Income Tax Return
When you get your first job and move out on your own, you will be responsible for filing your own your tax return. In the U.S., tax returns are due on April 15th of each year.
The tax return is called a Form 1040. On the Form 1040, you will add up all of your sources of income and then you subtract all of your allowed deductions. That resulting number represents your Taxable Income.
Explore the 1040 below to see what each field asks!
- Every working person in the United States or a working citizen abroad MUST file their income taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
- The W-2 Form is a document all salaried and hourly workers will receive from their employer in February that shows their total earnings and total tax withheld from their paychecks for the previous year.
- The Form 1099 is a document used to report income other than salary and wages. For example, banks will report interest earned on a Form 1099.
For the purposes of this budgeting game, you won’t fill out a tax return this year. However, we do charge 10% federal income tax on all of your paychecks!
Budget Game Tip