Pub. 2 2020 Issue 5

S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 12 nebraska cpas IRS RELEASES DRAFT OF FORM 1040 BY SHARON KREIDER, CPA At a Glance: • The IRS released a draft of Form 1040 for the 2020 tax year. • The form is not postcard-sized. • Virtual currency has a new position. • The CARES Act changed the reference point of charitable contributions. • There will be a separate reconciliation schedule for stimulus checks—no instructions yet. • The amount you owe may be more complicated due to line 37 (new for 2020). The IRS released the draft of the 2020 Form 1040 (see https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/ f1040--dft.pdf). It still doesn’t look like the Form 1040 in “the good old days.” And it’s still not (nor is it ever likely to be) a postcard. Here are a few changes to the 2020 form that you should note, particularly ones that are due to COVID-19 relief legislation. 1. The virtual currency question has been moved from the top of Schedule 1, Form 1040 (see https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/f1040s1--dft.pdf) , to the front page of the Form 1040, right after the “Presidential Election Campaign” checkboxes. According to the IRS, only a few more than 800 returns reported virtual currency transactions in 2014 and 2015. The IRS was suspicious of that number and added the virtual currency question to the 2019 tax return, making us effectively the enforcers of their reporting campaign. C P A I N S I D E R