Can you file taxes if you had no income, but paid property taxes?

Question

I didn't have any income this year, however I paid proprety taxes as well as a mortgage that was mostly interest. Can I file or should I file taxes for the year? Why or why not? My thinking is that I should get something back for my property taxes no??

Answer 1

For federal taxes, you don't get something back because you paid mortgage interest or property taxes. These are deductions that reduce the amount of income that you pay taxes on. Since you don't have income, there's nothing to reduce, so there's nothing to file on and nothing to be returned to you. Some low-income people are eligible for the Earned Income Credit which can give them a "refund" even if they didn't pay anything in, but this requires having EARNED INCOME.

Some states (PA is one) have a property tax rebate program where you can get some of your property tax rebated to you. This is usually just for people over 65 with low or no income.

Answer 2

You can always file an income tax return; however, if you had no income you may not have to and I would have to know a little more about your financial situation to determine whether you should file one or not. If you are in doubt, I would suggest talking to a local CPA or find other local tax help.

As to getting something back for the property taxes, if you had no taxable income you will not be able to get any federal tax benefit for mortgage interest or property taxes. Both of these are Schedule A itemized deductions and can only be used to reduce your taxable income; however, your taxable income cannot be less than zero. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but property taxes and mortgage interest are not among them.

Answer 3

If you had no income, you had no taxes taken out that you can claim as a refund, right? And if you have no income, you won't owe any taxes.

So there's no reason for you to file.

(A_Kansan is correct, you can sometimes get money back that you didn't pay in in the form of EIC or additional child tax credit. The problem is that you have to have children, AND you have to have at least some earned income.)

Answer 4

You can't have taxable income below zero, so if you have no earned income, the value to you of the itemized deductions is nil. You literally had NO income? No interest, dividends? The money you paid for your mortgage and property taxes had to come from somewhere. Are you keeping it in a mattress?

Answer 5

if you didn't pay any taxes to the IRS then you have no money to be refunded to you. the only way you can deduct the expense of property tax and interest is if you have paid, if you didn't earn any income then you probally havn't paid anything to deduct those expenses from. It's a income tax refund and the only way you can get a refund is if you paid income taxes.

Answer 6

If you have children and you meet income levels, you can get an Earned Income Tax Credit. This is sort of a reverse income tax. I know families that got as much as $6,000 in return.

Contact a tax preparer. They might even loan you the amount of your return, and not charge you for preparation.

Good Luck.

Answer 7

Only a few states like Missouri allow taxpayers over age 65 to get back real estate tax refunds if they have low or no income. That is it.

Answer 8

file. of course the IRS might wonder how you paid mortgage interest & property taxes with no income being reported...

Answer 9

in the adventure that your purely earnings is SSDI, there is not any reason to record. in case you have different earnings, or are submitting a joint return and your significant different has earnings, you would be required to record. in case you do no longer owe any taxes, then having paid sources taxes is surely no longer of any use to you - that purely is used in case you itemize.

Answer 10

How do you pay for things if you have no income? You must be getting money somewhere. That or you're a great saver.