Taxes109 · Module II · Lesson 04 of 11
Interactive · 20 min

Reading the 1040

A walkthrough of a real return.

Interactive

A walk-through of Form 1040 with a real return. The Scholar identifies each line, distinguishes above-the-line from below-the-line items, and computes the tax from taxable income by hand.

Parameters

  • A completed 1040 for a hypothetical household with W-2 wages, brokerage interest, and a small 1099 stream.
  • The current-year tax tables.

Expected

The Scholar identifies AGI, taxable income, and total tax without reference to the software's summary, and writes a paragraph on the single change to next year's return the household should make.

Interactive

A working model the Scholar operates to build intuition.