Taxation of Individuals Overview
In this lesson, we’ll review some of the aspects of income tax law that are unique to the individual income
tax. To review the tax models briefly, you’ll recall the parts of the individual income tax that distinguish it
from the corporate income tax. Those distinctions are that the corporate income tax has no AGI and no
filing status.
Recall that filing statuses on individual income tax returns are married filing jointly (MFJ), married filing
separately (MFS), single, and head of household (HOH). Remember that marital status is determined on
the last day of the year (December 31), no matter what changes occurred during the year or how many
times someone was married during the year.
When a Taxpayer Must File a Tax Return
Individual taxpayers are not required to file a tax return every year—only when they meet certain criteria.
This fact is the reason you might have gotten away with not filing an income tax return when you were
younger and mowed lawns or babysat to earn money. If you didn’t meet one of the four criteria, you would
not be required to file a tax return. However, the taxpayer may choose to file a tax return even if it is not
required. For example, if taxes were withheld, the only way to get a refund is to file a return. Individual
taxpayers who meet the following criteria are required to file an income tax return. Select each tab below
to review all four criteria.
First Criterion
If gross income is greater than the standard deduction, a return must be filed. The standard deduction is
inflation-adjusted annually, so the amount of gross income that makes filing required is not fixed. For a
single person in 2023, the number would be $13,850 (standard deduction). So, if a single taxpayer has
2023 gross income that exceeds $13,850, they must file an income tax return. Please understand that a
single taxpayer who has 2023 gross income of less than $13,850
may
file an income tax return to get a
refund, for example, or because they satisfy one of the other criteria requiring a filing.
