Tax Help for Prior Year Tax Preparation

Frequently Asked Questions
Tax Related Questions
Definitions of Tax Terms
IRS Forms Supported by PriorTax
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Tax Definitions Terminology

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Above-the-Line Deductions Above-the-line deductions are deductions that you subtract directly from your gross income and...
Additional Child Tax Credit - Form 8812 If the amount of your Child Tax Credit exceeds the amount of income tax you owe, you may be ab...
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Adjusted gross income (AGI) is a special calculation of income that determine...
Adoption Credit and Adoption Assistance Programs For taxpayers who adopted an eligible child, an adoption tax credit and exclusion
Allocated tips The basic idea behind allocated tips is that if you work in a restaurant, coc...
Alternative Minimum Tax - Form 6251 Established by Congress in 1969, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is meant t...
Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit - Form 8910 The Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit was enacted by the Energy Policy Act of ...
Amended Individual Return - Form 1040X File Form 1040X, an amended tax return, to change the information on your ori...
American Opportunity Tax Credit The American Opportunity Tax Credit helps students and parents pay for colleg...
Archer Medical Savings Account (MSA) Archer MSAs are tax-exempt trusts or custodial accounts set up with a U.S. fi...
Cancellation of Debt Exclusion If a debt you incurred is successfully cancelled by the lender the amount of the debt is gener...
Capital Gains and Losses - Form 1040 Schedule D Attach Schedule D to your 1040 to report your capital gains and losses. ...
Capital Gains or Capital Losses Capital gains occur when a capital asset, such as a home, household furnishin...
Casualties and Thefts - Form 4684 Form 4684 reports casualties and thefts of both personal use property and inc...
Casualty Loss Deductions A casualty loss against your home, household items, or vehicle, resulting fro...
Certain Gambling Winnings - Form W-2G Form W-2G is the tax form for gambling winnings and the federal income tax wi...
Certain Government Payments - Form 1099-G Those who received payments from either the federal, state, or local government during the yea...
Charitable Contributions Charitable contributions, in cash or in property donated to qualified organiz...
Child and Dependent Care Expenses - Form 2441 Form 2441 determines the amount of the credit for child and dependent care expenses
Child Tax Credit The Child Tax Credit allows you to reduce your income tax burden by up to $1,...
Credit A tax credit is a special tax break that reduces the total amount of tax you ...
Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels - Form 4136 Form 4136 is for claiming a credit for certain nontaxable uses or sales of fuel
Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions - Form 8880 Form 8880 allows you to claim the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, al...
Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled - Form 1040 or 1040A Schedule R Attach Schedule R to your 1040 or 1040A to claim the tax credit for the elderly or dis...
Deductible Taxes There are five types of non-business taxes you can deduct on your federal tax...
Deduction A tax deduction is a special tax break that reduces the amount of income on w...
Dependency Exemption In addition to the Personal Exemptions for you and your spouse, the IRS allows you to substrac...
Dependent A dependent is either a child or a relative who lived with you or whom you su...
Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property) - Form 4562 Form 4562 allows you to claim a variety of deductions related to depreciation and amor...
Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc. - Form 1099-R Form 1099-R is used to report distributions of $10 or more from profit-sharing or reti...
E-File (Electronic Filing) E-file allows you to transmit your return and other tax information directly ...
Earned Income Earned income is income that you had to work to earn, either working for some...
Earned Income Credit The Earned Income Tax Credit is a refundable credit that helps low and modera...
Earned Income Credit - Qualifying Child Information - Form 1040 or 1040A Schedule EIC After you have calculated your Earned Income Credit (EIC), attach Schedule EI...
Education Credits (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Credits) - Form 8863 Form 8863 allows you to claim education credits, which include the American O...
Educator Expenses Deduction Eligible educators can deduct up to $250 of expenses for books, supplies, com...
Electronic Return Originator (ERO) An Electronic Return Originator (ERO) is the authorized IRS e-file provider t...
Eligible Educational Institution Any college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution eli...
Employee Business Expenses - Form 2106 Form 2106 is for employees to deduct ordinary and necessary expenses for thei...
Estimated Tax for Individuals - Form 1040-ES Form 1040-ES allows you to calculate and pay your estimated tax. If you are n...
Expenses for Business Use of Your Home - Form 8829 Form 8829 is used to calculate allowable expenses for the business use of your home
Failure-to-File Penalty The failure-to-file penalty results when you do not file your tax return by t...
Failure-to-Pay Penalty As its name suggests, the failure-to-pay penalty results when you fail to pay...
Filing Status There are five possible filing statuses, based on your marital status and fam...
Financial Records The IRS requires you to keep financial records for at least three years after...
First-Time Homebuyer Credit The first-time homebuyer tax credit is a special tax break available to quali...
Foreign Tax Credit - Form 1116 Individuals, estates, and trusts can file Form 1116 to claim the Foreign Tax Credit
Gambling Losses Deduction You can deduct gambling losses as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on your ...
Head of Household Filing Status Head of household is a special filing status that allows for several unique t...
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-exempt trust or custodial account cre...
Home Mortgage Interest Deduction The Home Mortgage Interest deduction allows you to deduct the interest paid i...
Hope Credit The Hope Credit is a tax credit available to help students, or their parents ...
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) Deduction Contributions to traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs are tax deductible, reducing ...
Information to Claim Earned Income Credit After Disallowance - Form 8862 Form 8862 allows those taxpayers who had their Earned Income Credit (EIC) reduced or d...
Interest When you fail to file your tax return on time or pay your tax due, not only will you face fail...
Interest and Ordinary Dividends - Form 1040 or 1040A Schedule B Taxpayers filing a Form 1040 or 1040A can include a Schedule B to report their interes...
Investment Interest Expense Deduction - Form 4952 You must file Form 4952 to claim the investment interest expense deduction an...
Itemized Deductions - Form 1040 Schedule A Every taxpayer can choose to take either the standard deduction or itemize deductions<...
Lifetime Learning Credit The Lifetime Learning Credit is one of two tax credits, along with the
Low-Income Housing Credit - Form 8586 Form 8586 allows owners of qualified residential buildings in low-income housing projects to c...
Making Work Pay Tax Credit A component of the Stimulus, the Making Work Pay Credit was available for the...
Married Filing Jointly Filing Status Married filing jointly is one of two filing statuses available to married tax...
Married Filing Separately Filing Status Married filing separately is one of two filing statuses available to married ...
Miscellaneous Deductions Many itemized deductions are grouped under the umbrella term “miscellaneous deductions...
Miscellaneous Income - Form 1099-MISC Form 1099-MISC reports various types of miscellaneous income other than wages...
Modified Adjusted Gross Income Also known by its acronym MAGI, the modified adjusted gross income is figured...
Mortgage Insurance Premium Tax Deduction Your mortgage insurance premiums may be tax deductible, but you must itemize ...
Mortgage Interest Credit - Form 8396 Form 8396 is used to calculate the mortgage interest credit for a given tax y...
Moving Expenses - Form 3903 You can use Form 3903 to deduct moving expenses. Your move must ...
Net Operating Loss - Form 1045 Schedule A Form 1045 Schedule A is used to compute a net operating loss (NOL) and determ...
Net Profit from Business - Form 1040 Schedule C-EZ Schedule C-EZ is a simpler version of the normal Schedule C. You attach to yo...
Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit - Form 5695 The Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit offers a tax credit for making energy ...
Noncash Charitable Contributions - Form 8283 File Form 8283 to report noncash charitable contributions to the IRS, but onl...
Ordinary Dividends Dividends are what the shareholders of a company get, as their share of the c...
Payment Voucher - Form 1040-V Payment vouchers, part of the IRS’s effort to modernize its system, help the ...
Personal Exemption A personal exemption is a tax deduction that allows you to reduce your taxabl...
Principal Residence Your principal residence, also known as your main home, is the home you live ...
Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions - Form 1099-B A form 1099-B records all stock transactions and helps you report capital gains or losses to t...
Profit or Loss from Business - Form 1040 Schedule C Schedule C is included with your return to report income or loss from a busin...
Qualified Adoption Expenses - Form 8839 Form 8839 is used to claim the adoption credit and an exclusion of any employ...
Qualified Charitable Distribution Qualified charitable distributions allow IRA owners over the age of 70.5 to d...
Qualified Dividends Dividends are divided into two broad categories:
Qualified Education Expenses The various education credits available to students and those who pay for them are based on th...
Qualified Plug-in Electric and Electric Vehicle Credit - Form 8834 Form 8834 allows you to claim the qualified plug-in electric vehicle credit a...
Qualifying Child A qualifying child allows you to claim several tax breaks not available to ta...
Qualifying Relative A qualifying relative allows you to claim an additional exemption and reduce ...
Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child Filing Status Those who lose a spouse during that tax year can file a joint return for the tax year of their...
Railroad Retirement Benefits Created in the 1930s, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is a government age...
Recovery Rebate Credit - Form 1040 2008 Line 70 The Recovery Rebate Credit is a one-time tax credit from 2009 for taxpayers w...
Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit - Form 5695 The Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit provides taxpayers with a no...
Roth IRA A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account (IRA) that is generally subjec...
Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets - Form 8949 Form 8949 is a new form for reporting capital gains introduced in the 2011 tax year. On Form 8...
Sales Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases The Sales Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases is a tax deduction that allows ...
Self Employment Tax Schedule SE calculates the tax due on your self-employment earnings. Generally speaking, you m...
Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction Self-employed taxpayers with a net profit for the year may be able to deduct ...
Self-Employment Profit/Loss Subtract your self-employment expenses from your self-employment income. If the difference is ...
Single Filing Status Single is the default filing status for taxpayers who are unmarried or consid...
Social Security and Medicare Tax on Unreported Tip Income - Form 4137 Form 4137 is used to figure the social security and Medicare tax owed on tips...
Standard Deduction The standard deduction is a set amount, adjusted yearly for inflation, that c...
Standard Mileage Rates The standard mileage rates are optional set rates that employees, self-employ...
State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Those who itemize deductions on Schedule A have the option of claiming either state and local...
Statement by Person(s) Receiving Gambling Winnings - Form 5754 You must fill out Form 5754 [Statement by Person(s) Receiving Gambling Winnings]
Supplemental Income and Loss - Form 1040 Schedule E Attach Schedule E to your 1040 to report income or loss from rental propertie...
Support for Dependents For the purpose of determining if someone is your dependent, total support in...
Tax Avoidance Tax avoidance consists of taking legal steps to lessen your tax liability and...
Tax Basis The basis of a piece of property is usually the cost at which you bought it. ...
Tax Bracket Under a progressive income tax code like the U.S.’s, tax brackets are the different levels at ...
Tax Evasion Tax evasion is a deliberate and illegal effort to avoid paying taxes. Usually...
Tax Extension - Form 4868 Submit Form 4868 to file for a tax extension. This will give you an additional six months to f...
Tax for Certain Children Who Have Investment Income of More than $1,900 - Form 8615 Form 8615 is used to figure the tax for certain children who have investment income ov...
Tax Liability Your tax liability is the amount of money you owe the government. Taxpayers m...
Tax-Exempt Interest Income Tax-exempt interest is interest that is not subject to federal income tax. In...
Taxable Interest Income Generally speaking, you have to pay taxes on any interest income you receive,...
Telephone Excise Tax Refund The Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) was implemented to return excise taxes...
Tip Income All tips are taxable and must be reported to the IRS, including cash tips you...
Tuition and Fees Deduction The tuition and fees deduction allows you to deduct up to $4,000 of qualified...
U.S. Individual Income Tax Return - Form 1040/1040EZ/1040A The IRS Forms 1040, 1040EZ, and 1040A are the most basic forms individuals use to report their...
Unearned Income Unearned income is income that you did not work to earn. Unearned income is o...
Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses - Form 2106-EZ Form 2106-EZ is for employees to deduct ordinary and necessary work expenses ...
Wage and Tax Statement - Form W-2 Employers must file Form W-2 for every employee they paid more than $600 in w...
Withholding Withholding is the money that employers take out of their employees’ paycheck...