Form 1040 is the U.S. federal form officially titled the U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Individuals use it to report income, deductions, credits, tax liability, and payments to the Internal Revenue Service.
The form’s number comes from its place in the federal tax-form system rather than from a tax rate or a year. Taxpayers may attach schedules and other forms when their income or deductions require additional reporting. The IRS also provides shorter or specialized versions in some circumstances, but Form 1040 is the central individual return.
Form 1040 is often confused with Form W-2, which employers issue to report wages and withholding, and Form 1099, a family of information returns for various types of income. Those documents help supply information; they are not the standard individual income-tax return itself.