1040-SR for seniors

[Qxxx]

New to me this year (too much living in the desert), 1040-SR for those over 65 YO.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-sr

 

[maki2]

New to me this year (too much living in the desert), 1040-SR for those over 65 YO.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040-sr

Just one of several forms for me, it really does very little to reduce my paperwork, it only reduces a few of the questions.
But every question reduced is one fewer annoyance

 

[MrNoodly]

I'm still too poor to owe any taxes. I haven't needed to file the past six years.

 

[maki2]

I don't owe any income tax, I only owe self employment tax which is an ouch. But this year I have 3 months longer to pay it. I still have to file on time though.

 

[DannyB1954]

If it uses the same payment schedule as the regular 1040 short form, What is the advantage to the senior form?

 

[Stargazer]

I filed paper forms. The 1040 and 1040 SR are exactly the same except the SR is larger print.

Thank you IRS!!

 

[nature lover]

One advantage to being poor is not having to file taxes at all. But???

 

[Qxxx]

I filed paper forms.  The 1040 and 1040 SR are exactly the same except the SR is larger print.

Thank you IRS!!

Ah well, I'm tired of making tiny little letters in tiny little boxes. And I don't have to search around to find my standard deduction.

 

[billybob200138]

Well I learn something new everyday which of course is a good thing. Sometimes? I was disabled out of the Army. Not allowed to make "any" extra money and lo and behold at age 66 I get a letter in the mail from SS and they inform me that I am no longer disabled! But to beat it all I can now go and get a job and earn money? The government in all its glory!HoboJoe

 

[Qxxx]

Since I started this thread, I thought I would comment further. I decided to try e-filing my IRS return, first time for this, and the gobmint has several free services you can use.

https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free
https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

I qualified for TurboTax and went through the process, which was somewhat a PITN. I had to enter EVERYTHING in by hand, including all the info from my 1099-R forms, which I had to enter in "twice" because I was kicked out of the website and had to re-enter it.

Then I got to the very LAST step, and it would not accept Gotchas from my browser. Even though javascript was enabled, the gotcha page rejected javascipts ... DUH. So I had to update Chrome, and it finally worked. Got my e-filing sent in.

All in all, I'd say it took about 8-10 times as long as if I had simply completed the 1040-SR form using the downloaded PDF file, which allows you to enter "relevant" data directly into the form, then attach the 1099-R forms, and mail it off. But hopefully, I will get the refund quicker by e-filing than by mailing.

Live and learn.

 

[B and C]

TurboTax in the long run will take way less time as your personal information will copy over from the previous year (at least the CD version does). I had my refund in about two weeks. I haven't filled a paper form out in years and I can make the font as large as I need on my computer.

 

[crofter]

Beware the 8962 form. If you get marketplace insurance you need this form.

I usually use turbo tax online filing. This year there is a big snafu on the 1095's and doing an 8962 form. Some how turbo tax missed this form when I did my taxes, and now I am threatened with having to pay back the insurance payments for the year and losing insurance benefits forever. WOW. That was a threatening letter to get from the IRS. My project for tomorrow morning, I spent a couple hours getting the form printed out today as IRS office is closed here. They are giving me a week to get the form turned in or else. Fingers crossed.   -crofter

 

[crofter]

Beware the 8962 form. If you get marketplace insurance you need this form.

I usually use turbo tax online filing. This year there is a big snafu on the 1095's and doing an 8962 form. Some how turbo tax missed this form....

Spent the morning doing the 8962 form, I thought it was a complicated process and seemed to count my Social Security income twice. The form did not fit my circumstance of receiving the benefit for a partial year, and then having more changes during that period of time. I found that I was charged about a hundred dollars more by the marketplace than the IRS has in its figures. We'll see what happens, fingers crossed and also eyes crossed at this point.    crofter

 

[Qxxx]

Yeah crofter, always keep yer i's dotted and yer eyes crossed too.

 

[Qxxx]

Follow up to the preceding posts. I e-filed my tax return the week before last, and the refund appeared in my checking account within 5 working days.

 

[SLB_SA]

I mailed in my taxes (using a paper 1040-sr form) about six weeks ago and the IRS doesn't even acknowledge receiving it yet.

 

[Qxxx]

That's probably a good reason to go to the trouble of e-filing.

 

[B and C]

I think e-filing is much easier. Deciphering and filling out a paper form, not so much.

 

[Qxxx]

Most of us have been doing paper filing since day one, so we know which lines to fill in. Just use the previous year's form for reference, if no great changes. TurboTax did ask a lot of questions which seemed to be totally irrelevant, and in the end the e-form looked exactly like what I would have done by hand. IOW, identical to the 2018 form, except for updated numbers.

To do TurboTax online took me about 2 hours (first time through), whereas I could have filled in the downloaded PDF form in 10 minutes. But in the end of course, I got my refund, and already used it to pay off credit cards.

 

[B and C]

Turbotax allows you to skip sections that don't pertain to you. From one year to the next, it carries over all information. I just go in and update what needs updating without going through all the questions. I did the paper thing years ago and got to the point I hired a CPA to do them for me. E-filing lets you know when your return is "accepted" by the IRS. Direct deposit into my account. Easy peasy.