how much can you earn as interest income in the US without paying tax?

Question

If the only income a person has is around ten thousand dollars from bank interest, would that person have to declare and file and be liable for tax?

This is for an elderly married man and wife with no kids or dependents.

Answer 1

You would have to declare the entire $10,000. You may have to pay taxes on it, depending on your other income. If the $10,000 is your only source of income, you may not have to pay any income taxes. As a married couple without children, you do not get taxed on their first $16,900 of income. It may be even higher if you are over the age of 65.

You may still have to pay state and local taxes, however. I don't know which state you live in, so I can't give you any advice there.

If you do take a beating with your taxes, you may want to consider transfering your bank accounts into a fixed annuity. You earn a similar interest rate, but you do not pay taxes on any interest earned, until you actually withdraw the money. With bank products, you must pay taxes on all interest earned, even if you leave the money in the account.

Answer 2

Phew. You scared me there a minute. Based on the original question, it appeared you were suggesting that we shouldn't pay taxes at all. That is ludicrous. That said, I could get on board with your sales tax suggestion, except for three things: 1. It would have to be altered for the poor. They can't afford food and clothing as it is without taxing everything. The current tax code protects their income. The same would have to be true for a sales tax, or these people would starve. 2. Rich people would get around a sales tax even easier than an income tax. They can afford to purchase whatever they need OUTSIDE the U.S. Then the government doesn't get anything at all. You know how much it would cost to police this? LOL! More than it costs to police the income tax, that is for sure. 3. What happens in an economic crisis? Sales tax would be just as easily susceptible to a crisis like we are in now than income- likely more so. Solve those problems, and I'm totally on board.

Answer 3

There's really no such thing as "non-reportable interest". I've been told that if your total interest from all sources is $10 or less you don't need to bother, but I've never seen this in the tax code or any IRS publication.

But you might not be required to file or report any of your income:

If your income is below the "zero bracket" amount for your family, you're not required to file. To figure it out, add up all your income from all sources, then compare it to the following deductions:

standard deduction (for married joint, I assume: $10,300)
plus total exemptions for yourself and dependants ($3300 per person)

If you're married filing joint with two exemptions, you have to have more than $16,900 in total income before you're required to file, and you certainly won't owe anything.

Answer 4

It's going to depend on your deductions.

If this person is very young, there's the "kiddie tax" that may apply.

With that much income, the person may have to file a return but may not owe any tax on it. Just because you must file does not imply that there will be tax owed.

Answer 5

If that's their only income, then no, a married couple filing joint would not have to pay tax on $10,000. They wouldn't have to file, since they're under the limit to be required to.

Answer 6

Yes. The income limit - including interest income - for filing is 8,450 for single under age 65.

Answer 7

400

Answer 8

Yes, and the bank reports it to the IRS. but with standard deductions you would get it all back, and maybe more.

Answer 9

unlimited!..if you have the right deductions!