| Publication 554 |
2008 Tax Year |
1.
2008 Filing Requirements
If income tax was withheld from your pay, or if you qualify for the earned income credit, the additional child tax credit,
the health coverage tax credit, the first-time homebuyer credit, or the recovery rebate credit (see your tax package), you
should file a return to get a refund even if you are not required to do so.
If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you must file a return if your gross income for the year was at least the amount shown
on the appropriate line in Table 1-1. For more information, see the instructions for Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040-EZ, and Publication
501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information. If you were a nonresident alien at any time during the year,
the filing requirements that apply to you may be different from those that apply to U.S. citizens. See Publication 519, U.S.
Tax Guide for Aliens.
Table 1-1. 2008 Filing Requirements Chart for Most Taxpayers
|
Note. You must file a return if your gross income was at least the amount shown in the last column.
|
| IF your filing status is. . . |
AND at the end of 2008
you were*. . . |
THEN file a return if your gross income** was at least. . . |
| Single |
under 65 |
$8,950 |
| 65 or older |
10,300 |
| Head of household |
under 65 |
11,500 |
| 65 or older |
12,850 |
| Married filing jointly*** |
under 65 (both spouses) |
17,900 |
| 65 or older (one spouse) |
18,950 |
| 65 or older (both spouses) |
20,000 |
| Married filing separately |
any age |
3,500 |
Qualifying widow(er)
with dependent child
|
under 65 |
14,400 |
| 65 or older |
15,450 |
Gross income.
Gross income is all income you receive in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from
tax. If you are married and live with your spouse in a community property state, half of any income defined by state law as
community income may be considered yours. The community property states are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada,
New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. For more information about community property, see Publication 555, Community
Property.
For more information on what to include in gross income, see chapter 2.
Self-employed persons.
If you are self-employed in a business that provides services (where the production, purchase, or sale of merchandise
is not an income-producing factor), gross income from that business is the gross receipts.
If you are self-employed in a business involving manufacturing, merchandising, or mining, gross income from that business
is the total sales minus the cost of goods sold. Then, to this figure, you add any income from investments and from incidental
or outside operations or sources. See Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, for more information.
Dependents.
If you could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer (that is, you meet the dependency tests in Publication
501), special filing requirements apply. See Publication 501.
A personal representative of a decedent's estate can be an executor, administrator, or anyone who is in charge of the decedent's
property.
If you are acting as the personal representative of a person who died during the year, you may have to file a final return
for that decedent. You also have other duties, such as notifying the IRS that you are acting as the personal representative.
Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, is available for this purpose.
When you file a return for the decedent, either as the personal representative or as the surviving spouse, you should write
“DECEASED,” the decedent's name, and the date of death across the top of the tax return.
If no personal representative has been appointed by the due date for filing the return, the surviving spouse (on a joint return)
should sign the return and write in the signature area “Filing as surviving spouse.”
For more information, see Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.
Surviving spouse.
If you are the surviving spouse, the year your spouse died is the last year for which you can file a joint return
with that spouse. After that, if you do not remarry, you must file as a qualifying widow(er) with dependent child, head of
household, or single. For more information about each of these filing statuses, see Publication 501.
If you remarry before the end of the year in which your spouse died, a final joint return with the deceased spouse
cannot be filed. You can, however, file a joint return with your new spouse. In that case, the filing status of your deceased
spouse for his or her final return is married filing separately.
The level of income that requires you to file an income tax return changes when your filing status changes (see Table 1-1).
Even if you and your deceased spouse were not required to file a return for several years, you may have to file a return for
tax years after the year of death. For example, if your filing status changes from filing jointly in 2007 to single in 2008 because of the
death of your spouse, and your gross income is $16,000 for both years, you must file a return for 2008 even though you did
not have to file a return for 2007.
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