Episode 133: Form 1040 Basics, Pt. 1

Tax Justice Warriors

In looking at a crash course in taxes, I decided the easiest way to talk with someone about several concepts was to review the form 1040. In part one, I will go through the first page of form 1040. It introduces the concepts of filing status, dependents, income, adjustments to income (which results in adjusted gross income), deductions – the choice of standard or itemized deductions, and taxable income.

Going through this series of concepts is a great way to introduce several basic topics that are easily expanded upon to talk about for tax controversy case work. For students or others who are new to tax, digging into Form 1040 and moving next to Publication 17 are great places to explore.