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5 Return PreparationThis chapter focuses on how to prepare a Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income TaxReturn, using Drake Software. It describes procedures for entering data for and producinga Form 1040 and the supplemental forms, schedules, and other documents thatmight be part of a tax return. This chapter assumes a basic understanding of data entryin Drake. If you are not familiar with Drake data entry, please read Chapter 3,“Basics.” before attempting to prepare a tax return in Drake.The amounts on a Form 1040 return consist of a combination of directly entered dataand program-calculated data based on the numbers entered by the preparer. Screens 1through 5 of the General tab provide fields for directly entering data into the 1040.However, because many lines on Form 1040 require calculations from other forms andschedules, some of the direct-entry fields in screens 3 (Income), 4 (Adjustments),and 5 (Payments) are treated as overrides or adjustments to program calculations.Taxpayer DemographicsScreen code: 1Selecting a Filing StatusUse screen 1 (Demographics), accessible from the General tab, to complete the“Label” and “Filing Status” sections of Form 1040. Screen 1 also has fields to indicatecontact information and other relevant details for the return.Select a filing status from the Filing Status drop list at the top of screen 1. To savetime, type the filing status code. Click in the Filing Status box then press F1 to viewavailable codes, or right-click in the Filing Status box and select View Help._NOTEIf the primary taxpayer is married, enter his or her information in theleft column of screen 1 and enter the spouse’s information in theright column. If a “married” status is not selected, the right column isnot active.Tax Year 2008 83