1040EZ Income Tax Form Instructions
The federal government requires most people to file an income tax return each year. The three most common forms are the 1040, 1040A and 1040 EZ. The form 1040 EZ is the shortest and simplest income tax form. You can choose to file with form 1040 EZ if you meet the requirements, which include filing as either single or married filing jointly, not claiming any dependents, having less then $100,000 in taxable income and receiving less than $1,500 in taxable interest. In addition, you are not allowed to claim most tax deductions and credits.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Complete the personal information section with you name, address and Social Security number. If you are married filing jointly, also provide your spouse's name and Social Security number.
-
2
Report your taxable income on line 1, your taxable interest on line 2 and any
unemployment compensation exceeding $2,400 or Alaska Permanent
Fund dividends on line 3. You can find your taxable income in box 1 of your W-2 forms. -
-
3
Add lines 1 through 3 to determine your total adjusted gross income and report the total on line 4. For example, if you had $30,000 in taxable income and $350 in taxable interest, you would report a total of $30,350 as your adjusted gross income.
-
4
Follow the instructions on line 5 to determine the amount of your standard deduction. The amount will depend on whether someone else can claim you as a dependent and whether you file as single or married filing jointly. The amount of the deduction also changes on an annual basis for inflation.
-
5
Subtract the value of your standard deduction from your adjusted gross income and report the total on line 6. For example, if in 2010 you were single, you could claim a deduction of $5,700 so you would subtract $5,700 from $30,350 to find your total taxable income would be $24,650.
-
6
Enter money that you have withheld from your paychecks on line 7, the making work pay credit on line 8 and the earned income credit on line line 9. Take the sum of these three items and write the result on line 10.
-
7
Calculate your total tax owed using your total taxable income from line 6 and the tax tables in the Form 1040 EZ instructions and write the result on line 11.
-
8
Determine your tax liability or refund by subtracting your total payments and credits from line 10 from your total tax bill on line 11. If the result is positive, you owe that amount and need to report it on line 13. If the result is negative, you are owed a refund and should report the amount on line 12.
-
9
Sign your form 1040 EZ income tax form at the bottom when you are finished.
-
1
References
Resources
- Photo Credit tax forms image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com
