What Was Form 1040EZ: Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers with No D🍸ependents?

IRS Form 1040EZ: Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers with No Dependents was the shortened version of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040. This form was for taxpayers with basic tax situations a💝nd offered a fast and easy way to file income taxes. 🌱;

The form was discontinued as of the 2018 tax year in favor of the redesigned 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Form 1040.

Eligibility for Form 1040EZ

To use the form, a taxpayer had to have taxable income of less than $100,000, less than $1,500 of interest income, and claim no dependents. Oꦬther requirements for filing the Form 1040EZ in🌊cluded:c

• The taxpayer and their spouse, if married filing jointly, had to be under age 65 at the end of the relevant filing period.
• They could not be 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:blind🍌 as of the end of the relevant filing pe💫riod.
• The filer could take no deductions for student loan interest, educator expenses, tuition and fees, or itemized deductions.
• If the filer received interest income, they could not have been required to file Schedule B, didn’t have amounts in boxes 11, 12, or 13 of Form 1099-INT or boxes 6 and 10 of Form 1099-OID, and didn’t earn any interest as a nominee.
• Tax credits for retirement savings, health coverage, and education were not allowed.
• The tax filer could not have received any advance 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earned income credit (EIC) although they would have been allowed to claim the EIC when filing Form 1040EZ.
• The filer could not be a debtor in any Chapter 11 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bankruptcy case that was filed after October 16, 2005.
• The filer (and their spouse, if married filing jointly), didn’t receive any advance payments of the premium tax credit offered for health coverage plans sold on the Marketplace.
• The filer didn’t owe any household employee taxes on wages paid to household employees.

Limitations of Form 1040EZ

Fo🎀rm 1040EZ was ultimately scrapped due to the limitations of the form. The IRS opted for the building block approach of allowing taxpayers to more easily add allowances or credits as applicable to their retur♔n. In addition, Form 1040EZ had several other drawbacks.

First, the form 𝄹could only be used by those who earned less than a certain amount of income. The types of eligible income was also limited. Anyone who had income from sources other than wages, salaries, tips, taxable scholarships, or fellowship grants could not use Form 1040EZ. This precluded any taxpayer who received foreign income (or filedꦯ using a foreign address) from using the form. In addition, any taxpayer hoping to claim a dependent could also not use Form 1040EZ.

With Form 1040EZ, taxpayers were not allowed to itemize their deductions nor were they able to take other types of deductions, such as the student loan interest deduction or deductions for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:individual ret🧸irement account (IRA) contributions.

Form 1040EZ vs. Form 1040

Form 1040EZ had only a few credits or 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:deductions available to taxpayers. Filers were able to include an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earned income credit and elect nontaxable combat pay.

For most tax years, Form 1040 had 80% more lines than form 1040EZ. One significant difference was that Form 1040 had fields to include information about dependents, while 1040EZ did not allow individuals to claim 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:dependents. Similar to the standard form, the EZ version had sections to record wages, salaries and tips, and taxable interest under $1,500. The filer was also able to include unemployment compensation payments.

Form 1040EZ allowed filers to claim income from wages, tips, salaries, taxable grants or scholarships, the Alaska Permanent Fund, and unemployment compensation.

Form 1040, in contrast, had at least 16 income categories. Categories available on the standard form included dividend payments, retirement account distributions, and farm and rental income. Form 1040 also allowed the entry of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Social Security benefits, alimony, and other forms of income. This form also had a long list of deductions, ranging from education costs to healthcare savings plan contributions.

Transition Away From Form 1040EZ

In 2018, the IRS replaced Forms 1040A and 1040EZ with a redesigned Form 1040. This new Form 1040 included six new numbered schedules in addition to the existing ones like Schedule A. Many people may only need to file the simplified Form 1040. Others can file Form 1040 with additional forms for their specific needs.

The Bottom Line

The IRS previouꦯsly allowed for taxpayers to select a specific Form💮 1040 to use based on the complexity of their tax return. The simplest form was Form 1040EZ. However, the form was discontinued in 2018. Since then, all taxpayers must use Form 1040 (or Form 1040-SR, for those age 65 or older) as part of their annual filing.