The IRS is working on a draft version of the 2018 Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, that reduces the size of the form to two half-pages in length and eliminates more than 50 lines, compared to the 2017 version of the form. The draft form moves many items that in the past have appeared on the face of the 1040 to various new schedules.
The 2018 draft form, which has not yet been officially posted on the IRS website, uses the first page to gather information about the taxpayer and any dependents and for the taxpayer’s signature and jurat. The second page gathers information on the taxpayer’s income, deductions (including a new line for the Sec. 199A qualified business income deduction), credits, and taxes paid. Many of the items reported on the 1040 will be calculated on various new schedules, which have also not yet been officially posted. These schedules include:
The draft Form 1040 and the new schedules also refer to various existing schedules, which presumably will continue to exist in updated form. These include Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, Schedule C, Profit or Loss From Business, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses, Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss, Schedule F, Profit or Loss From Farming, Schedule H, Household Employment Taxes, Schedule SE, Self-Employment Tax, and Schedule 8812, Child Tax Credit.
On the other hand, Schedule B, Interest and Ordinary Dividends, Schedule J, Income Averaging for Farmers and Fishermen, and Schedule R, Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled, are not mentioned on the new form and schedules. A line exists for reporting the earned income tax credit, although Schedule EIC itself is not mentioned.