Tax Return Question-College?

Question

I've filed my taxes before but this is the first year I've done it as a college student. I still live at home and my mom can claim me as a dependent. I have 2-3 questions though. The first is about donations. I usually don't do anything with those concerning taxes and I know they changed the rule on that this year. I donate to my church and the church gave me back a statement. It was about $600 dollars. So do I need to use that when I file my taxes and if so how do I do that. Second. I received about 4 scholarships this year for college and I got back around $7000 from unused money which I put in my savings account. My school sent me a 2006 form 1098-T but I've never used this before and I'm not sure how to do my taxes because I thought my scholarships couldn't be taxed. I made a little more than $7000 from my job(part-time) plus the scholarships would add up to $14000. So I wanted to know how to use the tuition statement I got to do my taxes and if I have to include my savings acc too

I may just go and have it done professionally but I'd rather do it myself since I don't really have a lot of money and I didn't have a whole lot taken out for taxes. thanx

Answer 1

My best advice would be to file it yourself using Turbo Tax. Relatively, your taxes won't be that complicated, but the first time you do it can be a bit tricky, and Turbo Tax is pretty good about holding your hand all the way through. Plus, it's going to be free for you, at least for your federal tax return, and possibly your state taxes as well. Go to IRS.gov and click on the link for "free file" It will pull up a list of tax preparation software, and the eligibility requirements. Find Intuit's TurboTax, you should qualify for their free preparation. I think Turbo Tax is the easiest to use, though some people prefer TaxCut or other programs.

Your college scholarships are not taxable to the extent they cover your tuition and required fees. However, you have to report on your return how much of your scholarship went to tuition and fees, and what was left over. That information should all be on the 1098. If you put the excess money in your savings account, you will also have to report the interest you earned on it. Your bank should have sent you a 1099 with that information. You may also be eligible for a tax credit if you made any out-of-pocket payments (not from scholarship) for you education. A credit is an amount that you can reduce your tax bill by, so its more valuable than a deduction, which only reduces your taxable income.

I don't think your donations are going to matter for you. Charitable donations figure into your deductions, which is an amount you are allowed to reduce your income by before applying the tax rate. There are two ways to determine your deduction -- standard (an amount set by the government that you can elect to deduct) or itemized (where you add up all your possible deductions). Charitable giving only goes towards your itemized deductions, and since you probably don't have many other deductions you can itemize, you will probably be better off taking the standard deduction, which is just over $5000.

Hope that helps gets you started

Answer 2

Go to www.irs.gov and there is a link on the home page called free file. You will qualify to file through a number of online tax companies such as Turbo Tax, H&R Block etc for free. The software in these web sites will walk you through the process and they have great turtorials. If this is your first year of college you can take the Hope Credit and possibly the Lifetime Learning Credit.

Answer 3

Your federal tax return is quite often your variety 1040 (or 1040A, or 1040EZ). in the event that they prefer the full equipment of papers, they'll ask on your tax return and linked schedules. then you definately would additionally provide them the kinds that flatter the 1040, that are many times categorised "time table A", "time table B", and so on. usually the 1040 by myself is adequate. If that is no longer sparkling, you are able to continually call the college and ask them precisely what kinds they prefer.