* The basic standard deduction is half the amount allowed on a
joint return.
So apparently married filing separately is not the way to go. There are
many drawbacks in choosing married filing separately as your filing status.
However, sometimes married filing separately is the only option for some
taxpayers.
Your filing status is single if
on December 31, 2014, you were never married, you were legally separated,
according to your state law, under a decree or divorce or separate
maintenance. Also you are considered single if you were widowed before
January 1, 2015 and you did not remarry in 2014 and you filing status is
"Single" if you did not have a dependent child living with you.
You can use the
Single filing status is you are unmarried, divorced, legally separated, or
widowed as of the last day of the calendar year. If no other filing status
applies to you, then you generally must file as "Single".
Even if you do not have to file a tax return, you
should file one to get a refund of any federal income tax withheld or you
are eligible for the EIC.
Just because you hardly made
any money does not mean that your employer has not withheld anything from
your check. Depending on how many deductions your claimed on your Form W-4,
you may have had federal tax withheld from your check. Almost everyone pays
social security and Medicare taxes and these are not the kind of taxes you
can get refunded. However, if you had federal withholding or any state tax
withheld, you can get file your federal or state tax returns to get these
refunded to you if you did not make enough money to even file a tax return.
Why would your employer if withhold any money in the first place? You ask.
Well, when you first start your job, your employer usually does always get
your Form W-4 from you right away. Therefore, your employer is obligated to
withhold at a single rate and sometimes with zero exemptions. To avoid any
kind of withholding, it is a good idea to give your employer Form W4
immediately.
If you don't make enough money
to file a tax return, you should still file if you qualify for the Earned
Income Credit, even if you have no dependents. Even if you just earned a $1,
and if you are single, head of household, or qualifying widow or married
with no dependents you can get $2 dollars back as an Earned Income Credit
amount. If you have dependents and you only earned $1 for example, you can
get anywhere from $9 to $11 back as an Earned Income Credit amount. If
you look at the EIC table you can see the different income scenarios. Look
at the Earned Income Credit qualification rules to see if you qualify for
the Earned Income Credit and for how much you qualify.
If you take the EIC even though you are not
eligible and it is determined that your error is due to reckless
or intentional disregard of the EIC rules, you will not allowed
to take the earned income credit for 2 years even if you are otherwise
eligible to do so in this year.
As a tax professional you need
to have many caveats in mind when it comes to the Earned Income Credit
rules. When you prepare tax returns for a fee you have to determine the
eligibility for the Earned Income Credit or face steep penalties. $500 per
taxpayer can really add up. They say that an ounce of
