Your 2007 Federal Taxes Resource

Do You Need to File a Federal Income Tax Return?

Many people will file a 2007 Federal income tax return even though the income on the return was below the filing requirement. The questions below will help you determine if you need to file a Federal Income Tax return or if you need to stop your withholding so you will not have to file an unnecessary return in the future.

The Internal Revenue Service is providing this information as a part of our customer service and outreach efforts to Reduce Taxpayer Burden and Processing Costs. Changing your withholding and/or not filing Unnecessary Returns will save both you and the government time and money.

Even if you do not have to file a return, you should file one to get a refund of any Federal Income Tax withheld.

To determine if you need to file a Federal Income Tax return for 2007 answer the following questions:

Occasionally, individuals have one-time or infrequent financial transactions that may require them to file a Federal Income Tax return. Do any of the following examples apply to you?

• Did you have Federal taxes withheld from your pension and wages for this tax year and wish to get a refund back?
• Are you entitled to the Earned Income Tax Credit or did you receive Advance Earned Income Credit for this tax year?
• Were you self-employed with earnings of more than $400.00?
• Did you sell your home?
• Will you owe any special tax on a qualified retirement plan (including an individual retirement account (IRA) or medical savings account (MSA)? You may owe tax if you:
  • Received an early distribution from a qualified plan
  • Made excess contributions to your IRA or MSA
  • Were born before July 1, 1936, and you did not take the minimum required distribution from your qualified retirement plan.
  • Received a distribution in the excess of $160,000 from a qualified retirement plan.
• Will you owe social security and Medicare tax on tips you did not report to your employer?
• Will you owe uncollected social security and Medicare or Railroad retirement (RRTA) tax on tips you reported to your employer?
• Will you be subject to Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)? (The tax law gives special treatment to some kinds of income and allows special deductions and credit for some kinds of expenses.)
• Will you owe recapture tax?
• Are you a church employee with income in wages of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that is exempt from employer social security or Medicare taxes?
  

New 1040EZ-T Form. For taxpayers who don’t need to file a normal tax return, the IRS has developed a special, shortened form to allow them to request the telephone refund. Copies of the Form 1040EZ-T will be available on IRS.gov, on the phone and at a number of other locations. The IRS encourages taxpayers who qualify for the 1040EZ-T to file electronically through the Free File program, which will be available for free beginning later this month. More than 10 million taxpayers who aren’t normally supposed to file their tax return mayshould be able to send this new form. Taxpayers can either request the standard amount on this form or affix a Form 8913 to request actual amounts.

Zero Cost File Improvements. The no cost electronic filing program begins later this month containing improvements to benefit the 95 million taxpayers — 70 % of all taxpayers — who qualify for the program. Free File, a partnership between the IRS and the private sector Free File Alliance, is available for taxpayers who earn $52,000 or less. This year, the program features an agreement by private sector partners to remove Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) as well as other ancillary offerings from the program.
IRS.gov, E-file Helps Taxpayers