A Primer For The 1040EZ Form

The one page 1040EZ form was designed to be easy and is for people filing as single or married filing jointly and earned a salary and have taxable income less than $100,000.

Further if you want to be able to utilize the 1040EZ form, you and your spouse must be under age 65 and not blind, you do not claim any dependents and your interest income is not over $1,500. And you claim only the earned income credit and the making work pay credit.

The 1040EZ form is easy and Just One Page to Complete

Why not compute your tax status now to see if you will recieve an IRS refund or State refund simply entering your wage and tax information into the 1040EZ form at the IRS website or at any of the well known online tax preparation service companies.You have that choice to Free File on the the IRS website or at one of the 20 approved tax preparation websites offering this service.

In addition, to meeting the criteria above to use the 1040EZ form,you do not claim any adjustments to income and you are not the debtor in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, filed after 10/16/05,and now you are almost complete.

A couple more questions need to be asked that may exclude you from being able to use the 1040EZ form such as having a sole proprietorship, that may include a business that you operate from your home,garage or rented commercial facility that uses a Schedule C and you cannot take an IRA deduction or have any capital gain transactions.

If you do not meet these strict 1040EZ form requirements then alternatviely,you must either file Form 1040 or Form 1040A, which are not as simple as the 1040EZ form.

1040EZ form Tips

But even if you can use 1040EZ form, it may be more helpful for you to list your tax deductions to see if your itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction benefit. The standard deduction is $ 5,700 for most individuals and $ 11,400 for most married couples who are filing a joint return.

As you are gathering your tax information to file the 1040EZ form you should consider that if you purchased a new vehicle after February 16, 2009, you may qualify for an increased standard deduction only if you file Form 1040A or Form 1040. Also, if you suffered personal casualty losses from certain federally declared disasters, you may qualify for increased standard deduction and file Form 1040. Each tax situation is unique so if you are filing your 1040EZ form,Form 1040A or Form 1040. Be sure to review the help screens and the IRS Publications even for the 1040EZ form.

If your adjusted gross income(AGI) is $58,000 or less, you can file for free from the IRS website, using Free File software or by using any of the four well known collaborating companies reviewed in my website.

If you prepare your own1040EZ form, or hire a CPA or tax preparer for a complex tax form, don’t wait until early April, start now !

If you prefer to see all of the items needed to qualify to use the 1040EZ form all in one place , I have taken the following checklist from the IRS website

Your filing status is single or married filing jointly. If you were a nonresident alien at any time in 2010, see Nonresident aliens below.

You do not claim any dependents.

You do not claim any adjustments to income. Use TeleTax topics 451-453 and 455-458 (see page 26).

You claim only the earned income credit and the making work pay credit. Use TeleTax topics 601-602, 607-608, and 610-612 (see page 26).

You (and your spouse if filing a joint return) were under age 65 and not blind at the end of 2010. If you were born on January 1, 1946, you are considered to be age 65 at the end of 2010 and cannot use Form 1040EZ.

Your taxable income (line 6 of the 1040EZ form) is less than $100,000.

You had only wages, salaries, tips, taxable scholarship or fellowship grants, unemployment compensation, or Alaska Permanent Fund dividends, and your taxable interest was not over $1,500.

If you earned tips, they are included in boxes 5 and 7 of your Form W-2.

You did not receive any advance earned income credit payments.

You do not owe any household employment taxes on wages you paid to a household employee. To find out who owes these taxes, use TeleTax topic 756 (see page 26).

You are not a debtor in a chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed after October 16, 2005.

You do not figure your standard deduction using Schedule L.

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Be sure to get a head start and see if you qualify to use the 1040EZ form.