Tax Returns

Tax Returns

As you know, your tax return is the official report of your wages and earnings used to calculate income taxes. This report is filed to the Internal Revenue Service. The return is used for both federal and state income taxes. There are many forms issued by the IRS which corresponds to the taxpayer's particular wage and earnings situation. The standard form for individual taxpayers is the Form 1040, of which the IRS provides many variations.

Federal Tax Returns

All US citizens and residents are required to file federal tax returns when they receive a certain amount of income determined by the IRS. This is the law. You must understand that all gross income that is in excess of the required amount is taxable by the Internal Revenue Service. It doesn't matter how this income is obtained, legally or illegally. It doesn't matter if you're a carpenter, the gross income you receive is taxable. As a matter of fact, it is through the IRS tax laws that many criminals have ultimately been brought down.

Federal Tax Returns are usually filed around the first four months of the year. The official end date to file is April 15th. However, the IRS allows for extensions in most cases. It is essential that you do file a federal tax return, because if you don't, penalties can be severe.

There are many options in filing your federal tax return. Most individuals find the actual process of filling out the forms and filing the returns to be more tedious than anything. Fortunately, filing your taxes has never been easier. There is software for filing all over the internet. Three of the most popular are TaxAct, TurboTax, and H&R Block TaxCut. All of this software is easy to use, reasonably priced, and easily obtained. They are user friendly with customer support. Even a complete novice can navigate this software. In addition, there are other sites online that allow you to process your taxes for free, such as Complete Tax. These sites help you manage your information and process it. You only pay for the actual filing. The IRS website gives plenty of helpful information and tips. Of course, if you don't want to be bothered with doing your own taxes, you can always go to a company that specializes in doing taxes, such as H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt. Their fees are higher, but you are guaranteed results.

State Tax Returns

State tax returns are basically done the same way as federal returns, the difference being that the revenue, whether owed or paid, applies to your state government. You can use the same avenues to do your state return.