Ray is an incoming senior at State Universitywho just finished up a summer internship at Corporate Co.
Ray had a great experience, and made a lotof money, so he thinks he might have to submit a tax return.
There’s just one problem.
Ray has no idea where to start.
What should he do? Well, for starters, Ray needs to figure outwhether or not he even needs to file a tax return.
While this sounds complicated, it’s actuallyquite simple.
If Ray’s income exceeds a certain threshold,he’ll need to file a tax return.
Otherwise, he generally won’t.
So what’s the threshold? Well, as of 2015, single, independent individualswith gross income above $10,300 must file tax returns.
While that may seems sizeable, keep in mindgross income includes every major form of income, such as earned income, like from wagesand self- employment, and unearned income, like from investments and interest, so almosteveryone will clear the threshold.
But that’s not the only criteria.
If you have $400 worth of net earnings fromself-employment, you’ll have to file a tax return, even if you don’t meet the overallincome threshold.
Finally, we come to dependents.
They must also file a tax return, so longas they exceed one of the following criteria as of 2015: $6,300 in earned income $1,050in unearned income, $400 in net earnings from self employment, or, wait for it, gross incomethat exceeds the larger of these two criteria: • $1,050• Or earned income, up to a limit of $5,950, plus $350.
We know this may all seem overwhelming.
But don’t worry.
The IRS actually has a great “Do I Needto File” Tool that will walk you step by step through this entire process, even coveringscenarios too complex to explain here.
But let’s get back to Ray.
Where does he fall? Well, Ray is an independent with $30,000 ingross income, so he’ll definitely have to file a federal and state tax return.
The due date for this is usually April 15th,but Ray can generally start as soon as mid to late January.
Finally, even if Ray didn’t meet the incomethreshold, he may still want to file a tax return.
That’s because if he worked as a traditionalemployee throughout the course of the year, income would have been withheld from his paycheckby his employer, and the only way to get that money back would be by filing a tax return.
Hopefully you and Ray now better understandwhether or not you need to file a tax return.
Be sure to check out our next video, whereyou’ll learn how to actually pay your taxes, and be sure to check out our website, whereyou can find more educational material and free recommendations for great tax-filingsoftware.
영상 정리
영상 정리
1. 레이는 대학 3학년이고 여름 인턴을 마쳤어요.
2. 인턴 경험이 좋아서 돈도 많이 벌었어요.
3. 그래서 세금 신고를 해야 할지 고민 중이에요.
4. 먼저, 신고할 필요가 있는지 확인해야 해요.
5. 수입이 일정 기준을 넘으면 신고해야 해요.
6. 2015년 기준, 독립된 성인은 1만 300달러 이상이면 신고해야 해요.
7. 수입에는 급여, 자영업 소득, 이자 등 모든 수입이 포함돼요.
8. 자영업 수입이 400달러 이상이면 신고해야 해요.
9. 또한, 부양가족도 일정 조건을 넘으면 신고해야 해요.
10. 부양가족 기준은 6,300달러 이상 근로소득, 또는 1,050달러 이상 이자소득이에요.