Table of Contents
If income tax was withheld from your pay, or if you qualify for the earned income credit, the additional child tax credit, the health coverage tax credit, the refundable credit for prior year minimum tax, the first-time homebuyer credit, or the American opportunity credit, you should file a return to get a refund even if you are not otherwise required to file a return.
If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you must file a return if your gross income for the year was at least the amount shown on the appropriate line in Table 1-1. For other filing requirements, see the instructions for Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040-EZ, and Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, or go to IRS.gov. If you were a nonresident alien at any time during the year, the filing requirements that apply to you may be different from those that apply to U.S. citizens. See Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
|
Note. You must file a return if your gross income was at least the amount shown in the last column.
|
| IF your filing status is. . . | AND at the end of 2011 you were*. . . |
THEN file a return if your gross income** was at least. . . |
|---|---|---|
| Single | under 65 | $9,500 |
| 65 or older | 10,950 | |
| Head of household | under 65 | 12,200 |
| 65 or older | 13,650 | |
| Married filing jointly*** | under 65 (both spouses) | 19,000 |
| 65 or older (one spouse) | 20,150 | |
| 65 or older (both spouses) | 21,300 | |
| Married filing separately | any age | 3,700 |
| Qualifying widow(er) with dependent child |
under 65 | 15,300 |
| 65 or older | 16,450 |
| * | If you were born before January 2, 1947, you are considered to be 65 or older at the end of 2011. |
| ** | 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 or from the sale of your main home (even if you can exclude part or all of it). Do not include any social security benefits unless (a) you are married filing separately and you lived with your spouse at any time in 2011 or (b) one-half of your social security benefits plus your other gross income and any tax-exempt interest is more than $25,000 ($32,000 if married filing jointly). If (a) or (b) applies, see the instructions for Form 1040 or Publication 915, Social Security Benefits and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits, to figure the taxable part of social security benefits you must include in gross income. |
| *** | If you did not live with your spouse at the end of 2011 (or on the date your spouse died) and your gross income was at least $3,700, you must file a return regardless of your age. |
A personal representative of a decedent's estate can be an executor, administrator, or anyone who is in charge of the decedent's property.
If you are acting as the personal representative of a person who died during the year, you may have to file a final return for that decedent. You also have other duties, such as notifying the IRS that you are acting as the personal representative. Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, is available for this purpose.
When you file a return for the decedent, either as the personal representative or as the surviving spouse, you should write “DECEASED,” the decedent's name, and the date of death across the top of the tax return.
If no personal representative has been appointed by the due date for filing the return, the surviving spouse (on a joint return) should sign the return and write in the signature area “Filing as surviving spouse.”
For more information, see Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.
Large estates of people who died in 2010 may be eligible for an extension of time. Large estates have until early next year (2012) to file various required returns and pay estate taxes due. In addition, certain penalty relief is provided for certain beneficiaries of these estates in their 2010 return. For more information, see Notice 2011-76 (available at www.irs.gov/irb/2011-40_IRB/ar13.html) and Publication 559.
| More Online Publications |