Evening star., 1945-02-24
BY JAMES MARROW,
Associated Press stan Writer.

II Associated PreSs stan writer.
You don't have to figure your own
1914 tax If your income was less
than $5,000-from any source-and
if your deductions are not more
than 10 per cent of your income.
You can use the 4-page Form
1O40 in the short form way. Which
means: You find your tax already
figured out on the back page in the
table showing the tax on incomes
up to $1,000.
You don't mention any deduc-
tions-Such as for charitable con-
tributions or medical expenses-be-
cause deductions of about 10 per
cent already have been allowed for
and taken out of all taxes in the
table.
One page you answer some ques-
tions and do the simplest arith-
metic. One page 8, the reverse side
of page l, you answer some ques-
tions if you had income from things
like annuities and pensions.
Only First Page Used.
Then you tear off that first page
and turn it into the Internal
Revenue collector personally or by
mail. If you owe tax money you
turn that in, too
| If you've overpaid your tax, there's
place on page l where you in
dicate whether you want the over
payment refunded or credited to
your 1945 taxes
Start out at the top of page and
work your way down, line by line,
step by step. The page is arranged
so you can do that.
If your income was less than
IS 900 but your deductions were
more than 10 per cent of income,
don't use the short-form. You'll
lose money. Use Form 1040 the long
form way. Which mean:
You can't use the tax table but
on page Ain addition to using
page l and 3, also, if necessary
you figure your own tax and itemize
your deductions. People making
SIS 900 or over have to use the long
form.
Husband and wife can file. joint
return on the short-form if their
combined income was less than
$5 900. If it was $1,000 or over, but
individually less than 5000, they
can file separate returns on the short
form or a joint return on the long
form. But one can't use the short
form and the other the long form.
Taken Step by Step.
Let's work out a short form,
taking man whose income was
from salary and dividends and who,
therefore, needs only page l.
Mr.. Jones, married, has one child.
Where it says your exemptions" he
writes the names of himself, wife
and child. His income was $4,700
from salary and $3.50 from dividends.
He writes them in separately.
Then he totals them, gets $4,850,
looks in the tax table, and finds the
| tax on a man like himself with
| $4,850 income and three exemptions
is $712. He writes that in the proper
place.
H During the year full tax was
withheld from a married, persons
salary only up to $500 and the tax
on any income over that had to be
paid in quarterly installments)
So in the proper places on page /
Mr.. Jones explains that $61360 was
withheld from his salary in 1914 and
that he paid $50.68 directly in quar-
terly installments, a total Of $66428
paid by Jones.
II But he sees that s664.28 was not
enough, that he owes, as noted
above, $712 for 1914. or $4772 more
than he paid with his $66428. But
why does he owe more?
| In this case the main factor was
this: When he estimated his 1914
income early last year he didn't in
clude that $50 from dividends be-
cause he didn't know at that time
that he would receive that money.