. Form 1040EZ is the simplest
form to fill out. You may use
Form 1040EZ if you meet all the
following conditions:
Your filing status is single
or married filing jointly,
You claim no dependents,
You, and your spouse if
filing a joint return, were
under 65 on January 1, 2004 and
not blind at the end of 2003,
You have only wages,
salaries, tips, taxable
scholarship and fellowship
grants, unemployment
compensation, qualified state
tuition program earnings, or
Alaska Permanent Fund dividends,
and your taxable interest was
not over $1500.
Your taxable income is less
than $50,000,
You did not receive any
advance earned income credit
payments,
You do not owe any household
employment taxes on wages you
paid to a household employee,
You do not claim a student
loan interest deduction, an
educator expense deduction, or a
tuition and fees deduction, and
You do not claim an
education credit, retirement
savings contributions credit, or
a health coverage tax credit.
If you file Form 1040EZ, you
cannot itemize deductions or
claim any adjustments to income
or tax credits (other than the
earned income credit.)
If you cannot use Form
1040EZ, you may be able to use
Form 1040A if:
Your income is only from
wages, salaries, tips, taxable
scholarships and fellowships,
interest, ordinary dividends,
capital gain distributions,
pensions, annuities, IRAs,
unemployment compensation, and
taxable social security or
railroad retirement benefits,
qualified state tuition earnings
and Alaska Permanent Fund
dividends,
Your taxable income is less
than $50,000,
You do not itemize
deductions, and
Your only adjustments to
income are the IRA deduction,
the student loan interest
deduction, educator expenses,
and the tuition and fees
deduction.
If you file Form 1040A, the
only credits you can claim are
the credit for child and
dependent care expenses, the
earned income credit, the
adoption credit, the credit for
the elderly or the disabled,
education credits, the child tax
credit, the additional child tax
credit, and retirement savings
contribution credit.
Finally, you must use Form
1040 under certain
circumstances, such as:
Your taxable income is
$50,000 or more,
You have certain types of
income such as unreported tips,
certain nontaxable
distributions, self–employment
earnings, or income received as
a partner, a shareholder in a
"s" corp., or a beneficiary of
an estate or trust.
You itemize deductions or
claim certain tax credits or
adjustments to income, or
You owe household employment
taxes.
A complete list of conditions
outlining when Form 1040
must be used
is in the instructions for Form
1040A.
If you were a nonresident
alien during the tax year and
you were married to a U.S.
citizen or resident alien, you
may use any one of these three
forms, based on your
circumstances, only if you elect
to file a joint return with your
spouse. Other non–resident
aliens may have to file
Form 1040NR (PDF) or
Form 1040NR-EZ (PDF). For
more information on resident and
nonresident aliens, refer to
Topic 851.
You may be mailed the type of
tax form you filed last year,
but review your situation to
determine if another form would
be more advantageous for you.
For Alternative Ways to File,
select Topic 252.
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