[Bonk]

I am wondering if anyone knows the difference between a Tax Schedule (i.e. Schedule A – Itemized Deductions) and a Tax Form (i.e. Form 4797 – Sales of Business Property)?

I can not seem to find the two definitions and would like to understand the differences between them.

Bonus points: If you can tell me the IRS Code explaining this!!!

Thank you!

FAR: 85
BEC: 84
AUD: 74, 83
REG: ??

[Anonymous]

It's the label on the actual document. Like Schedule A: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sa.pdf top-left corner it's labeled as Schedule A to Form 1040. Form 4797: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4797.pdf top-left corner it's labeled as Form 4797.

Also, a Form is a stand-alone (though it may be referenced in or somewhat part of another), whereas a schedule is just a supporting document for another thing. Think of it like papers you write in a college class… Schedule A is like a Bibliography for a term paper – details relating to another document. That's what schedules are in general. Forms, on the other hand, are an entity of their own. You can write a paper about raising chickens, and a section of that paper might be about selecting a type of chicken feeder. You could also write a whole paper about chicken feeders. However, a listing of chicken feeders would not be a paper by itself. So, Form 1040 is a paper about raising chickens. Form 8863 (Education Credits) is a form which is used to figure a credit which goes on the Form 1040, so is like a paper about chicken feeders. It's part of your paper about raising chickens, but also kind of a topic by itself. However, your listing of miscellaneous deductions – Schedule A – is just a listing, so it's like a listing of chicken feeders, but not a paper.

Not sure if that analogy made any sense. Maybe I should be in bed. 😛

[Author]

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