What is the IRS Federal Income Tax Form 1040EZ

IRS 1040EZ Form is the simplest and easiest tax Form for an individual to file their federal income taxes. Form 1040EZ is the shortest version of an IRS Tax 1040 Form and Tax Form 1040A and helps taxpayers to file their tax return with ease. Eligibility criteria to use this Form is that the income of the taxpayer must be less than $100,000, interest income of $1,500 or less with no dependents. 1040EZ Tax Form is used for filing income tax return by single and joint filers who have no dependents.

what is IRS Form 1040ez

Use 1040EZ Form in the Following Situations

Taxpayers have more benefits to file Form 1040 or Form 1040A, those Forms allow taxpayers to claim “head of household” status, dependents and income adjustments. Before filing 1040EZ Form, taxpayers have to check the following situations

  1. A taxpayer taxable income must be less than $100,000
  2. taxpayer taxable interest income must be $1500 or less
  3. taxpayer income source from the wages, salaries, tips, taxable scholarship or fellowship grants, unemployment compensation, or Alaska Permanent Fund dividends
  4. A taxpayer filing status single or married filing jointly
  5. A taxpayer age should be under 65 (at end of tax year end)
  6. A taxpayer should not be blind
  7. A taxpayer does not claim adjustments to income such as student loan interest or IRA deduction
  8. A taxpayer’s do not claim any dependents
  9. A taxpayer can claim federal telephone excise tax credit or earned income credit (EIC)
  10. A taxpayer should not owe any taxes for household employment wages which you have paid to your household employee.
  11. A taxpayer must not be a debtor in any chapter 11 bankruptcy case that was filed after October 16, 2005.
  12. A taxpayer does not owe to pay Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) or not required to file Form 6251: AMT
  13. A taxpayer has a stipulation for advanced payments of premium tax credits. If no-one paid them for you, your spouse or another person enrolled in coverage that no-one is claiming a personal exemption, you can file a 1040EZ.

Restrictions on IRS Form 1040EZ

There are certain restrictions that are applied while you file for IRS 1040EZ Form. Check out the following points before filing Form 1040EZ online.

  1. The tax payer cannot itemize deductions.
  2. The tax payer must not have income from the following: Self-employment, Dividends, Capital gain, Alimony
  3. The tax payer must not claim deductions or claims except Earned Income Credit (EIC). Hence you are not entitled to claim for: Mortgage paid interest., Charitable donations, Education credit, Credits for a child or dependent care expenses, Premium tax credit or Advanced premium tax credit.

Requirements to E-file Form 1040EZ Online

Filing Form 1040EZ online is simple and can be completed easily by filling the one-page Form that contains four main sections. Check out what is all the information required to e-file Form 1040EZ. While filing the following sections must be filled properly without making any errors. The sections include:

  • Personal info.
  • Source of income
  • Payments, credits, and tax
  • Refunds and due amount
  • Signing your return
Personal Info:

As always the first section of the Form 1040 EZ requires personal information. Enter your name, contact address and Social Security Number without any errors. But you must remember that, to file Form 1040EZ your status must be single or married filing jointly and you are not eligible if you claim any dependents.

Source of Income:

In this section, you must include information about your sources of income. You can list salary, wages, tips, unemployment compensation, Alaska permanent fund dividends and taxable interest of $1,500 or less. If your income does not find any of the above-mentioned categories and falls under dividends or alimony then you must file your income tax on either Form 1040 or Form 1040 A.

After submitting the details about your income, certain calculations are done to arrive at your taxable income. Allowable standard deduction and exceptions are deducted from your gross annual income to confer your taxable income and this is the amount which is to be paid as your annual tax.

Payments, Credits, and Tax:

In this section, you will find a list of tax payments that you have done already through your withholding employer. When your federal income tax is withheld from your past paycheck then your employer may be issued W2 Form stating the total withheld amount. This section is also used to make a claim for making work pay tax credit or earned income credit. And these are the only two tax credits that can be claimed through filing Form 1040EZ.

Next step is to add all your payment and credit details before calculating the taxable amount which you need to pay. In such cases, you can refer tax tables to find the owed amount by you for filing status and taxable income.

Refunds and Due Amount:

What to do if you have overpaid your tax amount? Yes, there can be chances when your tax payment and credit exceeds your calculated tax. In such scenario, you are entitled to a cash refund.

When you are eligible for a refund then it is directly deposited into your account rather than waiting for paper checks. In another case, if you have underpaid your tax, then you need to add payment for the remaining tax return. To do so, check the instructions in Form 1040EZ on how to pay the balance amount.

Signing on Return:

You must remember that the filed Form 1040EZ or any other tax Forms are not valid without your signature. Many taxpayers forget to sign their tax return Form while applying online. This simple act may make a delay in your application process or even rejected.

Hence make sure that you sign in the last section of your tax Form. If you are e-filing Form 1040EZ jointly, the sign of your spouse is also mandatory.

Difference between Tax Form 1040 and Tax Form 1040EZ

There is the difference between the two Forms 1040 and 1040EZ. Let check out how IRS Form 1040EZ differs from IRS Form 1040.

  • Form 1040EZ has only 14 lines of information whereas Form 1040 has 79 lines.
  • Form 1040EZ can be filed by individuals who have no dependents. But 1040 Form includes details about the dependents.
  • Form 1040EZ covers only the tax payers salary, wages, tips, taxable interest below $1500 and unemployment compensation. But Form 1040 includes 16 income categories that are Dividends, Farm income, Rental income, Alimony, Retirement account distribution, Social Security benefits and etc.
  • Form 1040EZ contains a separate section for credits and includes a line to claim Earned Income Credit (EIC).
  • Form 1040EZ also has space to record nontaxable combat pay election.

Switching from IRS 1040EZ Form to 1040 Form

There are some cases when you need to switch over from Form 1040Ez to standard long IRS Form 1040. Some exceptional individuals who file Form 1040EZ for their whole life with no big changes in their tax status. But in most other cases, the taxation of the individuals becomes more complex over the years. Hence they must switch from Form 1040EZ to standard Form IRS 1040 or Form 1040 A, which is a hybrid between IRS Form 1040EZ and IRS Form 1040.

Scenarios that affect filing Form 1040EZ are;

  • You are applying IRS Form 1040EZ one year and has a child the following year then the particular tax payer must switch over from Form 1040EZ to standard Form.
  • When you earn a significant amount of income through investment or buys a real estate then you must change the e-filing to Form 1040.

Having discussed more tax filing of income tax forms, we are ready to help you in e-filing your 1040EZ Federal income tax return. Our customer support team is ready to help you 24/7 in filing your 1040EZ Form via support@tax2efile.com, 703.229.0326 or live chat. We process your federal income tax Form 1040EZ instantly and assure you professional guidance throughout the process.