By Michail Kozlov,
Brilliant Accountants, London, U.K.

www.photowebsite.co.uk
www.brilliant-accountants.co.uk

Tax returns in the US are filed to the Internal State Revenue (IRS) once every twelve months and are used to determine the amount of tax an individual, a business or other legal entity is required to pay. Every individual is required to fill out a tax return once a year to determine whether the amount of tax they already paid is correct, or to determine how much tax is owed to the IRS or how much tax the IRS owes you. A tax return in the US is fairly simple to complete and send off, and can now be done completely online. There are also a variety of accounting and taxation services that can complete your tax return for you if you are unable to.

A tax return in the US is a report that each individual and business is required to complete every 12 months. The report is filed to the Internal State Revenue (IRS) and is used to determine the correct amount of tax that needs to be paid. US tax returns are not completed based on the income you earned in the previous calendar year. They are completed based on the income you earned in the previous tax (or financial) year. The fiscal year varies from country to country but in the US it begins on October 1st of the previous year and it ends on September 30th in the year that it is numbered. For example a 2010 tax return in the US would cover all income earned between October 1st 2009 and September 30th 2010. A US tax return is a federal requirement and you must, by law, submit your tax return each year. The term "tax return" specifically refers to the forms and documents filed with the IRS. The normal deadline for an individual to submit their tax return in the US for the previous fiscal year is April 15th of the following year. So if you are filing your 2010 tax return (which covers income earned from October 1st 2009 until September 30th 2010) then your tax return will be due before or on April 15th 2011.

Paying tax is a part of living in a civilized country. The taxes you pay each year go towards paying for a variety of products and services that you and the rest of the country benefit from. Your taxes pay the government’s cost of running the country, it pays for the roads you drive on and the police who keep you safe at night. It pays for schools where your children study, and health care for when you get sick. Without taxes the US government could not run the country like it does. Everyone who earns over a certain amount of gross income each year (this figure is edited yearly to account for inflation) are required by law to complete a tax return and pay any taxes remaining. To not file your tax return could mean that you are breaking US laws. Many people question whether or not they have to fill out a tax return each year because they are taxed weekly, fortnightly or monthly as they are paid. Your employer will tax you a certain amount each week, fortnight or month on what you are paid. If you worked more one week, or less one week or you are able to claim some of your expenses as tax reductions then the chances are that your tax will not be entirely correct. The yearly tax return makes sure your tax payments are completely updated, and will often result in a tax refund if you have paid too much tax throughout the year.

There are a variety of different US tax returns for different legal entities and different types of businesses. The most common tax return document is Form 1040, which is the US Individual Income Tax Return. There are many different tax return forms such as Form 1041, which is the US Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts. Each form has a specific purpose and allows different legal entities to report their taxable income for the previous fiscal year. There are forms for corporations, individuals, estates, trusts, partnerships, heavy vehicles and S corporations just to name a few. There are also a variety of supplementary forms, which allow each legal entity to complete their tax return in the required detail. When completing your tax return you will need to complete the form that is relevant to you. There is no use completing a form for an S Corporation when you are trying to report the taxable income you earned as an individual.

Completing and filing your tax return needs to be done every year. You can either fill out the hard copy forms and send them off to the IRS or you can now complete your tax returns online. Completing your tax returns online can be much quicker and easier than completing your tax returns in hard copy. Online you can automatically fill certain sections of your form so you don’t have to fill them out yourself. Submitting your tax return online can also lead to a quicker tax refund. If you are unable to complete your tax return by yourself then there are a variety of taxation and accounting services that can do it for you for a small fee. This fee is usually tax deductible on your next tax return. If you are an employee who does not own any investment properties or many shares then completing your tax return on your own shouldn’t be too difficult. If you have a variety of income sources (such as property, shares, trusts, businesses or corporations) then completing your tax return might become much more difficult and you may require professional help.

There are many ways to reduce the amount of tax you pay each year. In order to reduce the amount of tax you pay you first need to reduce your taxable income. If you are an employee of a business then what you can claim as a working expense is very limited. The government limited what people could claim as working expenses so that people would have a higher taxable income and pay more tax. However there are still some things you can claim. When it comes to individual income as an employee you can only claim the things you need in order to earn your income. If your job involves driving from place to place you can often claim petrol and car expenses, you can claim mobile phone expenses if your job requires you to use your mobile phone for business calls, you can even claim the cost of stationary, washing powder and uniforms in some circumstances. Speak to your accountant before claiming any of these expenses on your tax return. If you are a business or corporation there are a lot more ways you can reduce your taxable income. Most things can be claimed for a business if they helped you in earning a profit. Be careful to keep it legal though.

Published - August 2010