IRS has issued draft versions of 2019 Form 1040 and the schedules that accompany that form. Notably, the six schedules that existed in 2018 are now just three schedules in the 2019 drafts.
Here are some of the notable changes from 2018 that are reflected on the 2019 drafts:
- The filing status line at the top of Form 1040 asks for additional information for taxpayers whose filing status is Married, filing separately (the name of the spouse) and Head of household and Qualifying widow(er) (name of child who isn’t a dependent).
- The detailed listing of types of gross income, which had been on schedules last year, is now on page 1 of Form 1040. For example, the line for capital gains or losses, that was on the 2018 Schedule 1 is now on Form 1040, Line 6.
- The checkbox for health care coverage has been removed; health care coverage is not required in 2019 in order to avoid a tax penalty.
- Several of the most-used credits, e.g., the earned income credit and the additional child tax credit, have been moved from schedules to page 2 of Form 1040.
- Lines to identify any foreign address and to name a third party with which IRS had permission to discuss the return, which had been on Schedule 6, has been moved to page 2 of the main form.
- 2018 Schedules 4, 5, and 6 are obsolete for 2019.
- Schedule 1: Additional Income and Adjustments to Income, adds new lines upon which alimony recipients and payors must include the date of the original divorce or separation agreement; this is necessary because only alimony based on pre-2019 agreements is included in income/is deductible.
- Schedule 2: Additional Taxes, includes several line items from 2018 Schedule 4.
- Schedule 3: Additional Credits and Payments, combines nonrefundable credits and refundable credits from 2018 Schedules 3 and 5.
Also note that the three schedules all indicate that they are schedules for both 2019 Form 1040 and for the new-for-2019 Form 1040-SR, U.S. Tax Return for Seniors. (For more information about Form 1040-SR, see IRS releases draft of new simplified tax return for seniors.