How do I fill out federal income tax form 1040A?

The 1040A series of tax forms is a simplified version of the regular 1040. While not as easy as the 2010 tax forms 1040EZ, it’s still much simpler than the original.

Can I Use It?
There are a few restrictions on using the 1040A. Since it’s a simple version of the 1040, not everyone can use it. For instance, your income is limited to:

• Wages
• Tips
• Salaries
• Interest
• Ordinary dividends
• Capital gain distributions
• Taxable scholarships
• Fellowship grants
• Pensions & annuities
• IRAs
• Unemployment compensation
• Taxable social security
• Railroad retirement and Alaska Permanent Fund dividends
• On top of that, only certain deductions can be claimed on the 2010 tax forms.
• Educator expense
• IRA deduction
• Student loan interest deduction
• Tuition and fees deduction

If you want to itemize deductions, you must use the regular 1040 tax forms. The 1040A tax forms are not used for itemizing.

Also, if your taxable income is over $100,000, you can not use the 1040A tax forms.

Filling It Out
At the top of the 2010 tax forms, fill in your personal information. This includes your name, Social Security Number, and address. Decide if you will send $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign.

Now, choose your filing status for the 2010 tax forms. Choose between single, married filing separately or jointly. You may also be the head of household if you qualify. An example is if you have children and are a single parent. This can greatly help your taxes.

The next part of the 1040A tax forms is for exemptions. This includes yourself, your spouse and any dependents in the home.

The ‘Income’ section is for filling in how much you made. This information can be found on your W-2 2010 tax forms. Add everything together to get your total income.

The adjusted gross income section of the 1040A tax forms is for things like education expenses, IRA deductions and tuition and fees. Add these up for the total adjustments. Subtract your total adjustments from your total income. This is your adjusted gross income (AGI).

Next, you’ll enter your standard deduction then subtract it from your AGI. If the standard is more than your AGI, just enter a zero. Multiply the number of your exemptions (from the top of the form) by the personal exemption rate. Subtract this from the results of subtracting the standard from your AGI. This is your taxable income. Mark this on your 2010 tax forms.

Now you use the tax rate table to find out your tax due. Also write down any tax credits due as well as advanced earned income credit payments. Add these to your tax due and write the total on the 2010 tax forms. This is the total tax due.

If you have paid any taxes already, subtract them from the total taxes due. If this amount is more than your total tax, subtracting it will show you how much your refund is! If total tax is more than you paid, subtracting the two shows how much you owe.

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