Sunday, February 13, 2011

FREE INCOME TAX PREPARATION?? WHO QUALIFIES??

By JC Leahy, MA Accounting

When H and R Block and Maximum Legal Refund advertise FREE income tax preparation, they are talking about only the very simplest income tax filings: the Form 1040-EZ.  Not many people qualify.  The big question is:  If you CAN qualify, SHOULD you file a 1040-EZ? 

You could save tax preparation fees but lose bigger money if you file a Form 1040-EZ.  Obviously, that would be false economy.  Many tax benefits are simply not present on the 1040-EZ.  A good example is student loan interest.  A student just out of college probably qualifies for a free 1040-EZ filing, but he'll miss out on his deduction for student loan interest.  That's not really saving money.  An IRA contribution is another example: You can't deduct an IRA contribution on a 1040-EZ.  Most tax credits are not available on the 1040-EZ. You can't take a child credit, additional child credit, education credits, dependent care credits, or retirement savings credits on a Form 1040-EZ either.

Who qualifies to file Form 1040-EZ?  You must meet all of these requirements:

  1. Your filing status is single or married filing jointly
  2. You and your spouse are younger than 65
  3. Neither you nor your spouse is legally blind
  4. You have no dependents
  5. Your interest income is less than $1,500
  6. Your total income is less than $100,000

Questions?  Feel free to contact:

JC Leahy, MA Accounting
Maximum Legal Refund TM
TAXES MINIMIZED TO YOUR BEST ADVANTAGE TM
JC Leahy and Company, LLC
LONG-DISTANCE FILING AND Silver Spring, MD
Tel 301-537-5365
E-mail: jcleahy@jaitoday.com

1 comment:

Income Tax Estimator said...

Hi friends,

The site is about free income tax preparation, everyone should have knowledge about the Form 1040-EZ. It is most important for us. The above points are very useful. Thanks a lot.