You must file a federal income tax return if you are a citizen or resident of the United States or a resident of Puerto Rico and you meet the
filing requirements for any of the following categories that apply to you.
- Individuals in general. (There are special rules for surviving spouses, executors, administrators, legal representatives, U.S. citizens
living outside the United States, residents of Puerto Rico, and individuals with income from U.S. possessions.)
- Dependents.
- Child under age 14.
- Self-employed persons.
- Aliens.
The filing requirements for each category are explained in this chapter.
The filing requirements apply even if you do not owe tax.
Even if you do not have to file a return, it may be to your advantage to do so. See Who Should File, later.
One return.
File only one federal income tax return for the year regardless of how many jobs you had, how many Forms W-2 you received, or how
many states you lived in during the year.
Individuals--In General
If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, whether you must file a return depends on three factors:
- Your gross income,
- Your filing status, and
- Your age.
To find out whether you must file, see Table 1-1, Table 1-2, and Table 1-3. Even if no table
shows that you must file, you may need to file to get money back. (See Who Should File, later.)
Gross income.
This includes all income you receive in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from tax. It also includes income from
sources outside the United States (even if you may exclude all or part of it). Common types of income are discussed in the chapters in Part Two
of this publication.
Community property.
If you are married and your permanent home is in a community property state, half of any income described by state law as community income may be
considered yours. This affects your federal taxes, including whether you must file if you do not file a joint return with your spouse. See Publication 555,
Community Property, for more information.
Self-employed individuals.
If you are self-employed, your gross income includes the amount on line 7 of Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business, or
line 1 of Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040), Net Profit From Business. See Self-Employed Persons, later, for more information
about your filing requirements.
If you do not report all of your self-employment income, you could cause your social security benefits to be lower when you retire.
Filing status.
Your filing status depends on whether you are single or married and on your family situation. Your filing status is determined on the last day of
your tax year, which is December 31 for most taxpayers. See chapter 2 for an explanation of each filing status.
Age.
If you are 65 or older at the end of the year, you generally can have a higher amount of gross income than other taxpayers before you must file.
See Table 1-1. You are considered 65 on the day before your 65th birthday. For example, if your 65th birthday was on January 1, 2002,
you are considered 65 for 2001.
Surviving Spouses,
Executors, Administrators,
and Legal Representatives
You must file a final return for a decedent (a person who died) if both of the following are true.
- You are the surviving spouse, executor, administrator, or legal representative.
- The decedent met the filing requirements at the date of death.
For more information on rules for filing a decedent's final return, see chapter 4.
U.S. Citizens Living
Outside the United States
If you are a U.S. citizen living outside the United States, you must file a return if you meet the filing requirements. For information on special
tax rules that may apply to you, get Publication 54,
Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad. It is available at most U.S.
embassies and consulates. Also see How To Get Tax Help in the back of this publication.
Residents of Puerto Rico
Generally, if you are a U.S. citizen and a resident of Puerto Rico, you must file a U.S. income tax return if you meet the filing requirements.
This is in addition to any legal requirement you may have to file an income tax return for Puerto Rico.
If you are a resident of Puerto Rico for the entire year, gross income does not include income from sources within Puerto Rico, except for amounts
received as an employee of the United States or a U.S. agency. If you receive income from Puerto Rican sources that is not subject to U.S. tax, you
must reduce your standard deduction. As a result, the amount of income you must have before you are required to file a U.S. income tax return is lower
than the applicable amount in Table 1-1 or Table 1-2. See U.S. taxation and its discussion, Standard
deduction, under The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in Publication 570,
Tax Guide for Individuals With Income From U.S.
Possessions, for further information.
Individuals With Income
From U.S. Possessions
If you had income from Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands, special rules may apply when
determining whether you must file a U.S. federal income tax return. In addition, you may have to file a return with the individual island government.
See Publication 570
for more information.
Dependents
If you are a dependent (one who meets the dependency tests in chapter 3), see Table 1-2 to find whether you must file a return.
You also must file if your situation is described in Table 1-3.
Responsibility of parent.
Generally, a child is responsible for filing his or her own tax return and for paying any tax on the return. But if a dependent child who must file
an income tax return cannot file it for any reason, such as age, a parent, guardian, or other legally responsible person must file it for the child.
If the child cannot sign the return, the parent or guardian must sign the child's name followed by the words "By (signature), parent (or guardian)
for minor child."
Child's earnings.
Amounts a child earns by performing services are his or her gross income. This is true even if under local law the child's parents have the right
to the earnings and may actually have received them. If the child does not pay the tax due on this income, the parent is liable for the tax.
Table 1-1. 2001 Filing Requirements for Most Taxpayers
To use this table, first find your marital
status at the end of 2001. Then, read across the line that shows
your filing status and age at the end of 2001. You must file a return
if your gross income was at least the amount shown in the last column.
Gross income means all income you received in the form
of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from
tax, including any income from sources outside the United States
(even if you may exclude part or all of it). When using
this table, do not include social security benefits as gross income
unless you are married filing a separate return and lived with your
spouse at any time in 2001. (If you must include the benefits, see
chapter 12 for the amount to include.) Also, see Table
1-2 and Table 1-3 for other situations when you must
file a return. |
Marital Status |
Filing Status |
Age * |
Gross Income |
Single (including
divorced and legally separated) |
Single |
under 65 |
$7,450 |
65 or older |
$8,550 |
Head of household |
under 65 |
$9,550 |
65 or older |
$10,650 |
Married, with a child, living
apart from your spouse during the last 6 months of 2001 |
Head of
household |
under 65 |
$9,550
|
65 or older |
$10,650 |
Married,
living with your spouse at the end of 2001 (or on the date your
spouse died) |
Married,
joint return |
under 65 (both spouses)
|
$13,400
|
65 or older (one spouse) |
$14,300 |
65 or older (both spouses) |
$15,200 |
Married, separate return |
any age |
$2,900 |
Married,
not living with your spouse at end of 2001 (or on the date your
spouse died) |
Married, joint or separate
return |
any age |
$2,900 |
Single |
under 65 |
$7,450 |
65 or older |
$8,550 |
Widowed
before 2001 and not remarried in 2001 |
Head of
household |
under 65 |
$9,550 |
65 or older |
$10,650 |
Qualifying widow(er) with
dependent child |
under 65
|
$10,500
|
65 or older |
$11,400 |
*If you turned age 65 on January 1, 2002, you are considered to be age 65 at the end of 2001. |
Table 1-2. 2001 Filing Requirements for Dependents
See chapter 3 to find out if someone can claim you as a dependent.
If your parents (or someone else) can claim you as a dependent, and any of the situations below apply to you, you
must file a return. (See Table 1-3 for other situations when you must file.) |
In this table, earned income includes salaries, wages, tips, and professional fees. It also
includes taxable scholarship and fellowship grants. (See Scholarship and Fellowship Grants in chapter 13.) Unearned income
includes investment-type income such as interest, dividends, and capital gains. It also includes unemployment compensation, taxable social security
benefits, pensions, annuities, and distributions of unearned income from a trust. Gross income is the total of your earned and unearned
income. |
Caution: If your gross income was $2,900 or more, you generally cannot be claimed as a
dependent unless you were under age 19 or a full-time student under age 24. For details, see Gross Income Test in chapter
3. |
Single dependents-- Were you either age 65 or older or blind? |
|
No. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
- Your unearned income was more than $750.
- Your earned income was more than $4,550.
- Your gross income was more than the larger of:
1) $750, or
2) Your earned income (up to $4,300) plus $250.
|
|
Yes. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
- Your earned income was more than $5,650 ($6,750 if 65 or older and blind).
- Your unearned income was more than $1,850 ($2,950 if 65 or older and blind).
- Your gross income was more than:
1) The larger of $750, or your earned income (up to $4,300) plus $250, plus
2) $1,100 ($2,200 if 65 or older and blind).
|
Married dependents--Were you either age 65 or older or blind? |
|
No. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
- Your gross income was at least $5 and your spouse files a separate return and itemizes deductions.
- Your earned income was more than $3,800.
- Your unearned income was more than $750.
- Your gross income was more than the larger of:
1) $750, or
2) Your earned income (up to $3,550) plus $250.
|
|
Yes. You must file a return if any of the following apply.
- Your gross income was at least $5 and your spouse files a separate return and itemizes deductions.
- Your earned income was more than $4,700 ($5,600 if 65 or older and blind).
- Your unearned income was more than $1,650 ($2,550 if 65 or older and blind).
- Your gross income was more than:
1) The larger of $750 or your earned income (up to $3,550) plus $250, plus
2) $900 ($1,800 if 65 or older and blind).
|
Child Under Age 14
If a child's only income is interest and dividends (including Alaska Permanent Fund dividends) and certain other conditions are met, a parent can
elect to include the child's income on the parent's return. If this election is made, the child does not have to file a return. See Parent's
Election To Report Child's Interest and Dividends in chapter 32.
Self-Employed Persons
You are self-employed if you:
- Carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor,
- Are an independent contractor,
- Are a member of a partnership, or
- Are in business for yourself in any other way.
Self-employment can include work in addition to your regular full-time business activities. It also includes certain part-time work that you do at
home or in addition to your regular job.
You must file a return if your gross income is at least as much as the filing requirement amount for your filing status and age (shown in
Table 1-1). Also, you must file Form 1040 and Schedule SE (Form 1040), Self-Employment Tax, if:
- Your net earnings from self-employment (excluding church employee income) were $400 or more, or
- You had church employee income of $108.28 or more. (See Table 1-3.)
Use Schedule SE (Form 1040) to figure your self-employment tax. Self-employment tax is comparable to the social security and Medicare tax withheld
from an employee's wages. For more information about this tax, get Publication 533,
Self-Employment Tax.
Foreign governments or international organizations.
If you are a U.S. citizen who works in the United States for an international organization, a foreign government, or a wholly owned instrumentality
of a foreign government, and your employer does not deduct social security and Medicare taxes from your income, you must include your earnings from
services performed in the United States when figuring your net earnings from self-employment.
Ministers.
You must include income from services you performed as a minister when figuring your net earnings from self-employment, unless you have an
exemption from self-employment tax. This also applies to Christian Science practitioners and members of a religious order who have not taken a vow of
poverty. For more information, get Publication 517,
Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy and Religious Workers.
Aliens
Your status as an alien--resident, nonresident, or dual-status--determines whether and how you must file an income tax return.
The rules used to determine your alien status are discussed in Publication 519,
U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
Resident alien.
If you are a resident alien for the entire year, you must file a tax return following the same rules that apply to U.S. citizens. Use the forms
discussed in this publication.
Nonresident alien.
If you are a nonresident alien, the rules and tax forms that apply to you are different from those that apply to U.S. citizens and resident aliens.
See Publication 519
to find out if U.S. income tax laws apply to you and which forms you should file.
Dual-status taxpayer.
If you were a resident alien for part of the tax year and a nonresident alien for the rest of the year, you are a dual-status taxpayer. Different
rules apply for each part of the year. For information on dual-status taxpayers, see Publication 519.
Who Should File
Even if you do not have to file, you should file a federal income tax return to get money back if any of the following conditions apply.
- You had income tax withheld from your pay.
- You qualify for the earned income credit. See chapter 37 for more information.
- You qualify for the additional child tax credit. See chapter 35 for more information.
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