Numbering of tax forms

[Tom_Tildrum]

Why is the most basic and widely used form numbered “1040”? With apologies to Alice in Wonderland, why isn’t it “Form 1”? Or at least “Form 1000”?

[engineer_comp_geek]

Say “1040” and most of us think of the income tax returns we file on April 15. But it is only because of the element of chance that we fill out 1040s, instead of 1039s or 1050s, notes the Internal Revenue Service’s “Statistics of Income Bulletin.”

Why is that? Because the number 1040 was simply the next number up in the system of sequential numbering of forms developed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the predecessor of today’s IRS.

On Jan. 5, 1914, the Department of the Treasury unveiled the new Form 1040. The deadline for filing was March 1, 1914.

Complete article here:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-03-27/business/9403270294_1_joint-filers-deductions-singles

[Duckster]

Just don’t mistake WD40 for 1040. The former unsticks things while the latter jams you up.

[friedo]

@engineer_comp_geek

Complete article here:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-03-27/business/9403270294_1_joint-filers-deductions-singles

Cool article. I love stuff like this.