how many pages is the average tax return
Form 1040 Form 1040 consists of two full pages (79 lines in total) not counting attachments.[1] The first page collects information about the taxpayer(s), dependents, income items, and adjustments to income. In particular, the taxpayer specifies his/her filing status and personal exemptions on this page. The second page calculates the allowable deductions and credits, tax due given the income figure, and applies funds already withheld from wages or estimated payments made towards the tax liability. At the top of the first page is the presidential election campaign fund checkoff, which allows individuals to designate that the federal government give $3 of the tax it receives to the Presidential election campaign fund.[2] The instructions booklet for Form 1040 is 104 pages as of 2014.[3]
Income tax The US federal government imposed the first personal income tax, on August 5, 1861, to help pay for its war effort in the American Civil War - (3% of all incomes over US$800) (equivalent to $21,800 in 2017).[11][verification needed] This tax was repealed and replaced by another income tax in 1862.[12][verification needed] It was only in 1894 that the first peacetime income tax was passed through the Wilson-Gorman tariff. The rate was 2% on income over $4000 (equivalent to $113,000 in 2017), which meant fewer than 10% of households would pay any. The purpose of the income tax was to make up for revenue that would be lost by tariff reductions.[13] The US Supreme Court ruled the income tax unconstitutional, the 10th amendment forbidding any powers not expressed in the US Constitution, and there being no power to impose any other than a direct tax by apportionment.