What should I do if I made a mistake on my federal return that I have already filed?
It depends on the type of mistake that you made:
- Many mathematical errors are caught in the processing of the tax return itself.
- If you did not attach a required schedule the service will contact you and ask for the missing information.
- If you did not report all your income or did not claim a credit, you are entitled to file an amended or corrected return using Form 1040X
Is there an age limit on claiming my children as dependents?
Age is a factor in the qualifying child test, but a qualifying relative can be any age.
As long as the following dependency exemption tests are met, you may claim him or her:
- Qualifying child or qualifying relative test
- Dependent taxpayer test
- Citizenship or resident test
- Joint return test
Can a person receive a tax refund if they are currently in a payment plan for prior year’s federal taxes?
As a condition of your agreement, any refund due you in a future year will be applied against the amount you owe.
- Continue making your installment agreement payments as scheduled because your refund is not considered as a substitute for your regular payment due.
- You may not get all of your refund if you owe certain past-due amounts, such as federal tax, state tax, a student loan, or child support.
- IRS will automatically apply the refund to the taxes owed.
For head of household filing status, do you have to claim a child as a dependent to qualify?
In certain circumstances, you do not need to claim the child as a dependent to qualify for head of household filing status, such as when the qualifying child is unmarried and is your child, grandchild, stepchild, or adopted child.
Do I have to pay tax on discharge of indebtedness on principal Residence?
The exclusion from gross income for discharge of indebtedness on a primary residence is currently in effect through December 31, 2025. The maximum amount of qualified principal residence indebtedness eligible for exclusion is $750,000 ($375,000 for married filing separately). Additionally, the exclusion can apply to certain discharges occurring in 2026 if the discharge is made under a written arrangement entered into before January 1, 2026. As of 2025, there have been no further extensions or major modifications to this exclusion provision beyond these dates and limits.
How do I know if I have to file quarterly individual estimated tax payments?
If you owed additional tax for the prior tax year, you may have to make estimated tax payments for the current tax year.
You must make estimated tax payments for the current tax year if both of the following apply:
- You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for the current tax year, after subtracting your withholding and credits.
- You expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of:
- 90% of the tax to be shown on your current year’s tax return, or
- 100% of the tax shown on your prior year’s tax returns. (Your prior year tax return must cover all 12 months.)
If I claim my daughter as a dependent because she is a full-time college student, can she claim herself as a dependent when she files her return?
If you claim your daughter as a dependent on your income tax return, she cannot claim herself on her income tax return.
- If an individual is filing his or her own tax return, and the individual can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return, the individual cannot claim his or her own personal exemption.
- In this case, your daughter should check the box on her return indicating that someone else can claim her as a dependent.
(Frequently asked questions are provided by the Internal Revenue Service )
