3. What should I do if I made a mistake on my federal return that I have already filed?
4. Is there an age limit on claiming my children as dependents?
5. What is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009?
6. How much does a student have to make before he or she has to file an income tax return?
7. For head of household filing status, do you have to claim a child as a dependent to qualify?
8. How do I notify the IRS my address has changed?
9. How do I know if I have to file quarterly individual estimated tax payments?
11. Is there an age limit on claiming my child as a dependent?
Question: Can a person receive a tax refund if they are currently in a payment plan for prior year's federal taxes?
Answer: As a condition of your agreement, any refund due you in a future year will be applied against the amount you owe.
Continue making your installment agreement payments as scheduled because your refund is not considered as a substitute for your regular payment due.
You may not get all of your refund if you owe certain past-due amounts, such as federal tax, state tax, a student loan, or child support.
IRS will automatically apply the refund to the taxes owed.
Question: What is a split refund?
Answer: A split refund lets you divide your refund, in any proportion you want, and direct deposit the funds in up to three different accounts with U.S. financial institutions.
Question: What should I do if I made a mistake on my federal return that I have already filed?
Answer: It depends on the type of mistake that you made:
Many mathematical errors are caught in the processing of the tax return itself.
If you did not attach a required schedule the service will contact you and ask for the missing information.
If you did not report all your income or did not claim a credit, you are entitled to file an amended or corrected return using Form 1040X (PDF), Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
When filing an amended or corrected return:
Include copies of any schedules that have been changed or any Form W-2 (PDF) you did not include.
The Form 1040X (PDF) should be submitted after you receive your refund or by the due date of the return, whichever, is earlier.
Generally, to claim a refund, the Form 1040X (PDF) must be received within three years after the date you filed your original return or within two years after the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.
Question: Is there an age limit on claiming my children as dependents?
Answer: Age is a factor in the qualifying child test, but a qualifying relative can be any age.
As long as the following dependency exemption tests are met, you may claim him or her:
Qualifying child or qualifying relative test
Dependent taxpayer test
Citizenship or resident test
Joint return test
Question: What is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009?
Answer: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The bill is intended to provide a stimulus to the U.S. economy in the wake of the economic downturn. The bill includes federal tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits and other social provisions, including domestic spending in education, health care, and infrastructure, including the energy sector.
Question: How much does a student have to make before he or she has to file an income tax return?
Answer: If you are an unmarried dependent, you must file a tax return if your earned and/or unearned income exceeds certain limits.
To find these limits refer to Filing Requirements for Dependents in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information.
Even if you do not have to file, you should file a federal income tax return to get money back if any of the following apply:
You had income tax withheld from your pay.
You qualify for the earned income credit.
You qualify for the additional child tax credit.
Question: For head of household filing status, do you have to claim a child as a dependent to qualify?
Answer: In certain circumstances, you do not need to claim the child as a dependent to qualify for head of household filing status, such as when the qualifying child is unmarried and is your child, grandchild, stepchild, or adopted child.
Question: How do I notify the IRS my address has changed?
If you filed a joint return, and are still residing with your spouse, both you and your spouse should sign the form or statement.
If you filed a joint return and you now have separate addresses, each of you should notify us of your new, separate address.
Authorized representatives filing a form or written statement to change an address for a taxpayer must attach a copy of their power of attorney or Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. Unauthorized third parties can't change a taxpayer's address.
Changes of address through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) may update your address of record on file with us based on what they retain in their National Change of Address (NCOA) database. However, even when you notify the USPS, not all post offices forward government checks, so you should still notify us.
For changes of address relating to an employment tax return, we issue confirmation notices (Notices 148A and 148B) for the change to both the new and former address.
It can take four to six weeks for a change of address request to fully process.
Question: How do I know if I have to file quarterly individual estimated tax payments?
Answer: If you owed additional tax for the prior tax year, you may have to make estimated tax payments for the current tax year.
You must make estimated tax payments for the current tax year if both of the following apply:
You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for the current tax year, after subtracting your withholding and credits.
You expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of:
90% of the tax to be shown on your current year’s tax return, or 100% of the tax shown on your prior year’s tax return. (Your prior year tax return must cover all 12 months.)
There are special rules for:
Certain taxpayers with higher adjusted gross income
Farmers and commercial fishermen
Aliens
Estates and Trusts
Question: If I claim my daughter as a dependent because she is a full-time college student, can she claim herself as a dependent when she files her return?
Answer: If you claim your daughter as a dependent on your income tax return, she cannot claim herself on her income tax return.
If an individual is filing his or her own tax return, and the individual can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return, the individual cannot claim his or her own personal exemption.
In this case, your daughter should check the box on her return indicating that someone else can claim her as a dependent.
Question: Is there an age limit on claiming my child as a dependent?
Answer: To claim your child as your dependent, your child must meet either the qualifying child test or the qualifying relative test:
To meet the qualifying child test, your child must be younger than you and either younger than 19 years old or be a "student" younger than 24 years old as of the end of the calendar year.
There's no age limit if your child is "permanently and totally disabled" or meets the qualifying relative test.
In addition to meeting the qualifying child or qualifying relative test, your child must also meet all of the other tests for claiming a dependent:
Dependent taxpayer test
Citizen or resident test, and
Joint return test
Question: How much income can an unmarried dependent student make before he or she must file an income tax return?
Answer: An unmarried dependent student must file a tax return if his or her earned or unearned income exceeds certain limits. To find these limits, refer to Dependents under Who Must File, in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.
Even if you don't have to file a federal income tax return, you should file if you can get money back (for example, you had federal income tax withheld from your pay or you qualify for a refundable tax credit). See Who Should File in Publication 501, for more examples.