Adulting 106

Filing Taxes:

• Gather your personal info and tax forms: Collect your Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), along with those of any dependents (like children).

• Gather all forms showing your income from the past year. Employers and financial institutions typically send these out by late January:

◦ W-2: If you are a standard salaried or hourly employee.

◦ 1099-NEC / 1099-MISC: If you did freelance, contract, or side-gig work.

◦ 1099-INT / 1099-DIV: From your bank or brokerage for interest and dividends earned.

◦ 1098-E or 1098-T: For student loan interest or college tuition payments.

• Choose your filing method: Decide how you want to file. Most people use online tax software because it walks you through a simple question-and-answer format:

◦ IRS Free File: If your adjusted gross income is $89,000 or less, you can use for free through the official IRS portal.

◦ Direct File/FreeTaxUSA/TurboTax: Trusted online platforms that guide you step-by-step.

◦ Hire a professional (CPA): Consider this if you own a complex business, have rental properties, or had massive life changes.

• Determine your filing status: Your software will ask you to pick a status. This determines your tax brackets and your standard deduction amount. Choose the option that fits your life situation on December 31st of the tax year:

◦ Single: Unmarried.

◦ Married Filing Jointly: Married and filing a single return together.

◦ Married Filing Separately: Married but filing independent returns.

◦ Head of Household: Unmarried, but you pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying dependent.

• Input your income: The software will prompt you section-by-section. Copy the numbers exactly as they appear from your W-2 or 1099 forms into the matching digital boxes. The software uses these numbers to calculate your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).

• Claim deductions and credits: Ductions lower your taxable income. You have two choices:

◦ Standard Deduction: A fixed dollar amount given automatically based on your filing status. Roughly 90% of taxpayers take this because it's higher than tracking individual expenses.

◦ Itemized Deductions: Listing out individual deductible expenses (mortgage interest, large charitable donations, medical expenses). Only do this if the total is greater than your standard deduction.

• The software will also check if you qualify for tax credits (like the Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Tax Credit), which directly reduce the amount of tax you owe dollar-for-dollar.

• Review and hit submit: The software will double-check your return for math errors or missing information. Once cleared, it will show your final tally: you will either receive a refund (the government owes you money because you overpaid throughout the year) or you will owe a balance.

• Provide your routing and account numbers for direct deposit (the fastest way to get a refund) or to schedule a payment, then digitally sign and e-file your federal and state returns.

• Important Reminder: The traditional deadline to file your federal income tax return and pay any tax owed is April 15th of each year. If you need more time, you can file for an automatic 6-month extension (giving you until October 15th) using Form 4868, but note that this extends your time to file, not your time to pay any taxes you owe.

WHAT A DISGRACE! Trump Administration plans to end IRS free tax filing program

Sarah Fortinsky at The Hill, via NewsNation:

The Trump administration is planning to end the free tax filing service developed during the Biden administration, The Associated Press reported, citing two people familiar with the decision. The IRS’s “Direct File program” allows Americans to file their tax returns directly to the agency for free online. The electronic system launched as a pilot program in 2024 and was made permanent last May. But, in mid-March, the IRS staff assigned to the program were told to stop working on it for the 2026 tax filing season, the two sources told the AP. NewsNation partner The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 tasked the IRS with developing a “direct file” system, and the Biden administration spent tens of millions developing the program.

TAXES ARE DUE ON JULY 15th IN 2020

If you never got around to it yet because of Covid this is the LAST WEEK to do it.

You qualify for free tax filing if any of the following apply to you:

your adjusted gross income (AGI) $39,000 or less

you were active duty military in 2020 with an AGI of $72,000 or less

you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EIC)

I used this free filing service:

freefile (dot) intuit (dot) com

The official irs (dot) gov website provides a list of free filing services, including the one mentioned above:

apps (dot) irs (dot) gov (/) app (/) freeFile (/) browse-all-offers

I just finished my taxes yesterday. 

Note: If you didn’t get your stimulus check last year, now’s your chance.

When you use this service, you will be asked at some point during the process whether or not you received your stimulus check last year. If you didn’t recieve your check, tick the “no” box and the stimulus amount will automatically be added to your refund when you e-file.