Form 1040A is used by citizens and residents of the United States to report income tax. If you qualify to do so, you may use a simpler form such as Form 1040EZ.
Form 1040A (like Form 1040 or 1040EZ) is the main tax form for many taxpayers. It is a form that takes numbers and amounts from other forms and reduces those numbers and amounts to the amount of tax owed (or, if you are lucky, the amount of your refund).
Information about your dependents carries from the Dependents Worksheet. If you have seven dependents or fewer, information about all your dependents appears on the face of Form 1040A. If you have more than seven dependents, information about the rest of your dependents appears on the Dependents Worksheet.
The amount of wages on line 7b comes from the amounts on line 1 of each of the W-2 forms you filled out.
If you are married and filing jointly, we carry to Form 1040A, line 7b the information from line 1 of each of the W-2 forms you filled out for your spouse.
If you placed an X in the statutory employee box on line 13 of Form W-2, we don't carry your wages from Form W-2, line 1 to Form 1040A, line 7b. If you are a statutory employee, you should be filing Form 1040, not Form 1040A.
If you placed an X in the void box on line a of Form W-2, we don't carry your wages from Form W-2, line 1 to Form 1040A, line 7b. Note that you should not be entering a "void" W-2. If you received a "void" W-2, you should contact your employer.
See Explain This Form for Form 1099-R for an explanation of the calculations for this line.
See Explain This Form for Form 1099-R for an explanation of the calculations for this line.
The letter "D" appears on line 14a next to the amount of social security benefits only if you are married filing separately and did not live with your spouse at any time during 2010.
We automatically calculate the standard deduction on line 24.
If there are no "X's" in the boxes on lines 23a or 23b, then we use the standard deduction amounts given by the IRS. These standard deduction amounts are based on your filing status in lines 1 through 5. If your filing status is single (i.e., there is an "X" in the box on line 1), your standard deduction is $5,700. If your filing status is married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er) (i.e., there is an "X" in the box on line 2 or line 5), your standard deduction is $11,400. If you are married filing separately (i.e., there is an "X" in the box on line 3), your standard deduction is $5,700. If you are head of household, (i.e., there is an "X" in the box on line 4), your standard deduction is $8,400.
If you or your spouse are over 65 or blind, your standard deduction will be larger than the standard deductions listed in the above paragraph. To calculate your standard deduction, we start with the amounts listed in the above paragraph and add amounts to them. The amounts we add are based on the number that appears in the box on line 23a. If your filing status is single or head of household, we multiply the number in the box on line 23a by $1,400 and add that amount to $8,400 (in the case of head of household) or $5,700 (in the case of a single filer). If your filing status is married filing jointly, qualifying widow(er), or married filing separately, we multiply the number in the box on line 23a by $1,100 and add that amount to $11,400 (in the case of married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er)) or $5,700 (in the case of married filing separately).
If someone can claim you as a dependent, then we calculate your standard deduction as follows. First, we look at two amounts: (i) the amount on line 7 plus $300, and (ii) $950. We pick the larger of those two amounts. Then, we compare that amount to the standard deduction ($5,700 if single; $11,400 if married filing jointly or qualifying widow(er); $5,700 if married filing separately; $8,400 if head of household), and we choose the smaller of those two amounts.
To that smaller amount, we add the following amount: $1,400 ($1,100 if married filing jointly, qualifying widow(er), or married filing separately) times the number on Form 1040A, line 23a. The result in line 24 is your standard deduction.
If there is an "X" in the box on line 23b (i.e., you are married filing separately and your spouse files Form 1040 and itemizes deductions), then we set the standard deduction in line 24 to zero.
If you placed an X in the void box on line a of Form W-2, we don't carry your advance earned income credit payments from Form W-2, box 9 to Form 1040A, line 36. Note that you should not be entering a "void" W-2. If you received a "void" W-2, you should contact your employer.
If you placed an X in the void box on line a of Form W-2, we don't carry the amount of your federal income tax withheld from Form W-2, box 2 to Form 1040A, line 38. Note that you should not be entering a "void" W-2. If you received a "void" W-2, you should contact your employer.
The text to the left of line 41 is for the word "NO," if you do not qualify for the earned income credit.