The
Treasury and Internal Revenue Service unveiled a draft of the
new form, saying it would work with the tax community over the
summer to finalize what they called a "postcard-size" document
meant to be used by 150 million individual U.S. taxpayers.
"The new, postcard-size Form 1040 is designed to simplify and
expedite filing tax returns, providing much-needed relief to
hardworking taxpayers," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said
in a statement. The form is intended to replace three versions
of the current 1040 form.
Trump's deficit-financed tax overhaul, which delivered $1.5
trillion in tax cuts to businesses and individuals over the next
decade, was expected to simplify filing by reducing the number
of taxpayers with returns claiming deductions for mortgages,
investment income and other items.
The law doubled to $24,000 the amount of income that a married
couple can exclude from their taxes.
But Democrats warned that the new form requires taxpayers to
include the same amount of tax math in a smaller space, saying
individuals will have to rifle through complicated instructions
and attach multiple documents.
"The administration's new tax form is a smokescreen designed to
conceal paperwork, additional calculations and Trump's broken
promise to simplify the tax code," Senator Ron Wyden, the top
Democrat on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, said in a
statement.
"It won't take long for America to realize this postcard isn't
simple – it's simply complicated," he added.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Tom
Brown)
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