Is there any rhyme or reason to IRS form numbering?

Factual Questions
1

Certain IRS forms, like W-2 and 1099, have become such common English words in the US that I think few people stop to think about these arbitrary form numbers and what system, if any, might be used to decide upon them.

For example, there are several “W forms” that I know about:

W-2: Earnings and withholdings statement from your employer
W-3: Summary of W-2s which is compiled by each employer and sent to the IRS
W-4: You fill this thing out to figure out how much withholdings to, err, withhold.
W-9: I’ve heard of this one but don’t know what it’s for.

Why “W?” Perhaps it stands for “wage-slave.” And was there ever a W-1?

And then the rest seem to be four digit numbers, most of which begin with 10.

1099: Income from various sources including several subspecies:
[ul]
[li]1099-INT for interest income[/li][li]1099-DIV for divident income[/li][li]1099-MISC for non-employee compensation (I get a lot of these)[/li][/ul]

1098: Mortgage interest which is tax-deductable.

1040: The center of the known Universe.

The 1040 itself, if you’re using the hard version, has several optional “schedules” for reporting things.

Schedule C: P&L for business,
Schedule D: Capital gains/losses,

I’m assuming there are lots of other Schedules which I haven’t heard of.

So, surely there must be some method to this madness. What’s the dope?

2

Dunno. Here’s the IRS order page where you can select forms:

You’ll note lots of other prefixes and ranges of numbers (from form 11-C to form 14411).

AMT (yuck) will get you into forms 6251 and (hopefully) 8801 in subsequent years. If you invest in foreign companies which withhold tax on dividend payments, you may wind up with 1116 (foreign tax credit).