Accountency
  • Home
  • About
    • Book An Appointment
  • Accounting
    • Dashboard
    • Xero+Accountency
    • Xero Intro
    • AutoMagical Accounting
    • QuickBooks >
      • QuickBooks Updates
    • Store
  • Payroll
  • Taxes
    • Dashboard
    • Individuals
    • Businesses
    • Tax Stuff >
      • Individuals >
        • Income >
          • Debt Forgiveness
          • Foreign Income
          • Gambling Income
          • Unemployment
          • Other Income
        • Deductions & Credits >
          • Adoption
          • Charitable Contributions
          • Earned Income Tax Credit
          • Educational Expenses
          • Energy Tax Credits
          • Employee Business Expenses
          • Other Deductions and Credits
        • Affordable Care Act - Individuals
        • Children and Dependents
        • Death
        • Disabled Taxpayers
        • Educators
        • Health Care
        • Identify Theft
        • Marriage and Divorce
        • Military
        • Real Estate
        • Retirement Savings
        • Seniors
        • State Taxes
        • Record Keeping
        • Who Must File
        • Other Topics
      • Businesses >
        • Affordable Care Act - Businesses
        • Year-end Reporting Obligations >
          • 1099's
          • Health Insurance Premiums
          • Depreciation
          • Reimbursed Employee Business Expenses
          • Company Automobiles
        • Employment Tax Credits
        • Independent Contractors
        • Tax Credits and Deductions for Businesses
        • Other Business Topics
        • Required Business Posters
      • Amended Returns
      • IRS Notices and Problems
      • Tax Plan >
        • All About the Earned Income Tax Credit
        • 5 IRS Audit Red Flags
        • Retirement Plans for Sole Proprietors
        • Are You Claiming All of Your Tax-Deductable Business Expenses for 2015?
        • All About Past Due Tax Returns
        • Do You Need to File Form 1099s?
        • How to File an Appeal with the IRS
        • Why You Might Get a Letter from the IRS, and What to Do
        • How to File an Amended Tax Return
        • Should You Claim the Home Office Deduction?
        • How to Avoid -- And Deal with -- Identify Theft
        • Q & A: IRS Audits
        • Are You Using the Right Business Structure?
        • Starting Planning for 2015 Income Taxes Now: 5 Tips
        • What You Need to Know About Estimated Taxes
        • Contractor or Employee? How the Income Tax Obligations Differ
        • The New Form 1095-A: Reporting Health Insurance Coverage
        • Are Your Social Security Payments Taxable?
        • Do You Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit?
        • Are You Eligible for Health Insurance Tax Credits
        • Employee Retirement Plans - Tax Advantages and Other Benefits
        • 5 Business Tax Credits You May Be Missing
        • New Business in 2012
        • Is it a Bad Debt or a Simple Revenue Loss? Telling the Difference
        • Business Taxes Add Complexity: How Will This Affect You?
      • Tax Scams

Who Should File a 2013 Tax Return?

1/28/2014

 

Do you need to file a federal tax return this year? Perhaps.  The amount of your income, filing status, age and other factors determine if you must file.
Even if you don’t have to file a tax return, there are times when you should.  Here are five good reasons why you should file a return, even if you’re not required to do so:

1.  Tax Withheld or Paid.  Did your employer withhold federal income tax from your pay?  Did you make estimated tax payments?  Did you overpay last year and have it applied to this year’s tax?  If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you could be due a refund.  But you have to file a tax return to get it.

2.  Earned Income Tax Credit.   Did you work and earn less than $51,567 last year?  You could receive EITC as a tax refund if you qualify.  Families with qualifying children may be eligible for up to $6,044.  Use the EITC Assistant tool on IRS.gov to find out if you qualify.  If you do, file a tax return and claim it.

3.  Additional Child Tax Credit.   Do you have at least one child that qualifies for the Child Tax Credit?  If you don’t get the full credit amount, you may qualify for the Additional Child Tax Credit.  To claim it, you need to file Schedule 8812, Child Tax Credit, with your tax return.

4.  American Opportunity Credit.   Are you a student or do you support a student?  If so, you may be eligible for this credit.  Students in their first four years of higher education may qualify for as much as $2,500.  Even those who owe no tax may get up to $1,000 of the credit refunded per eligible student.  You must file Form 8863, Education Credits, with your tax return to claim this credit.

5.  Health Coverage Tax Credit.   Did you receive Trade Adjustment Assistance, Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance, Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance or pension benefit payments from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation?  If so, you may qualify for the Health Coverage Tax Credit.  The HCTC helps make health insurance more affordable for you and your family.  This credit pays 72.5 percent of qualified health insurance premiums. Visit IRS.gov for more on this credit.

To sum it all up, check to see if you would benefit from filing a federal tax return.  You may qualify for a tax refund even if you don’t have to file.  And remember, if you do qualify for a refund, you must file a return to claim it.
The instructions for Forms 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ list income tax filing requirements.  You can also use the Interactive Tax Assistant tool on IRS.gov to see if you need to file. The tool is available 24/7 to answer many tax questions.


Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed


    Categories

    All
    2018 Tax Changes
    Adoption
    Affordable Care Act Businesses
    Affordable Care Act Individuals
    Affordable Care Act - Individuals
    Amended Returns
    Auto Expenses
    Business Tax Credits
    Capital Gains & Losses
    Charitable Contributions
    Children & Dependents
    Deductions And Credits
    Dept Forgiveness
    Educational Expenses
    Employee Business Expenses
    Employers
    Energy Tax Credit
    Estimated Tax Payments
    Filing Status
    Foreign Income
    Gambling Income
    Health Care
    Identity Theft
    Income
    Irs Notices And Problems
    Marriage And Divorce
    Medical & Dental Expenses
    Military
    Moving
    New Business
    Other Business
    Other Deductions & Credits
    Other Income
    Other Tax Credits
    Other Topics
    Real Estate
    Record Keeping
    Retirement
    Retirement Savings
    Seniors
    Tax Law Changes
    Tax Plan
    Tax Problems
    Unemployment
    Veterans
    Who Must File


    Author

    Accountency, LLC


  • Home
  • About
    • Book An Appointment
  • Accounting
    • Dashboard
    • Xero+Accountency
    • Xero Intro
    • AutoMagical Accounting
    • QuickBooks >
      • QuickBooks Updates
    • Store
  • Payroll
  • Taxes
    • Dashboard
    • Individuals
    • Businesses
    • Tax Stuff >
      • Individuals >
        • Income >
          • Debt Forgiveness
          • Foreign Income
          • Gambling Income
          • Unemployment
          • Other Income
        • Deductions & Credits >
          • Adoption
          • Charitable Contributions
          • Earned Income Tax Credit
          • Educational Expenses
          • Energy Tax Credits
          • Employee Business Expenses
          • Other Deductions and Credits
        • Affordable Care Act - Individuals
        • Children and Dependents
        • Death
        • Disabled Taxpayers
        • Educators
        • Health Care
        • Identify Theft
        • Marriage and Divorce
        • Military
        • Real Estate
        • Retirement Savings
        • Seniors
        • State Taxes
        • Record Keeping
        • Who Must File
        • Other Topics
      • Businesses >
        • Affordable Care Act - Businesses
        • Year-end Reporting Obligations >
          • 1099's
          • Health Insurance Premiums
          • Depreciation
          • Reimbursed Employee Business Expenses
          • Company Automobiles
        • Employment Tax Credits
        • Independent Contractors
        • Tax Credits and Deductions for Businesses
        • Other Business Topics
        • Required Business Posters
      • Amended Returns
      • IRS Notices and Problems
      • Tax Plan >
        • All About the Earned Income Tax Credit
        • 5 IRS Audit Red Flags
        • Retirement Plans for Sole Proprietors
        • Are You Claiming All of Your Tax-Deductable Business Expenses for 2015?
        • All About Past Due Tax Returns
        • Do You Need to File Form 1099s?
        • How to File an Appeal with the IRS
        • Why You Might Get a Letter from the IRS, and What to Do
        • How to File an Amended Tax Return
        • Should You Claim the Home Office Deduction?
        • How to Avoid -- And Deal with -- Identify Theft
        • Q & A: IRS Audits
        • Are You Using the Right Business Structure?
        • Starting Planning for 2015 Income Taxes Now: 5 Tips
        • What You Need to Know About Estimated Taxes
        • Contractor or Employee? How the Income Tax Obligations Differ
        • The New Form 1095-A: Reporting Health Insurance Coverage
        • Are Your Social Security Payments Taxable?
        • Do You Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit?
        • Are You Eligible for Health Insurance Tax Credits
        • Employee Retirement Plans - Tax Advantages and Other Benefits
        • 5 Business Tax Credits You May Be Missing
        • New Business in 2012
        • Is it a Bad Debt or a Simple Revenue Loss? Telling the Difference
        • Business Taxes Add Complexity: How Will This Affect You?
      • Tax Scams