Does one have to file a tax return if...
- Thread starter spncity
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Ready
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
It's a little more complicated than that, but that is a true statement. Here is an article that explains the various scenarios:
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tip...e-need-to-file-an-income-tax-return/L7pluHkoW
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tip...e-need-to-file-an-income-tax-return/L7pluHkoW
RunningBum
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You googled it. What was the source you found? Does it seem reliable? More reliable than a stranger here who will probably use google as well?
I bet it matters what your filing status is, and perhaps your age.
Reasons you might want to file anyway:
- If you had anything withheld, you'd need to file to get it back
- To get some tax credits that are not limited by taxes liability
- To carry forward or back any tax credits or capital gains losses
- If you need to file state taxes I'd guess you need to file federal as well
- To get an ACA subsidized health insurance policy, or maybe medicaid?
- Others?
I bet it matters what your filing status is, and perhaps your age.
Reasons you might want to file anyway:
- If you had anything withheld, you'd need to file to get it back
- To get some tax credits that are not limited by taxes liability
- To carry forward or back any tax credits or capital gains losses
- If you need to file state taxes I'd guess you need to file federal as well
- To get an ACA subsidized health insurance policy, or maybe medicaid?
- Others?
pb4uski
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
One other reason to file might be to do low or no-cost Roth conversions if you have tax-deferred funds.
What is your source? Are you talking about filing in 2018 (for 2017) or for 2018 (in 2019). Typically the limits are the sum of std deduction (for your age/status) and exemption and the income limits are given in terms of gross income w/ no separate limit on investment income.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4012.pdf see p A.1......A4
For 2018 (to be filed in 2019).
Source: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deducti...ncome-limits-maximum-credit-amounts-next-year
Source: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deducti...ncome-limits-maximum-credit-amounts-next-year
you are looking at the earned income tax credit limits.............nothing about filing your income tax return requirements there.
Since the single std deduction will be 12K in 2018 and there will be no exemption, it would make sense if the filing requirement on gross income were set at 12K,
consistent w/ past guidelines. If you gross income exceeds deduction/exemption (if existing) then taxable income > 0 and taxes potentially exist.
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Sunset
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If this elderly family member cannot do their taxes, you may want to check if they are doing their RMD's properly.
meierlde
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Actually for folks over 65 the limit would be 13600 because the standard deduction increases if you are 65 or older.
mountainsoft
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
My mom is in assisted living home on a fixed retirement income. Technically she doesn't need to file a tax return, but I filed one anyway and she got $96 back. It cost me about $30 to file the return, so she pocketed around $65. That's not much, but it was enough to make it worth filing.
Philliefan33
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Another reason to file is to help combat identity theft.
I assume that is her own money that was withheld? If so perhaps it is time to stop the w/h so you don't have to file?
SecondCor521
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Sometimes people don't have a choice about withholding.
just curious.....when might that be........I don't have any w/h so am ignorant about such things.............
SecondCor521
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Huh. I may have been wrong about that. I googled for some common situations that I thought would require it and found that in each case there is a way to end up with zero withholding if that's what one wants and is entitled to.
The closest I came is if you have a regular job, you have to file a W-4 with a certain number of allowances. To get to zero federal withholding, it is conceivable that you would have to claim such a high number of allowances that might somehow be disallowed by your employer's HR department or, in rare cases, by the IRS if you're not actually entitled to such little withholding because of your tax liability. Obviously this would not apply to the PP's relative.
Thanks for asking!
Yeah, I thought of the job later but dismissed it.......for no good reason....elder folks can have jobs too, after all. The only thing that may require it is pension withdrawals..........I know that RMDs can be tax free, but I believe Fidelity said that if I went over, they would need to start w/h. Thanks for investigating.
Interesting. I do taxes for my in-laws. I always file the return even though they haven't owed any tax in years, and have no withholding of any kind. Yet I just looked at the IRS guidelines posted above and it appears they don't need to file at all. I use TurboTax Premier. I wonder why TurboTax never intervened and said, "Stop here, you don't need to file a return." ?
Perhaps they would be cutting their own sales by doing that.............and the IRS guidelines also include who should as well as who must file. Among those who should are those who withheld more than the tax but if TT weren't careful about the wording, some folks might not file and not get back the w/h.
Maybe so. I just think the software should stop you from filing an unneeded return. I'll watch for this more closely this year.
But here's what's worse... before I started doing the in-law's taxes, some local CPA was charging them $250 every year... evidently to prepare and file a return that didn't need to be filed.
Since the in-laws have you, no interest here for them.....but there are AARP TCE
(tax counseling for the elderly) sites that do taxes for (mostly) older folks for free.
https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/
(tax counseling for the elderly) sites that do taxes for (mostly) older folks for free.
https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/
NYEXPAT
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I stopped filing after I had lived overseas for about two years, to make sure I no longer needed to file a state and city of NY return. About a year later the IRS sent me a letter asking why I had not filed a return and I ignored them. I think that was thirteen years ago and I never heard another peep. I do check yearly to see if rules have changed and if I need to file.
