The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1956-01-05
Helpful Hints On
Your Income Tax

Your Income Tax
(This is one of series of
articles on federal income
tax filing. The articles are
based on information pro-
vided by the American in
stitute of Accountants and
the Ohio Society of Certified
Public Accountants
The eve of April l6 will see
a mad scramble in Noble county
households to put. together the
necessary facts and figures for
the federal income tax returns
due on that date. april Is falls
on Sunday this year, making
April l6 the deadline.)
The last minute rush produces
not only long lines at Internal
Revenue Service offices, but also
many careless mistakes by tax
payers.
Most of the errors are very
simple. For example, about one
million returns are filled every
year with signatures missing.
(This includes joint returns with
only one signature and individ-
ual returns with no signature at
all)
Little slips in arithmetic last
year resulted in overpayments by
taxpayers of $l8,000,000. Tax
payers got back these overpay-
ments eventually, after the gov
ernment discovered the mis-
takes, but the taxpayer cannot
rely on the government to save
him from all his errors.
The mistakes of arithmetic
| favOring the taxpayer were even
| larger perhaps not entirely
| by coincidence. All returns are
| checked, and when an under
payment is discovered the gov
ernnent not only collects the
difference, but also charges in
| tereSt
Opportunities Overlooked
Apart from obvious mistakes,
many taxpayers overlook oppor-
tunities 10 claim exemptions and
deductions, and other ways to
reduce their tax.
In order to help you avoid
such pitfalls, this newspaper is
publishing a series of articles
prepared with the help of the
national and state organizations
of certified public accountants.
These articles if you save
them and use them along with
the official instructions that
come with your tax forms may
save you money.
Your first step is to consider
whether you should file at all,
and then what kind of a return
to file.
For income tax purposes you
are not required to file a return
if your gross income in 1855 was
less than $500, or if you are 65
or older and had less than 81 200
gross income. But if you had in
come from self-employment of
S400 or more, the return must be
filed for social security tax pur-
| poses.
Don't forget that tax on salary
or wages may have been with
held during the year by your
employer, even if your income
was less than 5000, and the only
way to get it back is to file a
tax return.
Advantage of Joint Returns
A common mistake is the fill
ing of a separate return by a
wife who had a small income. If
the wife files a separate return,
she is not permitted to file
another return jointly with her
husband, nor is her husband al
| IO"Su W CIdilll all SAClllptioll lOi
the wife on his separate return.
Most married couples will save
money by filing joint return,
as this splits" their income to
put them in the same bracket as
though each of them had receiv-
ed half the total income.
There are unusual cases, how
ever, such as those involving
capital losses, in which separate
returns might result in q saw
ing. If this is a possibility, it is
best to figure both jointly and
separately before deciding which
way to file.
The instructions that come
with your tax forms give fur
ther information. Help is also
available from the Internal Re-
venue Service, which urges you
to consult a properly qualified
advisor if you need outside as