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Simple Federal Tax Calculator (Tax Year 2018)

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Enter your filing status, income, deductions and credits and we will estimate your total taxes. Based on your projected tax withholding for the year, we can also estimate your tax refund or amount you may owe the IRS next April.

Simple Federal Tax Calculator (Tax Year 2018) Definitions

Federal Income Tax Rates:
**TAXTABLE_2018_DEFINITION**
Filing status
Choose your filing status. Your filing status determines the income levels for your Federal tax rates. It is also used to determine your standard deduction, and many deduction or credit phaseout income ranges. The table below summarizes the five possible filing status choices. It is important to understand that your marital status as of the last day of the year determines your filing status.

Filing Status
Married Filing Jointly If you are married, you are able to file a joint return with your spouse. If your spouse died during the tax year, you are still able to file a joint return for that year. You may also choose to file separately under the status "Married Filing Separately".
Qualified Widow(er) Generally, you qualify for this status for two years after the year of your spouse's death, as long as you and your spouse filed a joint tax return in the year immediately prior to their death. You are also required to have at least one dependent child or stepchild for whom you are the primary provider.
Single If you are divorced, legally separated or unmarried as of the last day of the year you should use this status.
Head of Household This is the status for unmarried individuals that pay for more than half of the cost to keep up a home. This home needs to be the main home for the income tax filer and at least one qualifying relative. You can also choose this status if you are married, but didn't live with your spouse at any time during the last six months of the year. You also need to provide more than half of the cost to keep up your home and have at least one dependent child living with you.
Married Filing Separately If you are married, you have the choice to file separate returns. The filing status for this option is "Married Filing Separately".

For 2018, the standard deductions are: **STANDARDDEDUCTION_2018_DEFINITION**

Dependents qualifying for child tax credit
Enter the number of dependent children that qualify for the child tax credit. In 2018, for each qualifying child you can receive up to a $2,000 tax credit. To qualify a child must be under age 17 at the end of the year. They must be either your child, one of your siblings or your foster child or a child of any of them (for example your grandchild). In addition, they must have lived with you for more than half of the year, not provide more than half of their own support and must be claimed as a dependent on your tax return.
Wages, salaries, tips, etc.
Enter your total of all wages, salaries, tips, etc. For this entry only enter the amount for the primary taxpayer, do not include your spouse. This is normally the amount shown on your W-2 form(s) in box 1 provided by your employer. You should also include any wages received as a household employee not reported on a W-2 (a W-2 may not have been provided if the amount was less than $2,000). It should also include any tips not reported to your employer - including allocated tips that appear on your W-2 form(s) box 8.
Spouse wages, salaries, tips, etc.
Enter your spouse's total of all wages, salaries, tips, etc. For this entry, only enter the amount for your spouse. This is normally the amount shown on your spouse's W-2 form(s) in box 1 provided by your spouse's employer. You should also include any wages received as a household employee not reported on a W-2 (a W-2 may not have been provided if the amount was less than $2,000). It should also include any tips not reported to your spouse's employer - including allocated tips that appear on your spouse's W-2 form(s) box 8.
Business income or loss (Schedule C & E subject to self-employment taxes)
Any income or loss as reported on Schedule C. If you have any income reported on Schedule E that is subject to self-employment taxes (such as from some Partnerships), that income should be entered here as well.
Spouse business income or loss (Schedule C & E subject to self-employment taxes)
Any income or loss as reported on a spouse's Schedule C. If your spouse has any income reported on a Schedule E that is subject to self-employment taxes (such as from some Partnerships), that income should be entered here as well.
Other income
Any other income you received during the year. This includes income reported to you on 1099-MISC that was already reported elsewhere.
Adjusted gross income
Adjusted gross income (AGI) is calculated by subtracting all deductions from lines 23 through 33 from your total income. AGI is used to calculate many of the qualifying amounts if you itemized your deductions.
Taxable income
Your total taxable income is your AGI minus your itemized or standard deduction.
Tax
This is the total federal income tax you owe for 2018 before any tax credits.
Federal income tax withheld on Forms W-2 and 1099
Total of all Federal income taxes withheld for the year. This would typically be reported to you on form W-2 for employment wages and form 1099 for other income.
Additional child tax credit (Form 8812)
If you qualify for the child tax credit and were limited on taking the full credit, you may be eligible for this additional refundable credit. This additional credit is considered refundable because it is 'refunded' or paid to you even if you don't have enough income taxes to offset the credit (it will result in a total income tax bill for the year that is negative). The refundable credit is limited to 20% of the total Child Tax Credit you did not already receive (as a non-refundable credit).
Earned Income Credit (EIC)
Earned Income Credit (EIC) is a tax credit available to low income earners. In some cases the EIC can be greater than the total income taxes owed for the year. This provides an income tax refund to families that may have little or no income tax withheld from their paychecks. This calculator will determine if you qualify for the Earned Income Credit, and if so, how much.
Number of qualifying children
Enter the number of children in your family that qualify for the Earned Income Credit (EIC). The IRS has a set of three requirements that must be met to have a child considered qualified.

  1. Your relationship to the child must be:
    • Son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, or a descendant (for example, your grandchild) of any of them, or
    • Brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your niece or nephew).
  2. Age of your child must be:
    • Under age 19 at the end of 2018
    • A full-time student under age 24 at the end of 2018, or
    • Permanently and totally disabled at any time during 2018, regardless of age.
    • Be younger than the person claiming the child
    • Not have filed a joint return other than to claim a refund
  3. Your child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half of 2018.
Earned income
This is any income from wages, salaries, tips or any other earned income that is taxable. Do not include any non-taxable benefits in this total. Also include any earnings from farms, farm partnerships or businesses that did not require payment of self-employment taxes. Do not include any scholarships, penal income, annuity or pension income.
Scholarships, penal & retirement income
If you received income from any of these sources, it does not qualify for the Earned Income Credit. Your eligible Earned Income is reduced by this amount.
Non-taxable combat pay
If you received any non-taxable combat pay, the IRS allows you choose whether to figure your EIC with or without this pay included. This calculator will automatically choose the option that produces the highest EIC.
Are you (or spouse if married) between the ages of 25 and 65?
Check this box if you or your spouse will be 25 to 65 years old at the end of the year. To qualify for the Earned Income Credit, either you or your spouse (if you are married) must be at least 25 years old and no greater than 65 years old at the end of the year. This rule only applies to people without any children. Your response is not used if you have 1 or more qualified children.
Can you (or spouse if married) be claimed as a qualifying child of someone else?
You cannot be a qualifying child of another person and receive Earned Income Credit. If you meet the requirements to be a qualifying child of your parents based on the EIC rules, you are unable to claim any EIC for yourself. This is the case even if your parent or parents do not qualify for EIC and whether or not you have any qualifying children of your own.
Have you (and spouse if married) lived in the U.S. for at least six months?
Check this box if you (and your spouse if married) lived in the United States for more than six months of the year. You must have lived in the U.S. for at least six months and one day during the current year. This only applies if you do not have any qualified children. For military personnel, you are able to include any time spent on extended deployment as living in the U.S.
Total credits
Your total tax credits. This amount is subtracted from the total tax amount.
Total tax after credits
This is the total federal income tax you will need to pay in 2018.
Total other taxes
Any other taxes that you owe for 2018. This includes self-employment tax, alternative minimum tax, and household employment taxes.
Total tax
Grand total of your 2018 federal tax bill.
Total payments
Total of all tax payments made in 2018. This includes tax withheld from Forms W-2 and 1099, and estimated taxes paid, earned income credit and excess Social Security tax withheld.