1. How To Fill Out A 1040 Tax Form
Unit 3 – Taxes – Day 5

2. Section 1
Personal Information

3. Section 2
Filing Status

4. Section 3
Exemptions

5. Section 4
Income

6. Section 5
Adjusted Gross Income

7. Section 6
Tax and Credits

8. Section 7 Other Taxes Any other taxes you are responsible for.
For example: self-employment tax and the additional 10% tax for early withdrawals on an IRA.

9. Section 8
Payments
This is where the withholdings from each paycheck throughout the year is included.
Recorded on the W2.

10. Section 9 Refund / Amount You Owe
REFUND: When the sum of your withholdings was greater than your total tax.
AMOUNT OWED: When the sum of your withholdings was less than your total tax.
You will only fill out one or the other.

11. Example 1:
Joe and Suzanne have been married for 6 years, and they have 2 children. Suzanne works as a registered nurse at the hospital and makes $60,000 a year. Joe is a teacher with a part-time job as a high school football referee. He makes $36,000. They are filing their taxes under the status “married filing jointly.” They put $2,000 in a Health Savings Account and Joe has spent $300 on supplies for his classroom. If they itemize their deductions are as follows: $2000 for state income tax, and $9000 for charitable contributions. They will also receive a $1000 tax credit for each child. Last year Joe and Suzanne also put in an energy efficient water heater and qualify for $1500 tax credit. Joe had a withholding of $3600 recorded on his W2 and Suzanne had a withholding of $9000 on her W2.

12. Example 2
John works as an Idaho state prosecutor and makes $52,000 a year. He is single without children. He received $245 from bank interest. He received $5 per share in dividends from Apple and owns 25 shares. John has asthma so he puts $550 in a health savings account. He invests $100 per month in his IRA. John’s deductions include $3,000 for state income tax, $4,000 for mortgage interest, and $2,150 to charities. He receives a $500 tax credit for installing energy efficient windows this year. John has a W2 withholding totaling $3,200 and a first time homebuyer credit of $1,500.