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Do You Need To File A Return?

Before you start worrying about filing your income tax return as April 15th approaches, you must first determine whether you need to file a tax return.The IRS discourages filing of unnecessary returns by those whose income is below the filing requirement.

This is to reduce processing costs on the part of the IRS and to reduce the burden on the tax payer. The IRS believes that many people will be filing a return for 2008 even though their income was below the filing requirement.

However, even if you are not required to file a return you should file one incase you are eligible for credits such as income tax credit, refundable credit for previous year’s minimum tax, first time home buyer credit, etc and to get a refund of Federal Income Tax withheld.

The sections below will help you determine whether you need to file a return.

Rules Under Which Returns Need To Be Filed For Most People

IF your filing status is AND at the end of 2008 you were THEN file a return if your gross income was at least…..
Single Under 65
65 or older		 $8,950
$10,300
Married filing jointly Under 65(both spouses)
65 or older 9one spouse)
65 or older (both spouses)		 $17,900
$18,950
$20,000
Married filing separately Any age $3,500
Head of Household Under 65
65 or older		 $11,500
$12,850
Qualifying widow(er) with Under 65
65 or older		 $14,400
$15,450


For definitions of gross income, how to calculate age as of end of 2008, etc., please refer to the instructions for filling the Form 1040 available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf.

Exceptional Situations Which Require Returns To Be Filed

If generally you are not required to file a return, you might still need to file one, if you have made the following transactions in the previous year or fulfill any of the following conditions:

• Some Federal tax was withheld from you that you want to claim as a refund.
• You are entitled to Earned Income Tax credit or you received Advance Earned Income Credit for this year.
• You were self employed and had earnings of more than $400.00.
• You might owe tax on a qualified retirement plan.
• You might owe payroll taxes on tips you did not report to your employer.
• You might owe uncollected social security and Medicare or Railroad retirement tax on tips you reported to your employer.
• You might be subject to Alternate Minimum Tax.
• You might owe Recapture Tax.
• You might be a church employee with earnings of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church controlled organization which is exempt from social security and Medicare taxes.

For a complete list of conditions under which you might be required to file a return even though your income does not fall within filing limits please refer to http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html