Filing requirements change for Schedule B. (News/Trends).

Fifteen million taxpayers will have one less schedule to file with their 2002 tax return. The IRS and the Department of the Treasury have announced an increase in the threshold for filing a separate schedule for interest or dividend income.

For 2002 tax returns, most taxpayers will no longer have to file a separate schedule if they have interest or dividend income of $1,500 or less.

This new standard replaces the existing reporting threshold of $400.

Without the shift, the IRS estimates more than 40 million taxpayers would have to file Schedule B, Interest and Ordinary Dividends, or Schedule 1 next year.

This change enables an additional 800,000 taxpayers to use the short Form 1040EZ or use TeleFile to file their tax returns.

As in past years, certain taxpayers with bank or other financial accounts in a foreign country (and certain taxpayers involved in foreign trust transactions) must continue to file Schedule B regardless of the amount of interest or dividends they receive.

Taxpayers with ordinary dividends and taxable interest that each do not exceed the $1,500 threshold will report only these totals on their Form 1040.