Form 1040EZ For Tax Year 2011: IRS-Accurate Checklist
Year and Form Audit Summary
Form 1040EZ for tax year 2011 serves single and married filing jointly taxpayers with earned income under $100,000, allowing only the Earned Income Credit as a tax credit, disallowing all itemized deductions, adjustments to income, and tax schedules except the standard deduction, and requiring taxpayers to switch to Form 1040 if they have foreign financial assets requiring Form 8938 filing. This simplified form is designed for taxpayers with straightforward tax situations who do not claim dependents and have income only from wages, salaries, tips, taxable interest of $1,500 or less, and unemployment compensation.
The 2011 tax year introduced the Form 8938 filing requirement for certain taxpayers with specified foreign financial assets exceeding threshold amounts. Affected taxpayers must file Form 1040 instead of Form 1040EZ to attach Form 8938. No Economic Impact Payment reconciliation, Affordable Care Act individual shared responsibility penalty, or other transient tax provisions apply to Form 1040EZ in 2011, as these programs were enacted in later years.
Form 1040EZ Checklist: Ten Required Steps for 2011
Step 1: Verify Filing Status and Age Requirements
Confirm your filing status is single or married filing jointly as of December 31, 2011. You cannot use Form 1040EZ if your filing status is married filing separately, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) with dependent child. Confirm that you and your spouse (if filing jointly) were both under age 65 and not blind at the end of 2011.
If you were born on January 1, 1947, you are considered to be 65 years old at the end of 2011 and cannot use Form 1040EZ. You must be born after January 1, 1947, to meet the age requirement. If either you or your spouse was age 65 or older or blind at year-end 2011, you must use Form 1040A or Form 1040 instead.
Step 2: Confirm Earned Income Eligibility
Verify that your total earned income from wages, salaries, tips, and taxable scholarship or fellowship grants is less than $100,000. If your taxable income is $100,000 or more, you must use Form 1040A or Form 1040. Verify that taxable interest income received from all sources combined does not exceed $1,500.
If you received more than $1,500 in taxable interest, you must use Form 1040A or Form 1040 and complete Schedule B to report the interest income. You cannot report tax-exempt interest on Form 1040EZ. You cannot report dividend income, capital gains, business income, rental income, farm income, or any other type of income on Form 1040EZ.
Step 3: Gather Form(s) W-2 From All Employers
Obtain Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement) from every employer you worked for during 2011, showing wages, salaries, and tips in box 1. If you worked multiple jobs during the year, collect all Forms W-2, even if you only worked briefly for an employer. Collect any allocated tips reported in box 8 if applicable, as these must be included in income even if not included in box 1.
Verify the federal tax withholding amount shown in box 2 of each Form W-2, as you will enter the total of all withholding on Form 1040EZ line 7. Employers are required to provide Form W-2 by January 31, 2012. If you have not received your Form W-2 by early February, contact your employer.
Step 4: Collect Form(s) 1099-INT if Applicable
If you received any taxable interest income during 2011 from banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, or other financial institutions, obtain Form 1099-INT (Interest Income) from each payer. Total the interest amounts from all Forms 1099-INT received. If your combined total taxable interest exceeds $1,500, you cannot file Form 1040EZ and must instead use Form 1040A or Form 1040 with Schedule B attached.
If your total taxable interest is $1,500 or less, you may report it on line 2 of Form 1040EZ without attaching Schedule B.
Step 5: Collect Form(s) 1099-G for Unemployment Compensation
If you received unemployment compensation benefits during 2011, obtain Form 1099-G (Certain Government Payments) from the state unemployment office or workforce commission showing the total amount of unemployment compensation in box 1. All unemployment compensation is taxable for 2011 and must be included in your income.
Include the amount from box 1 of all Forms 1099-G on line 3 of Form 1040EZ. State or local income tax refunds shown in box 2 of Form 1099-G are not reported on Form 1040EZ and do not need to be included unless you itemized deductions in a prior year.
Step 6: Verify Dependent and Foreign Asset Status
Confirm that no other person can claim you or your spouse (if filing jointly) as a dependent on their tax return. If you can be claimed as a dependent, you must complete the worksheet on the back of Form 1040EZ to calculate your standard deduction, which will be lower than the standard deduction for taxpayers who cannot be claimed as dependents.
Confirm that you do not have specified foreign financial assets exceeding the reporting thresholds that require filing Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets). The 2011 thresholds are $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or $75,000 at any time during the year for unmarried taxpayers living in the United States, or $100,000 on the previous day or $150,000 at any time for married taxpayers filing jointly. If you must file Form 8938, you cannot use Form 1040EZ and must use Form 1040 instead.
Step 7: Verify Earned Income Credit Eligibility (If Applicable)
If you plan to claim the Earned Income Credit (EIC), verify that your earned income and adjusted gross income each do not exceed $13,660 if you have no qualifying children; $36,052 ($41,132 if married filing jointly) if you have one qualifying child; $40,964 ($46,044 if married filing jointly) if you have two qualifying children; or $43,998 ($49,078 if married filing jointly) if you have three or more qualifying children.
Verify that your investment income does not exceed $3,150. Investment income includes taxable interest, tax-exempt interest, dividend income, capital gain net income, and other specified types of passive income. You cannot claim EIC if you are required to file Form 8938. You cannot claim the EIC if you are filing as married filing separately or if you or your spouse does not have a valid Social Security number issued by the Social Security Administration by the due date of your return.
Step 8: Do Not Attach Schedules, Deductions, or Credits Other Than Form W-2 and 1099 Forms
Confirm that you are NOT claiming itemized deductions, adjustments to income such as IRA deduction or student loan interest deduction, education credits, child tax credit, additional child tax credit, dependent care credit, retirement savings contributions credit, or any other credit except the Earned Income Credit.
Do NOT attach Schedule A (Itemized Deductions), Schedule EIC (Earned Income Credit with qualifying children), Form 8863 (Education Credits), Form 8880 (Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions), Form 8814 (Parents’ Election to Report Child’s Interest and Dividends), or any other schedule or form. If you need to claim any of these items, you must use Form 1040A or Form 1040 instead of Form 1040EZ.
Step 9: Complete All Required Lines Using 2011 Amounts
Complete Form 1040EZ line by line using the following guidance for 2011. Line 1 requires entering total wages, salaries, and tips from box 1 of all Forms W-2 combined. Line 2 requires entering the total taxable interest from all Forms 1099-INT combined, which must not exceed $1,500. Line 3 requires entering total unemployment compensation from box 1 of all Forms 1099-G. Line 4 requires adding lines 1, 2, and 3 to calculate adjusted gross income.
Line 5 requires entering your standard deduction: if someone can claim you or your spouse as a dependent, complete the worksheet on the back of Form 1040EZ and enter the result; otherwise, enter $5,800 if filing single or $11,600 if married filing jointly. Line 6 requires subtracting line 5 from line 4 to calculate taxable income, with a minimum of zero. Line 7 requires entering the total federal income tax withheld from all Forms W-2 and Forms 1099 combined.
Line 8a requires entering the Earned Income Credit amount from the 2011 EIC tables in the Form 1040EZ instructions if you are eligible. Line 8b allows entering nontaxable combat pay from Form W-2 box 12 code Q if you are selected for EIC purposes. Line 9 requires adding Lines 7 and 8a. Line 10 requires using the 2011 Tax Table with your Line 6 taxable income amount to calculate your tax and enter the result.
Step 10: Sign, Date, Assemble, and Mail by April 17, 2012
Both you and your spouse (if filing a joint return) must sign and date Form 1040EZ under penalties of perjury, certifying that you have examined the return and that, to the best of your knowledge, it is true, correct, and complete. Enter your occupation and daytime phone number. If filing jointly, both spouses must sign even if only one spouse had income.
Attach all Forms W-2 to the front of Form 1040EZ in the space provided. Refrain from attaching Forms 1099-INT or 1099-G and retain them for your records. If you owe tax, make your check or money order payable to “United States Treasury” and include your Social Security number, daytime phone number, and “2011 Form 1040EZ” or other payment. However, do not attach the payment to the return; simply enclose it in the envelope.
Mail your return to the appropriate IRS address based on your state of residence and whether you are enclosing a payment. The filing deadline for 2011 returns is April 17, 2012 (not April 15), due to the observance of the District of Columbia Emancipation Day holiday. Consult the IRS Where to File page for Form 1040EZ for tax year 2011 to locate the correct mailing address for your state.
2011 Line Structure Changes
The 2011 Form 1040EZ instructions do not explicitly describe changes from the 2010 form, and the line-by-line structure remained consistent with prior years. Line 8b for the nontaxable combat pay election appeared in both the 2010 and 2011 instructions, allowing qualifying military personnel to elect to include nontaxable combat pay in earned income for purposes of calculating the Earned Income Credit. No lines were added, removed, or redesigned within the form itself for 2011.
Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets), which was newly introduced for 2011 taxpayers with qualifying foreign financial assets exceeding threshold amounts, does not appear on Form 1040EZ itself but instead requires affected taxpayers to use Form 1040 to attach the required statement.
The standard deduction amounts for 2011 remained $5,800 for single filers and $11,600 for married joint filers. The personal exemption amount for 2011 is not directly shown on Form 1040EZ, as the form automatically incorporates the exemption into the standard deduction calculation. The income limits for getting the Earned Income Credit were changed for inflation in 2011, and you can find the exact amounts in the EIC tables in the Form 1040EZ instructions. The investment income limit for EIC eligibility remained at $3,150 for 2011.
For professional assistance with your 2011 Form 1040EZ or any tax filing questions, contact our tax experts at (888) 260-9441.
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This checklist is for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Always review official IRS instructions and consult a qualified professional for guidance.
