Guidance From The IRS

Guidance from the IRS

Which Form – 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ?

The three forms used for filing individual federal income tax returns are Form 1040EZ (PDF), Form 1040A (PDF), and Form 1040 (PDF).

If all of the following conditions are met you are eligible to use our Simple Package which includes 1040EZ.

Your filing status is single or married filing jointly
You claim no dependents
You, and your spouse if filing a joint return, were under age 65 on January 1, 2011, and not blind at the end of 2010
You have only wages, salaries, tips, taxable scholarship and fellowship grants, unemployment compensation, qualified state tuition program earnings, or Alaska Permanent Fund dividends, and your taxable interest was not over $1,500
Your taxable income is less than $100,000
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
You are not a debtor in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed after October 16, 2005
You do not owe any alternative minimum tax
You do not claim a student loan interest deduction, an educator expense deduction, or a tuition and fees deduction, and
You do not claim an education credit, retirement savings contributions credit, or a health coverage tax credit

If you file Form 1040EZ, you cannot itemize deductions or claim any adjustments to income or tax credits (other than the earned income credit or making work pay credit).

Our Basic Package includes form 1040A. You can use this form is all six of the following criteria apply:

You only had income from the following sources:

1. Wages, salaries, tips.
2. Interest and ordinary dividends.
3. Capital gain distributions.
4. Taxable scholarship and fellowship grants.
5. Pensions, annuities, and IRAs.
6. Unemployment compensation.
7. Taxable social security and railroad retirement benefits.
8. Alaska Permanent Fund dividends.
The only adjustments to income you can claim are:
1. Educator expenses.
2. IRA deduction.
3. Student loan interest deduction.
4. Tuition and fees deduction.
You do not itemize deductions.
Your taxable income (line 27) is less than $100,000.
The only tax credits you can claim are:
1. Child tax credit.
2. Additional child tax credit.
3. Education credits.
4. Earned income credit.
5. Credit for child and dependent care expenses.
6. Credit for the elderly or the disabled.
7. Retirement savings contributions credit.
8. Making work pay credit.
9. Government retiree credit.
You did not have an alternative minimum tax adjustment on stock you acquired from the exercise of an incentive stock option (see Pub. 525).

You can also use Form 1040A if you received advance earned income credit (EIC) payments, dependent care benefits, or if you owe tax from the recapture of an education credit or the alternative minimum tax

If you do not meet the above conditions then our Deluxe Package is right for you.

Our Deluxe Package includes step-by-step guidance to help you complete your tax return and get the maxium tax deductions. It also includes all the tax forms necessary to complete and efile a 1040.

Still not sure which package is right for you, no worries our step by step process takes you through a series of questions that will determine which tax forms are right for you.