Do i have to do a tax return

Generally, you must file a New York State income tax return if you're a New York State resident and are required to file a federal return. You may also have to file a New York State return if you're a nonresident of New York and you have income from New York State sources.

You need to determine if you're a resident, nonresident, or part-year resident before you can decide if you need to file a return with New York State.

Filing information for:

• Residents
• Nonresidents
• Part-year residents

Updated: October 07, 2015

Who must send a tax return

You must send a tax return if, in the last tax year (6 April to 5 April), you were:

• self-employed as a ‘sole trader’ and earned more than £1,000 (before taking off anything you can claim tax relief on)
• a partner in a business partnership

You will not usually need to send a return if your only income is from your wages or pension. But you may need to send one if you have any other untaxed income, such as:

• some COVID-19 grant or support payments
• money from renting out a property
• tips and commission
• income from savings, investments and dividends
• foreign income

Other reasons for sending a return

You can choose to fill in a tax return to:

• claim some Income Tax reliefs
• prove you’re self-employed, for example to claim Tax-Free Childcare or Maternity Allowance

If you get Child Benefit

If your income (or your partner’s, if you have one) was over £50,000, you may need to send a return and pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

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What does President Biden have planned for your taxes?

Not all Americans have to file a tax return.

This might apply to you if you didn’t earn enough money in 2021, relied mostly on Social Security income or were unemployed for an extended period.

If your income didn’t go over certain income thresholds determined by the IRS, you could skip filing a federal tax return. The income threshold will depend on your age, filing status and the kind of income you received.

But even if you don’t have to file a return, you should consider filing—because if you don’t you may leave money from tax credits like the Recovery Rebate Tax Credit or the Child Tax Credit on the table.

Here’s how to determine if you should or shouldn’t file a return for the 2021 tax year (filed in 2022).

Why You May Not Need to File a Tax Return

Single filers don’t need to file a tax return if their gross income doesn’t exceed the standard deduction of $12,550, or $25,100 if they’re married and filing jointly. This threshold is increased if you and your spouse are over the age of 65—it begins at $27,800 for those married and filing jointly.

The IRS says that gross income includes all forms of money, goods, property and services—including the sale of your home.

Some people aren’t required to file a tax return because of the way taxable income is calculated, says Nell Curtis, an accounting instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College in Wisconsin.

“Sometimes this is because their income is below certain thresholds or because of the types of income they have,” Curtis says. “For instance, Social Security is subject to tax limitations, so if that is someone’s primary income source, he or she might not need to file a tax return.”

There are exceptions to this rule.

Taxpayers who earn less than those amounts might be required to file if specific situations apply to them, such as the need to pay special taxes or if the taxpayer has received net self-employment earnings of $400 or more, Curtis says.

Another exception is if you received the advanced premium tax credit when enrolling in health insurance coverage through the marketplace that was created by the Affordable Care Act, you’ll need to file a tax return with a completed Form 8962 attached.

File a Tax Return to Claim Refundable Tax Credits and Taxes Paid

For 2021, you should consider filing a tax return to claim certain refundable tax credits.

If you think you’re owed stimulus money, you may need to file a tax return to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit. Consumers who are eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit and didn’t receive the third round of stimulus payments must file a 2021 tax return to claim their missing cash.

You should also file a return if you’re expecting a tax refund or if you’ll receive one of the many credits available, such as refundable credits, earned income credit, additional child tax credit, American opportunity credit, recovery rebate credit or credits for sick and family leave, says Brent Lipschultz, a partner and CPA at New York-based tax and accounting firm EisnerAmper.

Those who wouldn’t typically file a return will likely qualify to file for free using IRS Free File, a public-private partnership between the IRS and several tax preparation and software filing companies.

There are two versions: One for people who made an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $73,000 or less and those who also need to file state taxes. The benefit of using the Free File tool is that the online form will do the calculations for you. There’s another free version for people who made more than $73,000 and doesn’t offer the option to file state taxes. This version also only conducts basic calculations with a limited amount of guidance.

Read more: How to file your taxes for free

What happens if I don't do my tax return?

Do I have to file a tax return in 2022?

At what income do you not have to file a tax return?