How to Fill out Form 1040- Part 3: Lines 10-12

Continuing with the Income section of the 1040, there are documents and forms needed to be filled out with lines 10-12 on Form 1040. For line 10, the form used is Form 1099-G. For line 12, the additional document is the Schedule C.

Line 10: Taxable refunds, credits, or offsets of state and local income taxes

An individual is not required to report their tax refund if during the previous year they did not itemize their deductions or if they elected to deduct sales tax instead of income taxes.

If it is required to report the tax refund amount, then the individual should receive a Form 1099-G. On Form 1099-G Box 2: State or Local Income Tax Refunds, Credits, or Offsets is where someone can find the amount to report on line 10 of the 1040.

If a 1099-G was not mailed to the individual for the previous tax year, it is possible that the document was only made available online. An individual can check the status of the 1099-G with the government agency that made the payments to them.

Line 11: Alimony Received

On line 11, the Alimony received throughout the year is reported. Alimony is a husband’s or wife’s financial support or a spouse after separation or divorce, used in cases of child support.

Along with reporting the alimony received, it is important to obtain the receivers’ social security number for the payer. If this is not done, there could be a penalty for the receiver.

Line 12: Business Income or (Loss). Attach Schedule C or C-EZ

If an individual owns and operates a business, such as a sole proprietorship, then all of the income and expenses will be reported on Schedule C. After all the income and expenses are on the Schedule C the net income or loss of the business will be added to the 1040 on line 12. The net income or loss can be found at the bottom, on line 31, of the Schedule C.

Partnerships and Corporations are not required to fill out Schedule C. A business return, Form 1065, or a K-1 will be filled out for them. These will also not be reported line 12 of the 1040.