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Emma Oliver
Professor Krenitsky
PA-222-IC1
April 1, 2022
1040 tax form
The 16th Amendment gave congress and the president the authority to tax income on individuals.
The 1040 form is used to help collect taxes. This tax form collects information from gross income.
The first category would include your personal information and filing status. Personal information
would include your full name, ssn, and address. There are five filing statuses this includes single, married
filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, qualifying. One of the first filing statuses would
be filing single. A person can file single if they were unmarried on the last day of the calendar tax year. The
next filing status would be married filing jointly. The government likes to encourage joint filing. This filing
status has a slight advantage because of that. Married taxpayers can file jointly on the last day of the calendar
year. The next filing status would be married filing separately. Taxpayers that are legally married can file for
this on the last day of the calendar tax year. There are a couple of reasons why a married couple would want
to file separately such as business needs, child support, and other obligations such as debt. The next filing
status would be head of household. For taxpayers to be able to file for this status one must be unmarried as
of the last day of the calendar tax year. this taxpayer must have a dependent that relies on them for financial
support including the household. The last filing status is qualifying widower. For taxpayers to qualify for
this filing status is one must be unmarried as of the last day of the calendar tax year. The taxpayer must have
an at-home dependent that riles on them finically and provided 50% of the financial support. This filing
status lasts u to 2 years after the death of the spouse. This filing status has its tax and tax bracket. It is
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important to note that a taxpayer needs to be careful when filing for this filing status because it can lead to a
tax audit if done incorrectly.
The next category would be income and different sources. This would be the money that a taxpayer
earns through different sources. Some of these sources can include alimony, rental income, unemployment
business income, and income from a job. For example, the higher paying separated spouse must pay
alimony by New York law. This is an income that is required to be filled out on the 1040 form. The second
example would include rental income. If you owe any rental property, you are responsible to report income
and pay taxes on it. The last example would be unemployment. This is an income that is also required to be
included in your income basis. While there are incomes that must be included there are several incomes that
do not such as child support. The parent with custody of a child does not have to include this income.
Another example would be something such as gifts or any workplace/ car accident benefits.
The next category would be deductions. This Includes standard and itemizes. Standard deductions
are available for the middle class. The advantage of this deduction is that the taxpayer does not need to save
any receipts or any documentation. Itemized deductions are deductions that are eligible expenses that a
taxpayer can claim. This includes Medical and Dental Expenses (Topic 502); Deductible Taxes (503);
Home Mortgage Points paid (504); Interest paid (505); Charitable Contributions (506); Home Office (509);
Use of your Auto for your Business (510); Business Travel Expenses (511); work-related Education (513);
Casualty, Theft and Disaster Losses (515).
The next category is adjusted gross income. AGI is the number that has been reduced when a
taxpayer reports income and then applies a deduction to then reduce that said income. Once the AGI is
calculated the taxpayer is required to self-assess the tax that is owed on that income. For the most part, the
employer will withhold the tax one will owe on that income. For the most part, a taxpayer will receive a tax
refund. If not the taxpayer may owe taxes.
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The last two categories would be tax credits and tax refund/taxes that are owed. Tax credits are
income credit that is earned. This credit helps low-income families and is based on wages salaries, tips, and
self-employment. Other tax credits include child and depend on care credit. This credit is claimed by
taxpayers who have expenses in providing for a dependent. This money is used to help a family that may
need the extra money for their childcare to go to work. Another example of the tax credit is the adoption
credit and first homebuyer credit. First, adoption credit helps with expenses incurred out of pocket by a
taxpayer during an adoption process. The first-time homebuyer credit helps taxpayers with expenses when
buying their first home. Lastly, a tax refund is any money that the government owes a taxpayer if that
taxpayer pays over the amount that is owed during that tax year.
In conclusion, congress and the president have the authority to tax citizens on their income. This can
include income anywhere from unemployment benefits to rental income. Taxes are filed with the help of the
1040 form.