Editing Form 1040 (section)

=== Subsequent changes ===
[[File:Form 1040a, 2015.pdf|thumb|Form 1040A, 2015 tax year]]For 1916, Form 1040 was converted to an annual form (i.e., updated each year with the new tax year printed on the form).<ref>See Publication 1796-A, ''IRS Historical Tax Products'' (rev. Feb. 2007), Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury.</ref> Initially, the IRS mailed tax booklets (Form 1040, instructions, and most common attachments) to all households. As alternative delivery methods (CPA/Attorneys, Internet forms) increased in popularity, the IRS sent fewer packets via mail. In 2009 this practice was discontinued.

With the [[Current Tax Payment Act of 1943]], income tax withholding was introduced. The [[Individual Income Tax Act of 1944]] created standard deductions on the 1040.<ref name="historical_highlights">{{cite web |url=https://www.irs.gov/uac/Historical-Highlights-of-the-IRS |title=Historical Highlights of the IRS |access-date=December 31, 2015 |publisher=Internal Revenue Service |archive-date=January 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103193316/https://www.irs.gov/uac/Historical-Highlights-of-the-IRS |url-status=live }}</ref>

The tax return deadline was original set at March 1. This was changed to March 15 in the [[Revenue Act of 1918]], and in the [[Internal Revenue Code of 1954]], the tax return deadline was changed to April 15 from March 15,<ref name="historical_highlights" /> as part of a large-scale overhaul of the tax code. The reason for March 1 was not explained in the law, but was presumably to give time after the end of the tax (and calendar) year to prepare tax returns.<ref name="thorndike">Joseph Thorndike, "[http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/ArtWeb/130DAA7F164C86018525827100645499 Why Is Tax Day April 15?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718064406/http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/ArtWeb/130DAA7F164C86018525827100645499 |date=July 18, 2020 }}", ''taxanalysts''; "[https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2017/04/13/why-tax-day-is-usually-april-15/ Why Tax Day Is Usually April 15] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718042201/https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2017/04/13/why-tax-day-is-usually-april-15/ |date=July 18, 2020 }}", ''Forbes'', Originally published in Tax Notes magazine on April 16, 2012: "According to the 1913 revenue act, anyone with an annual income exceeding the exemption ... was required to file a return "on or before the first day of March, nineteen hundred and fourteen." Lawmakers offered no explanation for that date, but it seems likely that it was selected to give taxpayers adequate time to gather materials and complete their returns following the end of the tax (and calendar) year."</ref> The two-week extension from March 1 to March 15 occurred after the Revenue Act of 1918 was passed in February 1919, given only a few weeks to complete returns under the new law. The month extension from March 15 to April 15 was to give additional time for taxpayers and accountants to prepare taxes, owing to the more complex tax code, and also helped spread work by the IRS over a longer time, as it would receive returns over a longer time.<ref name="thorndike"/><ref>"More Time for Taxpayers: One-Month Extension in Filing Individual Income Tax Returns, Making Deadline April 15, Passes House Unit," The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 17, 1954, at 3.</ref>

The '''1040A''' was introduced by the 1930s to simplify the filing process and discontinued after tax year 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tax History: The Love-Hate Relationship With the Standard Deduction |first=Joseph J. |last=Thorndike |url=http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/ArtWeb/FD4865793851996185257D1B0041C875?OpenDocument |access-date=December 31, 2015 |publisher=Tax History Project |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191433/http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/ArtWeb/FD4865793851996185257D1B0041C875?OpenDocument |url-status=live }} Apparently gives date as 1941, which is evidently not correct.</ref> It was limited to taxpayers with taxable income below $100,000 who take the [[standard deduction]] instead of [[itemized deduction|itemizing deductions]].<ref name="1040a_turbo">{{cite web|url=https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/IRS-Tax-Forms/What-is-the-IRS-1040A-Form-/INF14500.html|title=What is the IRS 1040A Form?|publisher=TurboTax|access-date=December 31, 2015|archive-date=September 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908174511/https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/IRS-Tax-Forms/What-is-the-IRS-1040A-Form-/INF14500.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The '''1040EZ''' was used for tax years 1982–2017. Its use was limited to taxpayers with no dependents to claim, with taxable income below $100,000 who take the [[standard deduction]] instead of itemizing deductions.<ref name="ez_investo">{{cite web|url=http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/071514/whats-difference-between-irs-forms-1040ez-and-1040a.asp|title=What's the difference between IRS Forms 1040EZ and 1040A?|publisher=Investopedia|access-date=December 31, 2015}}</ref>

Electronic filing was introduced in a limited form in 1986, with the passage of the [[Tax Reform Act of 1986]], and starting 1992, taxpayers who owed money were allowed to file electronically.<ref name="historical_highlights" /> The [[Electronic Federal Tax Payment System]], jointly managed by the IRS and [[Financial Management Service]], started in 1996 and allowed people to make estimated payments.<ref name="about-eftps" /><ref name="historical_highlights" />

With the passage of the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017]], a new, redesigned Form 1040 was released for tax year 2018. It reduced the number of lines from 79 to 23, removed two of the variants (1040A and 1040EZ) in favor of the redesigned Form 1040, and redesigned the supplemental schedules.