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IRS Tax Tip 2013-12: Taxable and Nontaxable Income
Most types of income are taxable, but some are not. Income can include money, property or services that you receive. Here are some examples of income that are usually not taxable:
- Child support payments;
- Gifts, bequests and inheritances;
- Welfare benefits;
- Damage awards for physical injury or sickness;
- Cash rebates from a dealer or manufacturer for an item you buy; and
- Reimbursements for qualified adoption expenses.
Some income is not taxable except under certain conditions. Examples include:
- Life insurance proceeds paid to you because of an insured person’s death are usually not taxable. However, if you redeem a life insurance policy for cash, any amount that is more than the cost of the policy is taxable.
- Income you get from a qualified scholarship is normally not taxable. Amounts you use for certain costs, such as tuition and required course books, are not taxable. However, amounts used for room and board are taxable.
All income, such as wages and tips, is taxable unless the law specifically excludes it. This includes non-cash income from bartering – the exchange of property or services. Both parties must include the fair market value of goods or services received as income on their tax return.
If you received a refund, credit or offset of state or local income taxes in 2012, you may be required to report this amount. If you did not receive a 2012 Form 1099-G, check with the government agency that made the payments to you. That agency may have made the form available only in an electronic format. You will need to get instructions from the agency to retrieve this document. Report any taxable refund you received even if you did not receive Form 1099-G.
IR-2013-18: IRS To Accept Tax Returns with Education Credits, Depreciation Next Week
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers will be able to start filing two major tax forms next week covering education credits and depreciation.
Starting Sunday, Feb. 10, the IRS will start processing tax returns that contain Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization. And on Thursday, Feb. 14, the IRS plans to start processing Form 8863, Education Credits.
This step clears the way for almost all taxpayers to start filing their tax returns for 2012. These forms affected the largest groups of taxpayers who weren’t able to file following the Jan. 30 opening of the 2013 tax season.
The IRS will be able to accept the education credits and depreciation forms following the completion of reprogramming and testing of its systems. Work continues on preparing IRS systems to accept the remaining tax forms affected by the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) enacted by Congress on Jan. 2.
The IRS also announced today it will start accepting the remaining forms affected by the January legislation the first week of March. A specific date will be announced later. Most of those in this group file more complex tax returns and typically file closer to the deadline or obtain an extension. A full list of the forms that will be accepted the first week of March is available on IRS.gov.
Next week’s opening covers two groups of taxpayers using:
- Form 8863, Education Credits. Form 8863 is used to claim two higher education credits — the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit.
- Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization. Most of the people using the depreciation form tend to file later in the tax season or obtain a six-month extension. Non-1040 business filers using Form 4562 can also file starting Sunday.
For taxpayers using e-file, most software companies are now accepting tax returns with these two forms and will submit them after the IRS begins accepting them next week.
More information is available on IRS.gov.
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