Form 1040 Instructions Booklet

Preparing a federal income tax return by yourself without any guidance is very risky and can make you amend the return in the end. Unless you have experience in preparing tax returns and have the necessary knowledge of the US tax code, you’re better off letting a tax professional do this. 

Nonetheless, if your return is simple enough, you can do this all by yourself. Taxpayers with very simple tax returns can benefit from our instructions to file for the 2024 tax season, but those who need extra can benefit more from the IRS instructions booklet. 

Get 1040 Form 2023

There are two ways you can get the instructions booklet, and the content you get will be exact. There won’t be any differences. Here is how to get the Form 1040 instructions booklet from the IRS.

Get it online

The federal income tax return booklet is available online. You can download it as a PDF and print a physical copy to help you along the way, or you can view it on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. 

This is the quickest method to obtain the instructions booklet, and you’ll have access to it instantly. 

Download Form 1040 instructions booklet for 2023–2024. You can also view it below.

Order 1040 instructions booklet

If you’re not fond of the online version, you can also order the actual booklet itself from the Internal Revenue Service. You can also request the tax forms you’ll use to file your federal income tax return. 

Although it might take some time to get all the tax forms and other documents requested from the IRS, they should arrive in the mail in no more than a week. 

Click here to order IRS forms.

Consider e-filing options

Since everything above refers to paper filing, there is a chance that you’ve already checked and don’t qualify for free e-filing. Nevertheless, a large number of taxpayers do. Just in case, check whether or not you’re eligible for e-filing.

There are several reasons why you should e-file over paper filing, with the ease of doing it being the first one. When e-file a tax return, it’s much more simple and convenient. Not only that, you’ll have your tax return faster. The IRS doesn’t process all tax returns at the same pace. 

The Internal Revenue Service processes paper tax returns slower than e-filed ones. Additionally, the time it takes for your return to arrive at the IRS processing center, picked up by an agency worker, and start being processed is considerably longer. This time takes place even before your return starts being processed. 

Having all this said, we highly suggest e-filing over paper filing.

What happens if you enter something wrong?

When/if you enter something wrong, you’ll need to amend the return – and you must do this within three years after the original return was submitted. Just like you won’t get your refund after not filing a return for three years, you won’t be able to amend the return. 

Say you entered something wrong on your federal income tax return, like a credit amount and now your refund is less than what it should be. The only way you’re going to get the rightful amount is by amending the return. 

Ending

All in all, you can easily get the 1040 instructions to file from the Internal Revenue Service by mail order or get a digital copy yourself. If you’re not forced to file Form 1040 on paper due to the IRS not accepting electronic copies, e-filing is highly recommended.