Name: Ben Stark
Completing a 1040 Form Activity
The 1040 is the form that Americans use to complete their federal income tax returns. In this
activity, you will use sample W-2 forms to complete 1040 forms for four different characters.
Part I: Scenarios
To illustrate how different circumstances affect your tax return, we’ll explore the case of four
different individuals:
Name Personal Info Employment Info W-2 Form
Melinda ● Age 18 ● Worked around 10 hours/week
Flowers ● Lives with her parents, during senior year at a local ice Melinda’s
will be heading to college cream shop, and 40 hours/week W-2
in the fall during the summer
Angela Li ● Age 22 ● Worked 20 hours/week during
● Is at college on a partial the school year at a local plant
scholarship but her nursery Angela’s
parents pay room & W-2
board and help with
other expenses
Marcus ● Age 23 ● Is on salary as a sales
Marcus’s
Roberts ● Recent college graduate, representative at a shoe store,
W-2
living by himself working full-time
Borris ● Age 24 ● Is on salary and works full-time
Oswald ● Completed his first full as a marketing associate
Borris’s
year of working a
W-2
full-time job, living by
himself
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Part II: Completing the 1040
To complete a tax return, use the 1040. This PDF comes directly from the IRS website. You will type
directly into the form, save it to your google drive, and insert the shareable links below. Be sure to
set the privacy settings to “Anyone”. If you are unsure how to do this please let Mrs. Fletcher know.
Follow the directions on every line of the 1040.
● For certain lines, you may need additional information. Consult the table below:
Virtual No
Currency
Lines 2a-8 Assume $0 for each value
Lines No adjustments to income
10a-c
Line 12 Determine if the individual is/is not a dependent by reading the “Who qualifies as a
dependent?” and “Qualifying Child” sections of this article. Then, follow the
directions below:
● If you are NOT a dependent, enter $12,400
● If you ARE a dependent, and line 1 is >$12,400, enter $12,400
● If you ARE a dependent, and line 1 is <$12,400, add $350 to line 1 and enter that
total here
Line 13 Assume no Qualified Business Income Deduction
Line 16 ● To find tax for 16, refer to the tax table starting on page 65 of the 1040
Instructions
● In these scenarios, no one needs to complete additional forms
Lines 17, Assume $0 for each value
19, 20, 23
Line 25b-c Assume no 1099 form or other forms
Line 26 Assume no estimated tax payments or amounts from 2020
Lines No one in our scenarios is eligible for these credits; Assume $0 for all
27-32
Line 35a If line 34 indicates they overpaid, complete line 35a that they’d like a full refund. You
should NOT enter bank account information.
Line 38 Directly from the IRS instructions, if you owe money, figuring out the penalty
yourself is complicated; you can leave line 38 blank and the IRS will simply send you a
bill for the penalty. For this exercise, you can leave line 38 blank.
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Part III: Results
1. In the chart below, enter the results of each person’s 1040. Specifically, are they going to
receive a refund or owe taxes? In what amount? Be sure to also include the shareable link to
the completed 1040 forms.
Melinda Angela Marcus Borris
Refund? Refund of 1294 They owe 1103.53 They owe 1288 They owe 4332.56
Owed More?
How Much?
https://drive.goog https://drive.goog https://drive.goog https://drive.goog
le.com/file/d/1DZl le.com/file/d/1iFo le.com/file/d/1md le.com/file/d/1zT
Link to their GEw4HJIdUMLZw uW5Pvr1u_xxTZC lRWEAx5WxoP7j5 R2SrftWZmaMiYk
completed 1040 Fo4hecQchfF84zs 0gMnUgZolHnrIG M0eV4xxET6jh-I0 JW5WH85ZMCn9e
Z/view?usp=shari D/view?usp=shar -/view?usp=shari 0WP/view?usp=s
ng ing ng haring
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