Filing Taxes...?

Question

Hello All,
I am a single parent, student, & an employee. Taxes are here now & I need to know if it is possible to file taxes on financial aids like Pell is possible? I have heard students & people from my work place telling me that I can claim it. Is that true? So far, I know that I have my daughter to claim & her daycare vouchers. I get help from the govt. & father doesnt help. & when I did my taxes the 1st time to apply for financial aid the school told me that I didn't check EXEMPT on my tax paper. & they were going to make me pay $4,500 out of pocket. Sure I can pay that if I didnt have a kid but I do. The school said I had to check exempt from now on. I dont get it. I thought that means I didnt want to claim taxes? Did I get this backward? Can you let me know what is the proper procedure to do this. I usually do my own taxes. What will happen to my financial aid? Will the gov't deduct that since they gave it to me for school purposes or what? And what does EXEMPT really mean? TY

First time doing my own taxes incorporating financial aid if possible and as a student was well. Thank you for your time for reading this.

Answer 1

just look here

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=129249,00.html

also if yoru uncome was under $5000 you do NOT have to file.

Answer 2

Pell Grants are not taxable income. You do not claim these payments as income, and you cannot get education credits or Earned Income credit for them. The Pell grants do not appear on your return.

Vouchers given to you to pay for daycare are not taxable income. You cannot get Child and Dependent Care credit for them. The vouchers are not entered on your return.

From your description, the only taxable income you have is on the W-2 you receive from your employer. File your taxes with that. You should get the Earned Income Credit from that. If you owe any tax, the Child Tax Credit will take care of the first $1,000 of tax.

Your refund will not be reduced because you received daycare vouchers or Pell grants. These payments will not disqualify you from claiming the child and getting the credits associated with the child's exemption.

I am guessing about the "exempt" but it may mean on the tax withholding form W-4 you should mark "exempt" from withholding because you have no tax liability.

Answer 3

TAP and PELL are grants and you are exempt from them. If you claim them it puts you in a higher income bracket and you will have to pay more taxes. If you are doing your own, do the short and the long forms and see which you benefit from. Usually if you are a single parent, you get almost all your taxes back. Good luck.

Answer 4

If someone earned $8600 in wages (W2) and had taxes withheld then you actual could document a tax go back to get the withholding refunded. If someone earned $8600 in self employed (type 1099) then sure you're at threat of document a tax go back type 1040, Sch C and Sch SE. good success

Answer 5

It sounds like your tax filing is a little more complicated than you know how to do. Please look for a VITA site near you. You can get info on these sites at irs.gov. Trained volunteers will do your taxes at no charge, and they'll be familiar with the various issues you're asking about.

If you listen to what everyone around you tells you, including on Yahoo Answers, and then try to use that info and prepare your own return, you're taking a chance on whether you get it right, and could cause yourself problems down the line.

Good luck.