Is There A Minimum Income To File Taxes In California
For many California residents, filing taxes is a requirement, but there can be some exceptions based on income and other factors. Individuals or families who do not earn a significant gross income may not have to file a federal income tax return, but there can still be advantages to doing so. OC Free Tax Prep can help offset the costs of filing for low-income households and ensure families are maximizing their return potential.
California residents are gearing up for tax season. Though the deadline to file is May 17, 2021, it is not too early to start gathering necessary documents. A big question on some peoples minds, however, is whether they even need to file taxes if they did not have significant income.
These Situations May Require A Tax Return
You might also be required to file for reasons other than, such as if youre:
- Self-Employed and earned at least $400
- Received payment on a 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC form
- Bought health insurance from a state or federal marketplace
Just like the tax code, trying to determine if you make enough income to file a tax return can get involved. If you are unsure, its best to speak with a tax professional or use DIY tax software to see if it makes sense to file.
Do Small Businesses Get Money Back On Taxes
Most small businesses don’t receive IRS refunds because they don’t pay taxes at least not directly. Pass-through businesses, including sole proprietors, partnerships, LLCs and S corporations, may file tax returns, but taxable income passes through to the owner or shareholder’s personal tax return.
Also Check: Have My Taxes Been Accepted
Reasons You Might Want To File
In some cases, even if you dont meet the legal requirements to file a return, it could be in your best interest to file anyway. Lets imagine an individual who earns $5,000 during the tax year. Most likely, a portion of that will be withheld for federal tax. That means the individual will have paid tax during the year, but they are not actually required to pay tax because their annual income does not surpass the threshold for single taxpayer standard deduction.
Most likely, this example individual will not be required by law to file a tax return. They will want to file, however, as the money that was paid during the course of the year will come back in the form of a refund.
Dont make the mistake of thinking that you should resist filing a federal tax return unless you are required to do so. Always take a look at your tax situation, even if you only have minimal earnings for the year, and determine whether or not it would be beneficial to file.
Exceptions To The Rule
You must report all sales of capital assets, except those within a qualified retirement account such as a 401. A special rule applies if the asset is a collectible, such as precious metals, jewelry, antiques and art. The 1099-B has a checkbox that identifies the asset as a collectible. The long-term capital gains tax on profits from the sale of collectibles is fixed at 28 percent, higher than the long-term capital gains tax on financial assets like stock.
Recommended Reading: Taxes For Doordash
How Do I Get My Tax Refund
Luckily for you, the IRS is very good about getting your tax refund to you.
In fact, you can check out the IRSs Wheres my refund? tool to find the status of your tax refund right now. And according to the IRS, they issue nine out of ten refunds back to the taxpayer within 21 days after they file their taxes.
Ultimately, though, how soon you get your refund back depends on two things:
- How you file your taxes
- How you elect to receive your refund
If you decide to file your taxes through good old fashioned pen and paper, its going to take considerably longer to get your refund back. In fact, youre going to have to wait four to six weeks before youre even able to check your status on their Wheres my refund? tool.
There is another route though: Electronic tax filings.
You receive your tax refund even faster when you file it electronically via platforms like TurboTax or IRS e-file. There you can elect to receive your refund through direct deposit . Its secure, fast, and the same way the government deposits millions of Social Security and Veteran Affairs benefits each year.
When you get your money back, be sure to put it to good use:
So you know how much youre getting back and how to get your money. Now lets get into what you might be getting WRONG about your tax refund.
Your Hobby May Be A Taxable Business
What you consider to be a hobby may be a business in the eyes of the Canada Revenue Agency . If you are making a profit from it, then it is considered to be business income. You may not view what you’re doing as actually running a business, but the CRA defines a business as “any activity that you do for profit.” This includes a profession, a calling, a trade, an adventure or concern in the way of trade, and an undertaking of any kind.
It doesn’t matter if your hobby income is small because there is no threshold. When you file your Canadian income tax you must declare allof your income from all sources, including your hobby income.
Also Check: Plasma Donation Taxes
Do You Need To File A Tax Return In 2019
Getty
Tax season kicked off on Monday, January 28, 2019, and the Internal Revenue Service expects to process more than 150 million individual tax returns for the 2018 tax year. According to the agency, through mid-day Monday, the IRS had already received several million tax returns during the busy opening hours. But not everyone is rushing to file, and you may not need to file. Heres what you need to know about whether you need to file a tax return in 2019.
For the 2019 tax filing season, youll report the income and corresponding deductions for the tax year 2018. That includes pay received in 2018 but not pay that you receive in 2019 for services performed in 2018 .
Just because you received income in 2018, however, doesnt necessarily mean that you have to file a federal income tax return. For most taxpayers, you can figure whether you have to file by checking the chart below. Choose your filing status, your age and your gross income for the year if your gross income is above the threshold for your age and filing status, you should file a federal income tax return.
File 2019
KPE
And no, thats not a typo: The threshold for married filing separately really is $5. And if you file as married filing jointly but you didnt live with your spouse at the end of 2018 and your gross income was at least $5, you also must file a tax return .
When figuring gross income, consider all income you received that isnt exempt from tax, including:
Open for business sign
Irs Rules Regarding Your Age
As the table above indicates, individuals younger than age 65 must file if they make certain amounts. The earnings threshold amounts go up a bit for individuals 65 and up.
For married couples that file separate tax returns, the earnings target is based on the age of the older spouse.
In most situations, your age for tax purposes depends on how old you were on the last day of the year. But when it comes to determining whether you have to file a return, the IRS says that if you turned 65 on New Years Day, you are considered to be 65 at the end of the previous tax year. The one-day grace period allows you to use the higher income thresholds to determine whether you must file a tax return.
Read Also: Where’s My Tax Refund Ga
When Social Security Benefits May Be Taxable
When determining whether you need to file a return and you receive Social Security benefits, you need to consider tax-exempt income because it can cause your benefits to be taxable even if you don’t have any other taxable income.
Here’s an example of where you may need to file, even with tax-exempt income:
- You are under age 65 and receive $30,000 in Social Security benefits, but also receive another $31,000 in tax-exempt interest. $14,700 of your Social Security benefits will be considered taxable income.
- This is greater than your standard deduction and you would need to file a tax return.
To figure out if your Social Security benefits are taxable:
- Add one-half of the Social Security income to all other income, including tax-exempt interest.
- Then compare that amount to the base amount for your filing status.
- If the total is more than the base amount, some of your benefits may be taxable.
TurboTax can help you estimate if you’ll need to file a tax return and what income will be taxable.
What Is The Minimum Income To File Taxes
If your gross income for a tax year is low enough, you dont have to file a federal income tax return. But the exact threshold depends on a few factors.
- Your filing status For example, the threshold for single filers is much lower than for married couples filing jointly.
- Age Filing thresholds are generally higher for people 65 and older across all filing statuses.
- Dependency status Children and other dependents have different filing thresholds that are also based on the type of income they have .
- Employment status If youre self-employed, other rules may apply.
Here are the basic filing requirement thresholds for 2020 taxes.
Also Check: Where Do I File My Illinois Tax Return
The Net Income Formula
Determining whether taxes are due begins with completing Schedule C as part of your personal Form 1040 tax return if you have a pass-through business. This form determines your net business income what’s left and taxable after you’ve deducted your business expenses. You won’t have to pay taxes if you arrive at a negative number you had a business loss.
Your business expenses might include a home office or work space, allowing you to deduct a percentage of your rent or mortgage interest, utilities and insurance equal to the percentage of your home’s square footage that you use exclusively for business purposes. You can also deduct the cost of tools or supplies, car or truck expenses, advertising costs and even legal costs.
The total remaining after these subtractions is your business income, to be transferred to your Form 1040.
When To File A Return Even If Not Required
Just because you are not legally required to file a tax return, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. You should file if one of the following applies.
- Income tax was withheld from your pay
- You made estimated tax payments for the year
- You had any part of a tax overpayment for last year applied to this year’s estimated tax
- Qualified for the earned income tax credit
- Qualified for the child tax credit
- Eligible for the refundable American opportunity education credit
Also Check: How To Appeal Property Taxes Cook County
How Much Do You Have To Make To File Taxes In The Us
Tax season is upon us, with the deadline only a couple of months away. And that deadline will be here before you know it.
Getting all of your tax information prepared as early as possible is important. But depending on the money you make and how you plan on filing your taxes, there’s another important thing to figure out: do you even make enough money to require filing taxes?
It can be a worthwhile question if you’re not making that much money. If you’re below a certain threshold of annual income, you may not need to file them. However, often even in these cases, there are other circumstances that will necessitate a tax return, such as the health insurance you have, whether you’re self-employed or whether you’re eligible for an earned income tax credit.
If these don’t apply to you, though, do you need to file taxes?
When It Pays To File
For those few who dont legally have to file, it pays sometimes to send in a return anyway.
This is the case for individuals who dont earn much but might be eligible for the earned income tax credit. This benefit is available to qualified individuals even if they owe no tax, meaning they would get money back from the federal government. Many people think the credit is available only to parents. Its not. But the credit amount is greater for eligible low-wage taxpayers with children.
Plus, the IRS says that most individual taxpayers are due a tax refund. But those taxpayers must send in a Form 1040, Form 1040A or Form 1040EZ to get that cash.
You can check out the filing requirements section of IRS Publication 17 for more details.
Once youve determined that you need to file taxes, your next question is likely to be when do I have to file taxes? This year, the deadline for filing your 2020 tax return is Thursday, April 15, 2021. If youre still not sure whether you must file a tax return, ask a tax professional, call the IRS at 829-1040 or make an appointment at your nearest IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center.
Also Check: How Much Is Payroll Tax In Louisiana
Get The Advanced Child Tax Credit Or The Third Economic Impact Payment
Find what you need to do to get the 2021 Advanced Child Tax Credit Payments or claim the Third Economic Impact Payment.
This interview will help you determine if you’re required to file a federal tax return or if you should file to receive a refund.
Note: In 2020, the IRS issued two Economic Impact Payments as part of the economic stimulus efforts. The first payments were up to $1,200 person and $500 per qualifying child. The second payments were up to $600 per eligible person and $600 per qualifying child. For 2021, eligible taxpayers who did not receive the full amount, can claim it as the Recovery Rebate Credit when filing a 2020 tax return.
But You Said That 1099
Thatâs right.
1099-K is an extremely misleading form that cryptocurrency exchanges are sending out to cover their bases from a regulatory and liability standpoint. The unfortunate thing is that 1099-K provides no information on your gains and losses .
To report your crypto taxes properly, you need to completeForm 8949. You can read our blog post detailing how to report crypto on taxes for a step-by-step walkthrough of this process.
Still confused? No problem. Our team here at CryptoTrader.Tax has been working with crypto taxes for a long time. We are happy to answer any of your tax related questions. Just send us a chat through the live chat widget on our homepage.
Recommended Reading: When Do You Do Tax Returns
Freelance Taxes For Canadians
Barry Choi450 **This post may contain affiliate links. I may be compensated if you use them.
Ever since I started my side hustle, freelance taxes has been a major concern for me. I say major because I absolutely hate taxes. Despite the fact that I have a decent understanding of taxes, I just seem to have an irrational fear about them when tax season rolls around.
Freelance taxes for Canadians applies to small businesses, freelancers, and self-employed individuals. All of the information you need can be found on the Canadian Revenue Agency website, but this post is meant as a quick overview when it comes to taxes for freelancers.
Paying Taxes On Robinhood Stocks
If your dividends are over $10 or you sell a stock or bitcoin within a filing year as a Robinhood client, youll have to file taxes on this income. When you receive your consolidated Form 1099 , youll have all the information you need to properly file taxes on your Robinhood stocks and cryptocurrency.
It will send the same form to the IRS.
Only investments youve sold are taxable, so you wont pay taxes on investments you held throughout the year. If you had a bad year and your losses outstrip your gains, you can deduct up to $3,000 from your taxable income as long as you sell any duds by the end of the year. This tax strategy is known as tax-loss harvesting, and it can help make up for any losses you saw.
Also Check: How Much Is H& r Block Charge
Filing For Educational Purposes
Filing income taxes can teach children how the U.S. tax system works while helping them create sound filing habits for later in life. In some cases, it also can help children start saving money or earning benefits for the future as noted above.
Even if your child doesn’t qualify for a refund, wants to earn Social Security credits, or opens a retirement account, learning how the tax system works is important enough to justify the effort.
When A Dependent May Need To File A Tax Return
Taxpayers who are claimed as a dependent on someone’s tax return are subject to different IRS filing requirements, regardless of whether they are children or adults. A tax return is necessary when their earned income is more than their standard deduction.
The standard deduction for single dependents who are under age 65 and not blind is the greater of:
- $1,100 in 2020
- Or the sum of $350 + the person’s earned income, up to the standard deduction for an unclaimed single taxpayer which is $12,400 in 2020.
A dependent’s income can be “unearned” when it comes from sources such as dividends and interest. When a dependent’s unearned income is greater than $1,100 in 2020, the dependent must file a tax return.
Recommended Reading: Is Past Year Tax Legit
