Evening star., 1946-02-28
Your Income Tax
NO S-FIGURING THE
LONG FORM,
Bv James MorIow

In figuring your 1s45 income tax
return on the 1040 long form you'll
need-in addition to the form-the
separate instruction sheet which goes
with it.
If your income was 5000 or over
take the standard deduction of $500
for expenses, whether they were that
much or not. Itemize nothing. II
you claim more than $500, itemize
all on page 8.
You're hit with two kinds Of taxes
A 3 per cent normal tax, which is
the same on all incomes, and a sur
tax which ranges from 20 per cent
on incomes up to $1,000 to 81 per
| cent on the highest incomes.
Turn to page of the long form.
where 1t says "tax computation, "
follow the example given here, step
by step. Later use your own figures.
Line l. Write your total income.
Say 1t was $7,400. Line 2. Write the
$500 standard deduction under the
S7,40O. Line 3. Subtracting $500
from $7,400, write the answer: $500.
This is called your net income.
$500 Exemption Next.
Line 4. Write $500 under your
$500 net income. The $500 is your
normal tax exemption. Every one
filing a return gets a $500 normal
exemption. You get no normal ex-
emption for your dependents and
none for your wife unless she, having
income, files joint return with you.
Line S. Subtracting the $500
normal exemption from the $500
net income, write the answer: S. 400,
That's your normal net income,
Line 6. Here you apply the normal
8 per cent tax. Take 3 per cent of
6,400 and write the answer, 1892
on line S. That's your normal tax:
$192.
Line 7. Write here again the Sc 900
net income you wrote on line 3.
Line 8. Write here your total sur
tax exemptions. You get a $500
surtax exemption for yourself, $500
for your wife df She's not filing a
separate return, and $500 for each
dependent. You, married, one child.
claim three surtax exemptions for
a total of $1,500. Write that on
line s.
Line 9. Subtracting the 81 500 on
line 8 from the $4,000 on line 7.
write the answer, $5,400, on line 8.
That's your surtax net income.
Line 10. Turn to the instruction
sheet, mentioned earlier. Look at
the surtax table, bottom of page 4,
where it says surtax net income
"over $4,000, but not over 5000" !"
That's where wou are.
Surtax Totals $1,2O4.
Right across from that bracket
you see the tax is $40, plus 26 per
cent Of what is over $4,000. Since
your surtax net income was $5,400-
or 81 400 more than "a ,O00-you take
26 per cent Of $1,400, the answer :
1884.
You add the 1854 to the $40 men
toned in the paragraph above and
write the total, $1,204 on line 10
That $1,204 is your surtax.
Line IL. Add the $1,204 surtax
Qine 1O to the normal tax, S192
Qine g. and write the total, 81, 1896
on line II. That's your total tax for
1945. But you're not through.
Remember: Your salary for the
year was $7,400. During the year
you received raises. That threw q
little out of gear the total tax you
figured, at the beginning of the year
you'd owe for 1945.
Your boss withheld from you ST.
286 in taxes. Additionally, you paid
in quarterly installments in 1945
$27 in estimated tax. So you paid
in 1945 a total of 1913 in taxes.
But you find now on line II, after
figuring your tax, that your tota.
tax for the year should be 81 1896, OF
$83 more than the $1,313 you've paid
You still owe $83.