This report presenting data for 1948, compiled from individual income tax returns, Forms 1040 and 1040A, taxable fiduciary income tax returns, Form 1041, estate tax returns, Form 706, and gift tax returns, Form 709, is prepared in accordance with section 63 of the Internal Revenue Code, which requires the preparation and publication annually of statistics reasonably available with respect to the operation of the income tax laws, including classifications of taxpayers and of income, amounts allowed as deductions, exemptions, and credits, and any other facts deemed pertinent and valuable.
In the first section of this report, data are tabulated for individual returns, Forms 1040 and 1040A, for 1948. Although the two forms are unlike, it is possible to correlate the data reported on the employee's optional return, Form 1040A, with that reported on the regular income tax returns, Form 1040, both long-form and shortform. Following the basic tables for current year data, there are four historical tables giving a résumé of data reported on individual returns and on fiduciary returns for 1913 through 1943 and of data reported on individual returns only for 1944 through 1948.
In the second section of this report, current year data are presented for taxable fiduciary returns, Form 1041. The fiduciary return form differs in certain respects from the individual return form; nevertheless, the taxable fiduciary returns are classified and the data thereon presented, insofar as possible, in a manner similar to that used for the individual returns. No composite data for the taxable fiduciary returns and individual returns are compiled. Following the current year data, four historical tables are presented, containing a résumé of data reported on taxable fiduciary returns for 1937 through 1948.
Information reported on estate tax returns, Form 706, filed during the calendar year 1949, irrespective of the date of death of the individual or the revenue act under which the estate is taxed, is tabulated in the third section of this report. A brief summary of data reported on estate tax returns filed from September 9, 1916 through 1945 and during 1947 through 1949 concludes this section. Data reported on gift tax returns, Form 709, for 1948 regarding property transferred by gift during the calendar year and the tax liability of the donor are shown in the fourth section of this report, together with a historical table presenting a brief summary of gift tax data from returns filed since the effective date of the present period of gift taxation, June 7, 1932 through 1948.
In order to facilitate the comparison, from year to year, of data assembled in the historical tables, there is included at the end of this report a synopsis of Federal tax laws relating to income tax, estate tax, and gift tax, setting forth for each of the revenue acts important provisions affecting the comparability of these historical data.
Facsimiles of the 1948 income tax returns, Forms 1040, 1040A, and 1041, as well as the partnership return of income, Form 1065,