IRS Form 1040 is known as the United States Individual Income Tax Return. It’s the form for that taxpayers use to file their Federal income taxes with the Internal Revenue Service. The form is often referred to as the "long form" as a way to distinguish it from other simpler, shorter, variations of Form 1040 including Form 1040A and 1040EZ.
IRS Form 1040 consists of two full pages not including attachments. The first page of the form seeks to collect information about the taxpayer including dependents, income, and adjustments to income. The second page features a worksheet to help taxpayers calculate their Federal tax liability by seeking information on a taxpayer’s allowable deductions and credits.
IRS Form 1040 has 11 attachments, also known as schedules, that may need to be filed depending on the taxpayer’s individual situation. These schedules include Schedules A - F, Schedule EIC, Schedule H, Schedule J, Schedule R, and Schedule SE.
According to the IRS, you must use Form 1040 if:
- Your taxable income is $100,000 or more
- You claim itemized deductions
- You are reporting self-employment income
- You are reporting income from sale of property
- You are claiming the educator expense or higher education tuition and fees
You can download IRS Form 1040 for the year 2006 here.