1040 Ez Instructions 2015 Page 6
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44If you e-file your return, there is no need to mail it. See the
file Form 1040A or 1040 to claim the premium tax credit. You
e-file page earlier or IRS.gov for more information. However, if
may also be eligible to claim the premium tax credit for any de-
you choose to mail it, filing instructions and addresses are at the
pendent you claim on Form 1040A or 1040 who enrolled in
end of these instructions.
health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. For
more information on the premium tax credit, see Pub. 974.
Checklist for Using Form 1040EZ
Tax benefits for education. If you paid higher education ex-
penses, you may be eligible for a tax credit or deduction. You
You can use Form 1040EZ if all the items in the following check-
may be eligible to claim a credit (and receive a refund) even if
list apply.
you owe no income tax. You must file Form 1040A or 1040 to
claim these tax benefits. For more information on tax benefits for
Your filing status is single or married filing jointly. If you were a
education, see Pub. 970.
nonresident alien at any time in 2015, see Nonresident aliens below.
Itemized deductions. You can itemize deductions only on
You do not claim any dependents.
Form 1040. You will benefit by itemizing if your itemized deduc-
You do not claim any adjustments to income. See the Tax Topics for
tions total more than your standard deduction. For 2015, the
Adjustments to Income at
standard deduction is $6,300 for most single people and
If you claim a tax credit, you claim only the earned income credit. See
$12,600 for most married people filing a joint return. See Tax
the Tax Topics for Tax Credits at
Topic 501 at But if someone can claim
You (and your spouse if filing a joint return) were under age 65 and not
blind at the end of 2015. If you were born on January 1, 1951, you are
you (or your spouse if married) as a dependent, your standard
considered to be age 65 at the end of 2015 and cannot use Form
deduction is the amount on line E of the Worksheet for Line 5 on
1040EZ.
the back of Form 1040EZ.
Your taxable income (line 6 of Form 1040EZ) is less than $100,000.
You had only wages, salaries, tips, taxable scholarship or fellowship
What Filing Status Can You Use?
grants, unemployment compensation, or Alaska Permanent Fund
dividends, and your taxable interest was not over $1,500.
Single. Use this filing status if any of the following was true on
If you earned tips, they are included in boxes 5 and 7 of your Form
December 31, 2015.
W-2.
You were never married.
You do not owe any household employment taxes on wages you paid
to a household employee. To find out who owes these taxes, use Tax
You were legally separated, according to your state law, un-
Topic 756.
der a decree of divorce or separate maintenance. But if your
You are not a debtor in a chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed after
divorce was not final (an interlocutory decree), you are con-
October 16, 2005.
sidered married and cannot use the single filing status.
Advance payments of the premium tax credit were not made for you,
You were widowed before January 1, 2015, and did not re-
your spouse, or any individual you enrolled in coverage for whom no
one else is claiming the personal exemption.
marry in 2015.
Married filing jointly. Use this filing status if any of the follow-
ing apply.
If you do not meet all of the requirements, you must use Form
You were married at the end of 2015, even if you did not live
1040A or 1040. See Tax Topic 352 at
to
with your spouse at the end of 2015.
find out which form to use.
Your spouse died in 2015, and you did not remarry in 2015.
Nonresident aliens. If you were a nonresident alien at any time
You were married at the end of 2015, and your spouse died
in 2015, your filing status must be married filing jointly to use
in 2016 before filing a 2015 return.
Form 1040EZ. If your filing status isn't married filing jointly, you
If you and your spouse file jointly, report your combined in-
may have to use Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ. Specific rules
come and deduct your combined allowable expenses on one re-
apply to determine if you were a nonresident or resident alien.
turn. You can file a joint return even if only one of you had in-
See Pub. 519 for details, including the rules for students and
come or if you did not live together all year. However, both of you
scholars who are aliens.
must sign the return. Once you file a joint return, you cannot
choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of
Should You Use Another Form?
the return.
Even if you can use Form 1040EZ, it may benefit you to use
For information about marital status, see Pub. 501.
Form 1040A or 1040 instead. For example, you can claim the
Joint and several tax liability. If you file a joint return, both
head of household filing status (which usually results in a lower
you and your spouse are generally responsible for the tax and
tax than single) only on Form 1040A or 1040. You can claim the
interest or penalties due on the return. This means that if one
retirement savings contributions credit (saver's credit) only on
spouse doesn't pay the tax due, the other may have to. Or, if one
Form 1040A or 1040. For more information on the retirement
spouse doesn't report the correct tax, both spouses may be re-
savings contributions credit, see Tax Topic 610 at
sponsible for any additional taxes assessed by the IRS. You may
taxtopics.
want to file separately if:
You believe your spouse isn't reporting all of his or her in-
Premium tax credit. If you or your spouse, with whom you are
come, or
filing a joint return, enrolled in health insurance through the Mar-
ketplace you may be eligible for a premium tax credit. You must
-6-
Instructions for Form 1040EZ
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