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IRS Tax Tip 2014-48: Four Things to Know about Net Investment Income Tax

Starting in 2013, some taxpayers may be subject to the Net Investment Income Tax. You may owe this tax if you have income from investments and your income for the year is more than certain limits. Here are four things from the IRS that you should know about this tax:

  1. Net Investment Income Tax.  The law requires a tax of 3.8 percent on the lesser of either your net investment income or the amount by which your modified adjusted gross income exceeds a threshold amount based on your filing status.
  2. Net investment income.  This amount generally includes income such as:
    • interest,
    • dividends,
    • capital gains,
    • rental and royalty income, and
    • non-qualified annuities.

    This list is not all-inclusive. Net investment income normally does not include wages and most self-employment income. It does not include unemployment compensation, Social Security benefits or alimony. Net investment income also does not include any gain on the sale of your main home that you exclude from your income.

    After you add up your total investment income, you then subtract your deductions that are properly allocable to this income. The result is your net investment income. Refer to the instructions for Form 8960, Net Investment Income Tax for more on how to figure your net investment income or MAGI.

  3. Income threshold amounts.  You may owe the tax if you have net investment income and your modified adjusted gross income is more than the following amount for your filing status:
    Filing Status   Threshold Amount
    Single or Head of household $200,000
    Married filing jointly $250,000
    Married filing separately $125,000
    Qualifying widow(er) with a child $250,000
  4. How to report.  If you owe this tax, you must file Form 8960 with your federal tax return. If you had too little tax withheld or did not pay enough estimated taxes, you may have to pay an estimated tax penalty.

For more on this topic visit IRS.gov/aca. You can also get tax forms on IRS.gov or by mail by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

IR-2014-44: As e-file Grows, IRS Receives Fewer Tax Returns on Paper

WASHINGTON — As of March 28, the Internal Revenue Service has received 82 million returns through e-file, about 91 percent of returns filed this year. Only about 9 percent, 8.3 million returns, were filed on paper.

The IRS expects to receive about 148 million individual income tax returns this year and projects that 23 million returns will be on paper, down 7 percent from last year’s total of 25 million paper returns.

IRS e-file has accomplished many goals, including reducing the amount of paper the government must process. This reduction of paper processing allows the agency to be more efficient and use valuable resources to address other critical work.

The IRS reminds taxpayers that e-file is the safest, fastest and easiest way to submit their individual tax returns. Since 1990, taxpayers have e-filed more than 1 billion Form 1040 series tax returns safely and securely.

  [The filing season statistics table follows.]

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2014 FILING SEASON STATISTICS

Cumulative statistics comparing 3/29/13 and 3/28/14

Individual Income Tax Returns:

2013

2014

% Change

Total Receipts

90,244,000

90,761,000

0.6

Total Processed

85,039,000

89,127,000

4.8

E-filing Receipts:

TOTAL

80,991,000

82,440,000

1.8

Tax Professionals

49,214,000

48,787,000

-0.9

Self-prepared

31,777,000

33,654,000

5.9

Web Usage:

Visits to IRS.gov

247,990,560

222,397,053

-10.3

Total Refunds:

Number

72,231,000

73,035,000

1.1

Amount

$201.502

billion

$206.785

billion

2.6

Average refund

$2,790

$2,831

1.5

Direct Deposit Refunds:

Number

61,133,000

61,223,000

0.1

Amount

$180.868

billion

$180.687

billion

-0.1

Average refund

$2,959

$2,951

-0.2

 

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 02-May-2014