Home / Dependents and My Filing Status / How Dependents File Their Taxes
Generally, you are a dependent if someone provides more than half of your support for housing and food. If you are 19 years old or less on December 31, 2005 and not a student, you are probably claimed by your parent(s). If you are 24 years old or less on December 31, 2005 and are student, you are probably claimed by your parent(s). If you over 19 years old and made less than $3,200, you may be claimed by someone if you lived with your supporter all year long.
To find out if you are a dependent of someone else, ask the person who is supporting you. They will know because in order to claim you as a dependent, they must enter your name, social security number, and date of birth on their tax return.
Other than checking a box in the tax program saying your a dependent of someone else, much of your filing is the same as everyone else.
Since a dependent can't claim another person as a dependent (if you can't support yourself, the IRS figures you couldn't support someone else), your choices in filing status, and in certain tax deductions and tax credits are limited. But then again, you probably are not claiming much taxable income. If you have a child, then probably the person who supports and claims you can also claim your child as a dependent. The section, Do I have a Qualifying Dependent?, provides the details of who can claim whom as a dependent.
What filing as a dependent means is that you have transferred your personal exemption of $3,200 to your supporter. Your supporter then gets a $3,200 tax deduction for their efforts. But you still retain your standard deduction so you can automatically write-off a large portion of your income. Generally, for single people, the standard deduction is $5,000. There are some twists and turns, but the tax program will do all the calculations and give you the maximum standard deduction based on your types of income.
If you worked for someone and received a W-2, you are an employee of that company.
In all likelihood, your best choice for the form to file is Form 1040ez for $4.95.
The navigation tab section, 1040 EZ ... How to E-file, explains the few steps to file your taxes online with us.
If you have any amount of money in Box 8 of your W-2, it means that your employer says that you have not reported to them all your tip income. This usually happens if you are a waiter or waitress. If you can't get your employer to reissue a revised W-2, then you will have to file a Form 1040. This is because you will have to pay an additional 15.3% social security and Medicare tax on the amount of money in box 8. This can add up to alot of money. Maybe your employer made a mistake. Check with him/her to see if they can reissued a new W-2 without any amount in Box 8.
In this situation, your only choice for the form to file is Form 1040 for $19.95.
Just input the all information on your W-2 including the Box 8 amount. The tax program will do all the calculations, and fill in any additional schedules.
The navigation tab section, 1040 ... How to E-file, explains the few steps to file your taxes online with us.
If you worked for someone and received a 1099-MISC tax paper instead of a W-2, you are considered self-employed. Notice that Box 7, non-employee compensation, on the 1099-MISC tax paper is checked.
The IRS won't allow you to file a 1099-MISC on Form 1040ez. This is because there may be social security and Medicare taxes (15.3% of your income) that you may have to pay unless your net income is less than $400. If you have a 1099-MISC, then you must (by IRS rules) file Form 1040 with a Schedule C or C-EZ. For low amounts of money with few business deductions, filing the 1040 with Schedule C-EZ is just about as easy as filing the 1040ez. The price for Form 1040 with all and any business schedules is $19.95.
Go to the navigation tab, Self Employed ... Schedule C, for details on how to write off this income with legitimate business expenses. You are self employed and trying to make a profit, so you have business expenses.
