There are many websites on the Internet today that gives much needed
income tax help for those who have no idea of what's going on during
tax time. Income tax is a tax paid on income, unfortunately no matter
how little it is. It's paid by employees and people who are
self-employed and may also be payable if you are not working but you
have an income, such as a retirement pension or an occupational
pension. Not all types of income are taxable and it will seldom be the
case that all of your income is taxed.
There is no minimum age at which a person becomes liable to pay income
tax. What matters is your income. If this is below a certain level, no
tax is payable. There is actually no single definition in tax law of
income. Income tax law divides various types of income into schedules.
If an item comes within a schedule it counts as income and income tax
must be paid on it. The way the tax must be paid will depend on which
schedule it falls into. The most common schedules are Schedule E for
employees and Schedule D for the self-employed.
There are five main steps in calculating income tax:
Step 1: Add together all your yearly income, including social security
benefits, income from renting out accommodation, wages, occupational
pension, interest from bank and building society accounts.
Step 2: Take off any income which is exempt from tax. Calculate whether
you can claim tax relief on any of the money you have spent over the
year (tax relief usually applies to people who are self-employed and
have to buy items for the business). Deduct this tax relief. This
leaves income on which tax may be payable (taxable income).
Step 3: Work out which tax allowances you are entitled to. You will be
entitled to a personal allowance (plus age related additions if
appropriate). These allowances are deducted at this stage in the
calculation.
Step 4: Multiply the taxable income by the correct tax rate. This gives
the tax due to be paid that year, unless you are entitled to married
couple's allowance for over 65 year olds.
Step 5: If applicable, deduct the appropriate percentage rate of married couple's allowance for over 65 year olds.
Some income is exempt from income tax, which means that tax is never
paid on this income. This income should therefore be put to one side
before any tax calculation can be done. Examples of income which is
exempt from tax include premium bond prizes, housing benefit, child
benefit and profit-related pay. It is therefore necessary to check
whether any income is exempt from tax before doing a tax calculation.
For more income tax help, all the help you need in on the internet. The
IRS itself can give you income tax help and answer any tax questions
you may have.
