Is everyone required to file a tax return?
No they are not. There is a chart that shows the income threshold on whether or not someone needs to file a tax return that is based on the age of the filer, how they are filing and what their income is. An example of this would be if you are a single filer and you are not at least 65 years old or blind and you make less than $1100 unearned income, less than $12,550 earned income, your gross income was less than the larger of the $1100 or earned income of $12,200. There are a few other situations where taxpayers are required to file a return as well. Those are if your net earnings from self employment are $400 or more, if you have church wages over $108.28, if you received HAS, Archer MSA or Medicare advantage msa, if you have advanced payments of the premium tax credit or if you owe special taxes like hou8sehold employment taxes. So basically what I am saying is that there are several variables that contribute to your filing requirements so I would definitely consult a tax professional before decided not to file.
If someone is not required to file will it benefit them in any way to still file?
It could. Even if a taxpayer does not otherwise have to file a return the taxpayer should file one to get a refund of any federal income tax withheld or if the taxpayer made estimated tax payments for the year or had any overpayments for last year applied to this years estimated tax. A taxpayer also should file if eligible for any credits including earned income credit, additional child tax credit, American opportunity credit, credit for federal tax on fuel and the premium tax credits.
Can you claim anyone that lives with you as a dependent?
To claim a person as a dependent the taxpayer must meet 3 tests. 1. Dependent taxpayer test means that they cannot qualify as a dependent on another person’s return. 2. Joint return test means that they are not married and can not be claimed on a joint return. 3. Resident test means that they must be a us citizen, us resident alien, us national or resident of Canada or Mexico for some part of the year. After they qualify with those 3 tests then they go through 4 tests to see if they are a qualifying child. If they don’t pass those then they can go onto 4 more tests to see if they are a qualifying relative.
What do people that are going through divorce do about their filing status?
Filing status depends on the taxpayers marital status on the last day of the tax year. The IRS considers a person unmarried for the whole year if on the last day of the tax year they are unmarried or legally separated from a spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree. If a spouse dies during the year the IRS considers the surviving spouse married for the whole year and allows married filing jointly as the filing status.