How much must i make to file taxes

The minimum income amount depends on your filing status and age. If your income is below that threshold, you generally do not need to file a federal tax return. Review the full list below for other filing statuses and ages. Wondering if you need to file to get your stimulus payment? Review our stimulus payment information. Please see IRS Publication for additional information.

There are various rules and requirements you have to meet in order to file in some of the situations mentioned in the table above. You must be unmarried on the last day of the tax year, pay more than half the cost of maintaining the home, and have a qualifying dependent to file as head of household. A qualifying widow er with a qualifying child dependent is entitled to use the same standard deduction as married taxpayers who file jointly for up to two years after the death of a spouse.

Other rules also apply. Taxpayers who are 65 or older and blind persons get an additional standard deduction on top of the regular standard deduction. Their filing requirements differ because of these additional amounts. You must file a tax return for under any of the following circumstances if you're single, someone else can claim you as a dependent, and you're not age 65 or older or blind:.

You'll have to file a tax return even if you don't earn these income thresholds if you owe any special taxes. These include the additional tax on a qualified retirement plan such as an IRA or other tax-favored account. But if you only have to file a return because you owe a particular tax, you can submit IRS Form by itself instead. Other special taxes include the Alternative Minimum Tax, and Social Security and Medicare tax on tips you didn't report to your employer, or taxes on wages you received from an employer who didn't withhold these taxes from your pay.

A return is required if you, your spouse, or a dependent were enrolled in coverage through the Healthcare. You'll know whether this pertains to you, because you'll receive a Form A detailing the payments. You might want to file a return even if you're not required to do so, if it will result in receiving a tax refund—otherwise, you're just letting the IRS keep that money. This would be the case if, for example, you had any taxes withheld from your income, such as withholding on wages or retirement plan distributions, so you overpaid your taxes because the income falls below these filing thresholds—no tax would be due.

You'd be entitled to a refund of the money that was withheld, because you don't have a tax liability. Filing could also generate a tax refund if you're eligible for one or more of the refundable tax credits , such as the Earned Income Credit , the Child Tax Credit , or the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

You'd have to file a tax return to calculate and claim these credits and to request a refund from the IRS. The IRS has certain time limits, called " statutes of limitations ," for issuing tax refunds, conducting audits, and collecting taxes that someone might owe.

It generally has three years from the date a tax return is filed to begin an audit, and it has 10 years to collect a tax. These time limits never begin running if a return isn't filed, so the IRS would effectively have forever to look into your tax situation. Filing a return starts the clock ticking on these statutes of limitations. You might also want to file a return if you have been—or think you might be—a victim of identity theft.

Filing a return puts the IRS on notice as to what your true income was for the year, and it prevents a thief from filing a false tax return using your name and Social Security number. Tax Day is April 15, but if that day falls on a holiday or weekend, then the due date shifts to the nearest business day.

If you continue earning enough income to meet the minimum filing thresholds, then you will need to keep filing income tax returns indefinitely. Your age affects your threshold, but your income is still the main factor. It's difficult to settle on an "average" U. In this scenario, you may have to file a federal tax return even if your income is lower than shown in the chart above. The thresholds look different because the IRS separates your gross income into two categories — earned income and unearned income.

Earned income is the money you make by working for someone else or running your own business. Your unearned income includes investment income — like interest, dividends or capital gains.

It may also include canceled debt, taxable Social Security benefits, pensions and more. The rules for when a dependent must file can be confusing, so be sure to read the threshold rules carefully. You can also learn more in IRS Publication Multiple factors determine if a dependent must file. Learn more about when a dependent must file a federal income tax return. The IRS specifically calls these out in the instructions.

The first is a federal tax refund. You may be eligible for a federal tax refund if any of these situations apply.

You may also qualify for tax credits that you can only get if you file a return. Some of these are refundable tax credits, which means they still offer a refund even when the credit amount is more than the total taxes you owe.

Not everyone is required to file a federal income tax return.