 internal revenue service IRS tax news IRS free file can help first time filers with their tax returns yeah the IRS free file is helpful but wouldn't it be nice if we could cut the sentence down to simply IRS free imagine just imagine living an IRS free life I know it's difficult kind of like a teenager trying to imagine life without tiktok but seriously excess taxes and government intrusion over time does to GDP and individual prosperity what tiktok does to our impressionable minds wow and I thought we needed to be careful of having our minds on drugs this is your brain on drugs is it just me or would the country's youth be far more prosperous if parents could like bribe the kids off a tiktok with like a beer some chewing tobacco and a joint or something I'm not I'm not recommending parents take that strategy or anything mind you I'm just saying it's it's a safe bet that it would be a step up for everyone in that case I mean honestly like we're used to thinking that computers will take over the world in the form of Arnold Schwarzenegger shaped robots but in reality they're doing it with short one minute videos of crazy people set to catchy music I mean who could who could have seen that coming I'm telling you the cell phones are skynet man put down the cell phones the cell phones are skynet oh crap the cops are at my door what are you doing no no I'm not crazy the tiktok people are the crazy ones stop hitting me with the baton dang it you're not allowed to do that in this society because I'm white ouch not not the face not the face my guitar you bastard okay okay I'll watch the next tiktok don't do it don't do it IRS tax tip 2023-12 february 1st 2023 navigating the tax return preparation process can be intimidating if you're filing for the first time IRS free file can help there's a link to the IRS free file here which is in essence a link to a page on the IRS website organizing links to third party software providers software that's trading on the market for tax preparation purposes that have an agreement that if your income is below a certain threshold and possibly other requirements are met that you want to sort out and look through on the IRS free file you might be able to get access to the software for free which is great because even people with low income which were typically easy tax returns are more complex these days do impart to changes to the law for things like refundable tax credits so even your first tax return which is usually quite difficult which is used used to be quite easy I mean I used to call my first tax returns in on a phone uh at one time I believe and now they're probably they're going to be more complex due to the complexity of the law you want to have software typically even with those and you might be able to get access to it for free with the IRS free file so this program provides free tax preparation free electronic filing and free direct deposit for eligible taxpayers the IRS free file income limit for tax year 2022 is $73,000 for families and individuals each provider sets their own eligibility requirement based on age state residency and income and offers are available in both English and Spanish so notice that not all of the providers if your income is below 73,000 in other words that's not going to be the only criteria some of the providers might have different agi criterias and some of them might have other things that they limit such as possibly credits you want to make sure they have the capacity to calculate like the earned income tax credit if you need to which is a more complicated credit and also different states maybe some of the software might not have all the state eligibility for free as well so this is just they're citing like the cap the 73,000 the highest point obviously the iris trying to look as good as possible picking the one that has kind of a highest agi limit but there are other limitations that's why you want to go on to the irs free file so you could sort which of the software might be best for your particular needs so taxpayers can use irs free file lookup tool to find the offer that is right for them to complete a tax return with irs free file taxpayers will need the following information their social security number taxpayers who don't have or aren't eligible for an ssn social security number can use the individual taxpayer identification number there's a link to that here so they need to know who you are obviously you are a number to them you are the social security number if you don't have one of those then they still want your money right so they give you some other number so so that they can they could you still need file return so they can get so get a number so they can know who you are and take your money anyways their wage and income information this information is usually on forms from their employers such as the w2 wage and tax statement and form 1099 series so the income that's what we're going to be basing our taxes on it's an income tax typically most people have a w2 statement but a lot of people are doing gig work and other stuff these days so you might have 1099s remember that even if you don't get a 1099 if you had income the iris wants part of it and you should be reporting it and so that's that so if they are being claimed as a dependent so are you being claimed as a dependent that's a question if you're the first person to if it's like the first time you're filing the tax return the question is could you still be claimed as a dependent by your parent it could be different depending on if you're going to school and whatnot college situations and if you are if you could be claimed as a dependent then which would be better for to be claimed as a dependent on the parents return or your own return sometimes people get to the point where they're going to they're going to try to file a tax return to get a refund on their own like for the first time without without separating the fact that their parents are still going to claim them that's an issue because now you're going to be claimed on two tax returns you can't do that you can only be on you know only one person gets the benefit of the individuals deductions that you might have for or tax benefits per person as either a dependent or if you're filing yourself the standard deduction for example as a as a benefit and whatnot okay so they will need to know if another taxpayer such as parent is claiming them on a separate tax return taxpayers who are being claimed by someone else as a dependent may still file their own tax return but they can't claim themselves as a dependent documentation for all tax credits and deductions so with the increased standard deduction itemized deductions may not be necessary so if it's your first time filing a tax return it's very likely that you're going to be using the standard deduction and not the itemized deduction that was kind of part of the point because that should simplify the tax code to some degree all credits and deductions are subject to irs verification and review their prior year adjusted gross income and self-select pin they need this information to validate and sign an electric tax return first time filers over the age of 16 can simply enter zero as their prior year income for signature purposes that's the secret code mind you so if you if you had a prior tax return and it wasn't processed or anything the iris doesn't know what the agi is so you have to enter zero and then you can process your return so taxpayers who have filed before should use the adjusted gross income from their prior year tax return a bank account and routing numbers filers need this information for direct deposit or any refund into a taxpayers bank account so if you want the bank the the money going directly into your account then you'll need the direct deposit otherwise they're going to have to give you the refund in the mail or something like that obviously the iris is trying to get everyone on direct deposit if you owe them money then you can choose to pay them however you choose to pay them it might not be as urgent a process to you in that case as long as you're avoiding the penalties and interest but the direct deposit and payments electronic payments are kind of the easiest thing to get verification quickly as well direct deposits the fastest and safest way for them to get their money i'm not sure if it's the safest that's debatable but certainly the fastest typically so that is a true statement and there's links to so there's links to that stuff here if you want to take a look at it the and links to the to search for the software on the free free software options possible abilities and there'll be a link to this in the description