There are a lot of tax forms an individual or an entity is required to file under the law in the United States. One such document is the 1040 SR tax form. Unlike many tax forms, IRS form 1040SR is specifically made for senior citizens 65 years and older. In addition, this document is identical to the standard form 1040. The main difference between the 1040 senior form and form 1040 is that the former highlights the benefits specific to senior citizens. In addition, the document has a more significant type. Similarly, a taxpayer can file the form electronically or obtain an IRS 1040 SR printable form.
Purpose of Form 1040 SR
Apart from its appearance, the new tax form 1040 SR has higher deductions for the elderly who don’t like to itemize. Likewise, the tax form before the new 2021 1040 SR was 1040SR 2020. As such, the main modification made to 2020 form 1040 SR is the improvement of the deductions table. A taxpayer that is 65 in December of each year is eligible for a standard deduction, which is a minimum amount for the deduction is $1,300. Similarly, there is a chart that comes with 1040 SR form 2021, which lists combined deductions depending on different eligibility variables. Before the development of 2020 1040 SR, older forms restricted income reporting. A taxpayer could only report income from:
- Tips;
- Wages;
Requirements for Filing IRS Form 1040 SR
Beyond being 65 years and older, there are several other requirements for filing this document. These requirements are discussed below.
Lack of Income Limitation
The person that files this document has no restriction on the income they report within any year. This criterion does not apply to some other forms. Therefore, a taxpayer does not have to worry about income limits when filling out this document. Additionally, a senior can still use 1040SR schedule 1 if there is a need to do so.
Income Categories
IRS 1040 SR form allows for the inclusion of different types of incomes into the submission. Therefore, IRS form 1040 SR 2021 allows a taxpayer to report income beyond three types. A senior can include income from grants, unemployment compensation, and scholarship. An applicant is also able to include benefits from Social Security, retirement plan distributions, annuities, and other payment arrangements.
Filing 1040 SR
This form is a standard tax document. You can get it electronically or through the mail. Also, you can use the electronic version as a printable 1040 SR form. The information required on form 1040 is highlighted below.
- Full name of the taxpayer
- Full name of the spouse of the taxpayer, if applicable
- Full address and zip code
- Social security number of the applicant
- Social security number of the spouse, if applicable
- Information about standard deductions
- Information about dependents, if applicable
- Refund information if applicable
- Details about the amount owed
- Third-party designee, if applicable
- Signature of the taxpayer for the purpose of document validation
- Information about a paid preparer
Please check other IRS forms: