Who must file. Generally, the amount of income you can receive before you must file a return has been increased. See Table 1-1, Table 1-2, and Table 1-3 for the specific amounts.

Telefile no longer available. You can no longer use Telefile to file your tax return. There are other IRS e-file options that you can use.

Automatic 6-month extension. You can now use Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to obtain an automatic 6-month extension to file your tax return.

Mailing your return. You may be mailing your return to a different address this year because the IRS has changed the filing location for several areas. If you received an envelope with your tax package, please use it. Otherwise, see Where Do I File, later in this chapter.

Alternative filing methods. Rather than filing a return on paper, you may be able to file electronically using IRS e-file. Create your own personal identification number (PIN) and file a completely paperless tax return. For more information, see Does My Return Have To Be on Paper, later.

Change of address. If you change your address, you should notify the IRS. See Change of Address, later, under What Happens After I File. If you were affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita, you may be able to verbally change your address.

Enter your social security number.  You must enter your social security number (SSN) in the spaces provided on your tax return. If you file a joint return, enter the SSNs in the same order as the names.

Direct deposit of refund. Instead of getting a paper check, you may be able to have your refund deposited directly into your account at a bank or other financial institution. See Direct Deposit under Refunds, later.

Alternative payment methods. If you owe additional tax, you may be able to pay electronically. See How To Pay, later.

Installment agreement. If you cannot pay the full amount due with your return, you may ask to make monthly installment payments. See Installment Agreement, later, under Amount You Owe.

Service in combat zone. You are allowed extra time to take care of your tax matters if you are a member of the Armed Forces who served in a combat zone, or if you served in the combat zone in support of the Armed Forces. See Individuals Serving in Combat Zone, later, under When Do I Have To File.

Adoption taxpayer identification number. If a child has been placed in your home for purposes of legal adoption and you will not be able to get a social security number for the child in time to file your return, you may be able to get an adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN). For more information, see Social Security Number, later.

Taxpayer identification number for aliens. If you or your dependent is a nonresident or resident alien who does not have and is not eligible to get a social security number, file Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, with the IRS. For more information, see Social Security Number, later.

This chapter discusses:

You must file a federal income tax return if you are a citizen or resident of the United States or a resident of Puerto Rico and you meet the filing requirements for any of the following categories that apply to you.

The filing requirements for each category are explained in this chapter.

The filing requirements apply even if you do not owe tax.

Individuals—In General

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, whether you must file a return depends on three factors:

1. Your gross income,

2. Your filing status, and

3. Your age.

To find out whether you must file, see Table 1-1, Table 1-2, and Table 1-3. Even if no table shows that you must file, you may need to file to get money back. (See Who Should File, later.)

Gross income.   This includes all income you receive in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from tax. It also includes income from sources outside the United States (even if you may exclude all or part of it). Common types of income are discussed in Part Two of this publication.

Community income.   If you are married and your permanent home is in a community property state, half of any income described by state law as community income may be considered yours. This affects your federal taxes, including whether you must file if you do not file a joint return with your spouse. See Publication 555, Community Property, for more information.

Self-employed individuals.   If you are self-employed, your gross income includes the amount on line 7 of Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business, line 1 of Schedule C-EZ, (Form 1040), Net Profit From Business, and line 11 of Schedule F (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Farming. See Self-Employed Persons, later, for more information about your filing requirements.

  

If you do not report all of your self-employment income, your social security benefits may be lower when you retire.

Filing status.   Your filing status depends on whether you are single or married and on your family situation. Your filing status is determined on the last day of your tax year, which is December 31 for most taxpayers. See chapter 2 for an explanation of each filing status.

Age.   If you are 65 or older at the end of the year, you generally can have a higher amount of gross income than other taxpayers before you must file. See Table 1-1. You are considered 65 on the day before your 65th birthday. For example, if your 65th birthday is on January 1, 2006, you are considered 65 for 2005.

Table 1-1.2005 Filing Requirements for Most Taxpayers

IF your filing status is...	AND at the end of 2005 you were...*	THEN file a return if your gross income was at least...**
single	under 65	$8,200
	65 or older	$9,450
married filing jointly***	under 65 (both spouses)	$16,400
	65 or older (one spouse)	$17,400
	65 or older (both spouses)	$18,400
married filing separately	any age	$3,200
head of household	under 65	$10,500
	65 or older	$11,750
qualifying widow(er) with	under 65	$13,200
dependent child	65 or older	$14,200

*	If you were born on January 1, 1941, you are considered to be age 65 at the end of 2005.
**	Gross income means all income you received in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from tax, including any income from sources outside the United States (even if you may exclude part or all of it). Do not include social security benefits unless you are married filing a separate return and you lived with your spouse at any time during 2005.
***	If you did not live with your spouse at the end of 2005 (or on the date your spouse died) and your gross income was at least $3,200, you must file a return regardless of your age.

Surviving Spouses, Executors, Administrators, and Legal Representatives

You must file a final return for a decedent (a person who died) if both of the following are true.

• You are the surviving spouse, executor, administrator, or legal representative.

• The decedent met the filing requirements at the date of death.

For more information on rules for filing a decedent's final return, see Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.

U.S. Citizens and Residents Living Outside the United States

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident living outside the United States, you must file a return if you meet the filing requirements. For information on special tax rules that may apply to you, get Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad. It is available at most U.S. embassies and consulates. Also see How To Get Tax Help in the back of this publication.

Residents of Puerto Rico

Generally, if you are a U.S. citizen and a resident of Puerto Rico, you must file a U.S. income tax return if you meet the filing requirements. This is in addition to any legal requirement you may have to file an income tax return for Puerto Rico.

If you are a resident of Puerto Rico for the entire year, gross income does not include income from sources within Puerto Rico, except for amounts received as an employee of the United States or a U.S. agency. If you receive income from Puerto Rican sources that is not subject to U.S. tax, you must reduce your standard deduction. As a result, the amount of income you must have before you are required to file a U.S. income tax return is lower than the applicable amount in Table 1-1 or Table 1-2. For more information, see Publication 570, Tax Guide for Individuals With Income From U.S. Possessions.

Individuals With Income From U.S. Possessions

If you had income from Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands, special rules may apply when determining whether you must file a U.S. federal income tax return. In addition, you may have to file a return with the individual island government. See Publication 570 for more information.

You must use one of three forms to file your return: Form 1040EZ, Form 1040A, or Form 1040. (But also see Does My Return Have To Be on Paper, later.)

Form 1040A

If you do not qualify to use Form 1040EZ, you may be able to use Form 1040A.

You can use Form 1040A if all of the following apply.   

1. Your income is only from wages, salaries, tips, IRA distributions, pensions and annuities, taxable social security and railroad retirement benefits, taxable scholarship and fellowship grants, interest, ordinary dividends (including Alaska Permanent Fund dividends), capital gain distributions, and unemployment compensation.

2. Your taxable income is less than $100,000.

3. Your adjustments to income are for only the following items.

   1. Educator expenses.

   2. IRA deduction.

   3. Student loan interest deduction.

   4. Tuition and fees deduction.

4. You do not itemize your deductions.

5. Your taxes are from only the following items.

   1. Tax Table.

   2. Alternative minimum tax. (See chapter 30.)

   3. Advance earned income credit (EIC) payments, if you received any. (See chapter 36.)

   4. Recapture of an education credit. (See chapter 35.)

   5. Form 8615, Tax for Children Under Age 14 With Investment Income of More Than $1,600.

   6. Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet.

6. You claim only the following tax credits.

   1. The credit for child and dependent care expenses. (See chapter 32.)

   2. The credit for the elderly or the disabled. (See chapter 33.)

   3. The child tax credit. (See chapter 34.)

   4. The additional child tax credit. (See chapter 34.)

   5. The education credits. (See chapter 35.)

   6. The retirement savings contributions credit. (See chapter 37.)

   7. The earned income credit. (See chapter 36.)

   8. The adoption credit. (See chapter 37.)

7. You did not have an alternative minimum tax adjustment on stock you acquired from the exercise of an incentive stock option. (See Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income.)

  You must meet all of the above requirements to use Form 1040A. If you do not, you must use Form 1040.

  If you meet the above requirements, you can use Form 1040A even if you received employer-provided adoption benefits or dependent care benefits.

  

If you receive a capital gain distribution that includes unrecaptured section 1250 gain, section 1202 gain, or collectibles (28%) gain, you cannot use Form 1040A. You must use Form 1040.

You may be able to file a paperless return using IRS e-file (electronic filing). It's so easy, over 68 million taxpayers preferred e-file over filing a paper tax return last year.

This section explains how to e-file:

IRS e-file

Please click here for the text description of the image.

E-file logo

Table 1-4 lists the benefits of IRS e-file. IRS e-file uses automation to replace most of the manual steps needed to process paper returns. As a result, the processing of e-file returns is faster and more accurate than the processing of paper returns. However, as with a paper return, you are responsible for making sure your return contains accurate information and is filed on time.

Using e-file does not affect your chances of an IRS examination of your return.

Electronic signatures.   Create your own personal identification number (PIN) and use a tax professional or file your own paperless return electronically. If you are married filing jointly, you and your spouse will each need to create a PIN and enter these PINs as your electronic signatures.

  A PIN is any combination of five numbers, except five zeros. If you use a PIN, there is nothing to sign and nothing to mail—not even your Forms W-2.

  To verify your identity, you will be asked to enter your adjusted gross income (AGI) from your originally filed 2004 income tax return, if applicable. Do not use your AGI from an amended return (Form 1040X), math error notice, or other changed amount from the IRS. AGI is the amount shown on your 2004 Form 1040, line 36; Form 1040A, line 21; Form 1040EZ, line 4; and on TeleFile Tax Record, line 1. If you do not have your 2004 income tax return, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to get a free transcript of your account. You will also be asked to enter your date of birth (DOB). Make sure your DOB is accurate and matches the information on record with the Social Security Administration by checking your annual Social Security Statement.

Table 1-4.Benefits of IRS e-file

Eligible for Free File	•	Free File allows qualified taxpayers to prepare and e-file their own tax returns for free using commercially available online tax preparation software.
	•	Review online tax software provider offerings and determine if you are eligible by visiting the Free File page at www.irs.gov.
Fast! Easy! Convenient!	•	Get your refund in half the time as paper filers do, even faster and safer with direct deposit.
	•	Sign electronically and file a completely paperless return.
	•	Receive an electronic proof of receipt within 48 hours that the IRS received your return.
	•	If you owe, you can e-file and authorize an electronic funds withdrawal or pay by credit card. If you e-file before April 17, 2006, you can schedule an electronic funds withdrawal from your checking or savings account as late as April 17, 2006.
	•	Prepare and file your federal and state returns together and save time.
Accurate! Secure!	•	IRS computers quickly and automatically check for errors or other missing information.
	•	The chance of being audited does not differ whether you e-file or file a paper tax return.
	•	Your bank account information is safeguarded along with other tax return information. The IRS does not have access to credit card numbers.

  

You cannot sign your return electronically if you are a first-time filer under age 16 at the end of 2005, or if you are filing Form 3115, 3468 (if attachments are required), 5713, 8283 (if completing Section B), 8332, 8858, or 8885.

  For more details on the PIN method, visit