What is the best way to file my taxes? I made only $12000 in 2006, moved from CA to NV in middle of Dec.?

Question

My parents usually do this for me but I moved out.

I went to school full time for that year and worked two jobs to make about 12,000 at one job and about 400 at the other. I have a Wamu checking and savings acct and an ING Direct Savings acct. I moved from CA to NV on Dec 19 and left both jobs before this date.

I hear a lot of ppl file online or go to HR Block or Jackson Hewitt. Tips and suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

You could file a 1040-EZ for your federal tax return. Your parents could most likely still claim you as a dependent for 2006. If so, you would have to report that you were a dependent of another.
You are also eligible to e-file for free at www.turbotax.com with the Freedom Edition.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040ez.pdf?portlet=3

You could file as a CA resident. Turbotax will prepare this return too, but there may be a small fee for the state return.

Turbotax is really user-friendly and guides you along each step of the way. Im sure you could prepare your tax return yourself and save yourself a lot of money!

Answer 2

First things first: are your parents planning on claiming you as a dependent for 2006? They may be eligible to do so, so find out before you file your tax return. Only one person is allowed to claim you: either you or your parents, and the IRS computer will notice the double deduction.

Anyway, it sounds like all of your income was basically generated in CA, since you held both jobs in CA as a CA resident. Since you had only spent 12 days as a NV resident, I would recommend filing a full year return as a CA resident. Kind of a bummer, really-NV has no state income tax! At least you won't have to deal with CA's ridiculous tax system any more!

You could probably do this return yourself using TurboTax or TaxCut. It doesn't sound like there's anything too complicated going on here, so it's probably not worth it to pay a preparer to do it for you. If you're uncomfortable, TurboTax offers a service that will have someone review your return for $30 or something like that.

Good luck!