1040A Elderly & Disabled Credit Tips

"We're going to talk now about line 30, credit for the elderly or the disabled. The idea behind this credit was to give elderly people a break on their taxes if they met certain qualifications and their income was below a certain amount. This credit can be worth as much as $1,125 against your tax. To determine if you're a qualified individual, you'll need to work through schedule 3, Credit for the Elderly or Disabled for Form 1040A Filers. And in general, you're a qualified individual if you are a U.S. citizen or resident and either of the following applies: You were age 65 or older at the end of 2007 or if you were under age 65 and all three of the following statements are true: you retired on permanent or total disability, you received taxable disability income, and on January 1, 2007 you had not reached mandatory retirement age. Depending on your filing status, if you are single, head of household, or a qualifying widower with child, you will not qualify for this credit if your adjusted gross income is more than $17,500. If you are married filing a joint return, you will not qualify if your adjusted gross income is $25,000 or more. And if you are married filing a joint return and only one spouse qualifies, that limit drops to $20,000 even. If you're married filing a separate return and did not live with your spouse at anytime during the year, the adjusted gross income must be below 12,500."