https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/1913.pdf|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=tf-1913>{{cite web|url = http://taxfoundation.org/article/1913-internal-revenue-service-1040-form|title = 1913 Internal Revenue Service 1040 Form|date = January 2005|publisher = [[Tax Foundation]]|access-date = January 1, 2016|archive-date = November 1, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151101094232/http://taxfoundation.org/article/1913-internal-revenue-service-1040-form|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name="ct_1040">{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/03/27/history-of-the-1040-form-runs-only-80-years/ |date=March 27, 1994 |title=History Of The 1040 Form Runs Only 80 Years |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=July 31, 2016}}</ref> The main rules were:

* The taxable income was calculated starting from gross income, subtracting business-related expenses to get net income, and then subtracting specific exemptions (usually $3,000 or $4,000). In other words, people with net incomes below $3,000 would have to pay no income tax at all. The inflation calculator used by the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] estimates the corresponding amount in 2015 dollars as $71,920.<ref name=ct_1040/><ref name=inflation-calculator>{{cite web|url = http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm|title = Inflation Calculator|publisher = [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]]|access-date = January 2, 2016|archive-date = September 17, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190917111520/https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm|url-status = live}}</ref>
* The base income tax rate on taxable income was 1%.
* High earners had to pay additional taxes. The first high-earning tax bracket, $20,000–$50,000, has an additional tax of 1% on the part of net income above $20,000. Thus, somebody with a taxable income of $50,000 (over a million dollars in 2015 dollars according to the BLS)<ref name=inflation-calculator/> would pay a total of $800 (1% of $50,000 + 1% of $(50,000 − 20,000)) in federal income tax. At the time (when the United States as a whole was much poorer) these higher taxes applied to fewer than 0.5% of the residents of the United States.<ref name=wizworld>{{cite web|url = http://www.wizworld.com/taxes/|title = True Origin of the 1040 Income Tax Form|access-date = January 1, 2016|archive-date = January 8, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160108130116/http://www.wizworld.com/taxes/|url-status = live}}</ref>

Just over 350,000 forms were filed in 1914 and all were audited.<ref name=ct_1040/>[[Image:Form 1040, 1941.jpg|thumb|Form 1040 for the 1941 tax year:  The basic layout and main entries are familiar, but there are more of them now and the Schedules letters have been reassigned]]