Question to a Law Professor
I am curious if you can show me the Federal Statute and Implementing Regulation that requires everyone to file a 1040 form? Also can you tell me why the 1040 form has an OMB number that applies to form 2555 which is a form for Foreign earned income. I'm confused, hopefully you can clarify this situation with the proper statutes and implementing regulations that have been published in the Federal
Register. Thank You for your time, Name Omitted
Law Professor’s answer:
Section 6011 of the tax code, 26 U.S.C. § 6011, provides: "When required by regulations prescribed by the Secretary any
person made liable for any tax imposed by this title, or with respect to the collection thereof, shall make a return or statement according to the forms and regulations prescribed by the Secretary."
IRS regulation 1.6012–1(a)(6) provides: "Form 1040 is prescribed for general use in making
the return required under this paragraph." This regulation was published in the Federal Register on November 26, 1960. See 25 F.R. 12109.
Thus, Congress, by statute, authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate regulations establishing the forms for tax returns, and the
Secretary's regulation establishes Form 1040.
As to the OMB numbers, I don't know the details of how OMB assigns the numbers, but it appears that OMB has assigned a single number, 1545-0074, to many forms and schedules used by the IRS. That number appears, for example, on Form 1040; Form 1040
Schedules A, B, C and D; and on Forms 2106, 2210, 2441, 2555, 4137, 5695, 6251, 8606, 8880, 8889, 8917, 8949, and 8962 -- and that's not even a comprehensive list. These forms and schedules apply to a wide variety of different tax situations. So I don't think there's any special significance to the fact that the same number appears on Form 1040 and Form 2555.
