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You couldn’t itemize your deductions on form 1040-A, but you could only claim a limited number of tax credits, including the child tax credit, education credits, earned income credit, credit for child and dependent care expenses, credit for the elderly or the disabled and the American Opportunity Credit. Unlike on form 1040EZ, you could use form 1040-A to claim certain “above the line” adjustments, including educators expenses, IRA deductions, student loan interest deductions, and tuition and fees deductions (above-the-line deductions are those you can claim even if you don’t itemize your deductions).
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You used to be able to file a form 1040-A if your taxable income from the same kinds of income as you’d claim on form 1040EZ plus interest and dividends, capital gain distributions, IRA distributions, distributions from pensions and annuities, and taxable Social Security and Railroad Retirement Benefits was less than $100,000. Taxpayers who used this form in the past must now use Form D-40. The old form 1040-A was a compromise between the form 1040 and the form 1040EZ. Form D-40EZ is no longer available for use for Tax Year 2019 and later.
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