Excel1040: Spreadsheet-based Tax Software

William Perez for About.com writes:  Ever wish you could just do your taxes in Excel? Well, thanks to Glenn Reeves, you can.  Gleen Reeves created Excel spreadsheets to prepare Form 1040 and related schedules. For the year 2013, Reeves offers a full 1040 version (in the .xlsx format) that supports schedules A, B, C, D, E, and SE, and supporting forms 6251, 8949, 8959, and 8960. He also offers a "lite" version (in the .xls format) which does not include support for Schedules C, E and SE and Form 6251. 

The spreadsheets are organized with tabs for entering data relating to Form W-2, Form 1099-R, and Form SSA-1099. After these data input screens are found tabs for Form 1040, and then tabs for other supporting forms arranged in alphabetical order beginning with Schedule A. Data input cells are formatted with a blue background, and once data is entered, the spreadsheet updates its calculations.

Each tax form is formatted in the spreadsheet to look like the paper version of the form, which makes the spreadsheet visually appealing and easy to work with.



Excel1040 is pretty fast and easy to use, especially if one is comfortable with using spreadsheets and familiar working with the tax forms manually. I find these spreadsheets a useful and quick way to calculate federal income taxes.

Reeves has been producing spreadsheet versions of Form 1040 for the years 1996 through 2013. The spreadsheets are offered free of charge, and donations can be made to support Mr. Reeves's work.

To learn more and to try out the spreadsheet for yourself, visit

• Excel1040
• Excel1040 Frequently Asked Questions
• Excel1040 Download Page