Federal Income Tax Brackets from 2009-2014

2014 Federal Income Tax Brackets

Income Tax	Single		Married Filing Jointly / Qualifying Widower		Married Filing Separately		Head of Household		Long-Term Capital Gains and Qualified Dividends
Rate	over	up to	over	up to	over	up to	over	up to	Rate
10%	0	9,075	0	18,150	0	9,075	0	12,950	0%
15%	9,075	36,900	18,150	73,800	9,075	36,900	12,950	49,400	0%
25%	36,900	89,350	73,800	148,850	36,900	74,425	49,400	127,550	15%
28%	89,350	186,350	148,850	226,850	74,425	113,425	127,550	206,600	15%
33%	186,350	405,100	226,850	405,100	113,425	202,550	206,600	405,100	15%
35%	405,100	406,750	405,100	457,600	202,550	228,800	405,100	432,200	15%
39.6%	406,750		457,600		228,800		432,200		20%

Federal Income Tax Brackets from 2009-2012

2012 Federal Income Tax Brackets

Income Tax	Single		Married Filing Jointly / Qualifying Widower		Married Filing Separately		Head of Household		Long-Term Capital Gains and Qualified Dividends
Rate	over	up to	over	up to	over	up to	over	up to	Rate
10%	0	8,700	0	17,400	0	8,700	0	12,400	0%
15%	8,700	35,350	17,400	70,700	8,700	35,350	12,400	47,350	0%
25%	35,350	85,650	70,700	142,700	35,350	71,350	47,350	122,300	15%
28%	85,650	178,650	142,700	217,450	71,350	108,725	122,300	198,050	15%
33%	178,650	388,350	217,450	388,350	108,725	194,175	198,050	388,350	15%
35%	388,350		388,350		194,175		388,350		15%

What filing status should I use?

Your federal tax filing status is based on your marital and family situation. It is an important factor in determining your standard deduction, your tax liability, eligibility for deductions and credits and whether you must file a return.

Your marital status on the last day of the year determines your status for the entire year. State law determines if a taxpayer is married or legally separated under a divorce.

If more than one filing status applies to you, you may choose the one that gives you the lowest tax obligation.

There are five filing status options:

• Single. Generally, if you are unmarried, divorced, or legally separated according to your state law as of December 31 and you do not qualify for another filing status, your filing status is Single.

Do I Have To File a Tax Return?

Yes, you must file a federal income tax return if you are a U.S. citizen. However, there are certain instances where a taxpayer does not have to file a return based on three factors:

• Gross Income
• Filing Status
• Age

You must file a return if your gross income is at least the amount shown for your age and filing status.

Common tax return mistakes

10 things to watch for as you prepare your tax return.

1. Incorrect Social Security numbers or misspelled names
2. Using incorrect forms and schedules
3. Wrong filing status
4. Claiming ineligible dependents
5. Misapplied Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit
6. Lack of receipts
7. Failure to report all income
8. Not checking for Alternative Minimum Tax
9. Not signing the return – note the taxpayer and the spouse must sign and date the tax return
10. Not attaching Form W-2 and other forms that indicate taxes withheld during the year

Bonus items:

1. Applying for a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) without W-2 Earned Income
2. Omitting the Social Security Number or EIN of your caregiver for the Child and Dependent Care Credit
3. Mailing the tax return to the wrong address. Here is where to mail tax forms.
4. Making your check payable to the IRS. The correct payee on checks and money orders should be the United States Treasury.
5. Misreading the income tax tables
6. Failure to make a copy of the return for the taxpayer's records
7. Computation errors
8. Incorrect bank account numbers for Direct Deposit
9. Insufficient postage on envelopes. Better yet, use registered mail so there is a record that IRS received your tax return especially if you are paying a balance due.

Here are some other suggestions to avoid tax problems.

Is social security taxable income?

A portion of your social security benefits may be taxable if your total income plus one-half of your net social security benefits exceeds a base amount for your filing status. Net benefits are reported on box 5 of Form SSA-1099. If the only source of income is Social Security, then none of the benefits are taxable and the taxpayer does not have to file a federal income tax return.

The base amount is

• $25,000 if your filing status is single, head of household, or qualifying widower
• $25,000 if MFS if you lived apart from your spouse the entire year
• $32,000 if MFJ
• $0 if MFS if you lived with your spouse at any time during the year *
  

Use the Social Security Benefits Worksheet to determine the taxable amount. Total social security benefits are reported on Form 1040 line 20a while the taxable amount is reported on line 20b.

Are you eligible for Earned Income Credit?

Earned Income Credit (EIC) is a tax credit for taxpayers who work and have earned income less than the following limits:

• Three or more qualifying children: $43,352 ($48,362 if MFJ)
• Two qualifying children: $40,363 ($45,373 if MFJ)
• One qualifying child: $35,535 ($40,545 if MFJ)
• No qualifying children: $13,460 ($18,470 if MFJ)

A qualifying child under Earned Income Credit must meet the following requirements.

• Relationship – must be a son, daughter, stepchild, foster child or descendant of any of them.
  Note: child does not have to be your dependent
• Residency – child must live with you in the United States for more than half the year. Special circumstances such as school and business do not count against this requirement.
• Age – must be either (1) under age 19 years old at the end of the year; (2) under age 24 and a full-time student; or (3) totally and permanently disabled at any time during the year.

How to file your taxes while a divorce is pending

You can either file with your spouse (Married Filing Joint) or by yourself (Married Filing Separate).

If a married taxpayer is not filing with their spouse, then the following requirements must be met in order to be considered unmarried and qualify for Head of Household filing status:

1. Taxpayer paid over half the cost of keeping up the home
2. Taxpayer's spouse did not live in the house at any time during the last six months of the tax year
3. Taxpayer's home must be the main home for more than six months of the taxpayer's dependent child (includes children whom the taxpayer signed a Form 8332 allowing the noncustodial parent to claim the exemption). Note: the only persons who qualify are a child, stepchild, or eligible foster child.

Got married in 2010, here's how to file your taxes

Filing status determines your standard deduction and tax rate. It depends on your marital status.

The IRS defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife. You are considered married for the whole year if you are married on the last day of the tax year.

State law governs whether you are married or legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree. If you are divorced by the last day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year.

If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for the whole year.

Married couples can either file jointly (MFJ) or separately (MFS). You should figure your tax liability both ways and choose the filing status that has the lowest tax. Filing together or separately on the Form 1040 means you need to use the same filing status on the Ohio return (does not matter on a local tax return). Many tax benefits on the Form 1040 are not available for MFS.

You can change your filing status between MFJ and MFS from year to year. On Form 1040X, you can also amend your tax return and change your filing status from MFS to MFJ within three years of the original due date of the returns. If you file MFJ, once the original due date of the return passes, you can not amend and change to MFS.