It's perfectly legal to file a tax return even if your income falls below the IRS minimum requirement to file. If you qualify for certain tax credits but owe no tax, you might be able to claim the excess tax credit as a refund when you file your return.
Refundable tax credits can provide you with a tax refund even when you do not work. For example, you may qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit, which are refundable tax credits.
You do not have to file taxes if you earned less than $14,250 for single filers and $27,800 for married couples. If you are self-employed: There is almost no filing threshold. You must file taxes if you earned more than $400 combined.
Non-filers do not have to file a tax return to get a stimulus payment. Some non-filers will get individual stimulus payments automatically based on other information. The IRS will use the information on IRS Form SSA-1099 or RRB-1099 in place of a federal tax return if you do not typically have to file a tax return.
If you earn less than $10,000 per year, you don't have to file a tax return. However, you won't receive an Earned-Income Tax Credit refund unless you do file.
Minimum income to file taxes
Single filing status: $12,550 if under age 65. $14,250 if age 65 or older.
Even if you have no income, you're eligible to receive a stimulus check. If you are over the income limit, you may be eligible for a partial payment. You don't have to be a U.S. citizen to get a stimulus payment, but you do need a valid Social Security number.
Once you have gathered all the information you need even if you don't have an income, you can claim your children on taxes by filing Form 1040 or 1040-SR provided the kids qualify as dependents.
Being a parent can qualify you for the advantageous head of household filing status, too, whether you work or stay at home. Technically, you must be "considered unmarried" to qualify. This means that you didn't live with your spouse at any point – even for one day – during the last six months of the tax year.
You may have received unemployment benefits or an EIP (stimulus check) in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment compensation is considered taxable income. You must report unemployment benefits on your tax return if you are required to file.
Meet the California adjusted gross income (CA AGI) amounts described in the What you may receive section. Have been a California resident for six months or more of the 2020 tax year. Have not been claimed as a dependent in the 2020 tax year. Be a California resident on the date this payment is issued.
The American Rescue Plan, signed into law on March 11, 2021, expanded the Child Tax Credit for 2021 to get more help to more families. It has gone from $2,000 per child in 2020 to $3,600 for each child under age 6. For each child ages 6 to 16, it's increased from $2,000 to $3,000.
If you cannot get a copy of your W-2 or 1099, you can still file taxes by filling out Form 4852, “Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement.” This form requests information about your wages and taxes that were withheld. It may be helpful to have documentation, such as a final pay stub, available to complete it.
You won't get a stimulus check if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is greater than: $80,000, if your filing status was single or married and filing separately. $120,000 for head of household. $160,000, if your filing status was married and filing jointly.
If a taxpayer is entitled to a refund, there's no penalty for filing late. Penalties and interest began to accrue on any remaining unpaid tax due as of July 16, 2020. Anyone who didn't file and owes tax should file a return as soon as they can and pay as much as possible to reduce penalties and interest.
Even if you aren't required to file a return, you still may want to. If you don't owe tax at the end of the year, but had taxes withheld from paychecks or other payments—filing a return may allow you to obtain a tax refund.
Income under $500. —A single person with less than $500 income should file a return to get a refund if tax was withheld. A married person with less than $500 income should always file a joint return with husband or wife to get the lesser tax or larger refund for the couple.
It is dependent upon a difference between the tax that is owed to the Treasury at the end of the year and the amount that has been withheld throughout the year. If the amount of tax owed is less than the latter number, that individual receives a tax refund.
The Earned Income Credit (EIC) increases with the first three children you claim. The maximum number of dependents you can claim for earned income credit purposes is three. You must also meet other requirements related to your adjusted gross income (AGI) to qualify for the EIC.
If you have no income of any kind to report on a tax return, then there is no need or reason to file a tax return, with or without a dependent child. You are not eligible for any kind of tax credit if you do not have any earned income.
You can claim the credit if you're married filing jointly, head of household or single. However, you can't qualify to claim the Earned Income Credit if you're married filing separately. And, if you get married or divorced from one year to the next, you'll find the income thresholds have changed.
The IRS doesn't allow a married individual to claim their spouse as a dependent, even if one spouse has no income or if the spouses live apart from each other. As a reminder, the IRS considers you married for tax purposes if you were legally married on or before December 31.
Gross Income: The person must have made less than $4,300 in gross income during 2021. This amount will be $4,400 in 2022. Support: You must have provided more than half of the individual's total support during the year.