TAX TIME! where to report farm income on 1040

The new 2018 1040 does not have a line for farm income or loss. The 2018 instructions https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sf.pdf say to put it on line 18 which on the old form was the farm income line BUT on the new form is the line where you add up your total refundable credits. Where am I messing up???

regards
chris

never mind, it goes on line 18 on the new schedule 1. Why do they have to change things!!

I don't do Schedule F anymore, but I do do Schedule C (Profit of Loss from Business). I use OLT.com (Online Tax calculation program), which I recommend highly. No cost for Federal return, a few bucks for state return. My Schedule C total ended up on Line 6, Total Income, which is where the bottom of Schedule C says to put it. Look at your Schedule F, it probably says the same thing (you're not trying to use a Schedule F from a prior year, are you? "That could be a problem". If you put it on line 18, you'll be getting a friendly letter from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

A guy I have coffee with is a retired CPA, and he believes that the complexity of doing tax returns these days pretty much requires you to use a tax calculation computer program of some kind- he believes that failure to do so would constitute malpractice by a CPA, although a lay person could probably plead ignorance and get through an audit with nothing more than recalculation of tax owed. I used Turbo Tax for a couple of years, but the more complex your return is, they higher version you need, at higher cost, of course. OLT can do all the schedules and worksheets, and its free. Downside is you need to know something about taxes to use it- You need to know whether you may be eligible for the Bolivian Mesquite Weevil Credit, or not, when it asks you the question. It will explain it if you aren't sure, but goes much faster if you have some knowledge.

> Why do they have to change things!

It seems somebody said they'd make taxes so simple you could file your return on a a form the size of a postcard. Well, you can, but you also need to fill out a half dozen new schedules that cover all the information that used to be on the 1040.

Well...there is still a Schedule F. Most of what I would call miscellaneous income sources...not W-2, interest, dividend, pension...are on Schedule 1. They took the old two page Form 1040 and made it one page...(plus schedules 1-4). It was all about making the 1040 one page. The ACTUAL Form 1040. And they will swear to your face that they accomplished their goal. Don't bother pointing out the facts to them.

Dave H (MI CPA)