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Show Income Tax Fax Must' I file a federal income tax for 1958? If you are under 65 and had gross income of $600 or more, or' over 65 and had gross income in-come of $1200 or more, you must file a federal income tax return regardless of whether you owe tax or not, and it does not matter whether you are a man, woman or child; you are required to file a return by April 15, 1959. It may be that you had income of less than $600.00 (or $1200.00) and income tax was withheld from your paychecks. pay-checks. In this case, you should file a tax retuna. It will show that you owe no tax and will act as a claim for refund of the withheld tax. It is always a good idea to get thesei returns in as soon as possible. The sooner you file your return, the sooner you have your refund. You are not taxed on your gross " income, but on your taxable income. Taxable income is money or its equivalent in goods or services. To arrive at taxable income gross income is reduced by the cost of what you sold. For instance, if you sold merchandise mer-chandise for $2 that cost you $1, then you owe a gross income of $2, but your tax-able tax-able income would be only $1. What you received for the merchandise ,less what it cost you. You would also deduct any expenses you had in connection with the sale. The same is true of your services. For instance: John taxpayer is a salesman and has many expenses of selling, traveling, etc. These costs are deducted from income onj page one of the tax return and have no bearing on whether or not John uses short form 1040A, computing his tax from the tax table; or takes the standard stan-dard deduction; or itemized his deductions. Joe Taxpayer, John's brother, bro-ther, is . an employee. He started work this year. To get the job he paid on am ployment agency fee, joined his union, paid an initiation fee and monothly dues. Joe had to buy tools and supplies necessary to his job. Joe is required by his employer and (Continued on page 5) TAX FAX . (Continued from page 2) the duties of this job to purchase and maintain special uniforms and work clothing not adapted to street wear. These, and many other costs, Joe takes as deductions on page two of the return. They can be taken only if Joe files long form 1040 and itemizes his deductions. The deductfcms iare lost if Joe files a short form 1040, form 1040A or takes the standard deduction. There are many deductions that John Taxpayer, Joe Taxpayer Tax-payer and the merchant can take and tome kind of income are not taxed. That's , what these columns are about. Be sure to read every column. If you have a specific prob- , lem you should consult your aeeeuntaat as early a poieible. ( |