IRS Schedule M – Work Pay Credits
In the years 2009 and 2010, the federal government was looking for a way to reward men and women in the United States that work hard every year. What they did, was offer the Making Work Pay Program, which is a part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. This initiative gives proud workers in the US a tax break of up to $400 if you are a single worker. However, if you are married and filing a joint return, you can receive up to an $800 tax credit courtesy of the IRS. The form that you fill out to claim this tax credit is known as the IRS Schedule M form, which is also known as Form 1040 A or just simply 1040. The cool thing is, this form is just one page and is relatively simple to fill out, you just need to invest a few minutes to do it.
There are only 11 fields in the IRS Schedule M Form which do not require a lot of information. Like almost all other government forms, this form will require you to surrender your Social Security number since this is the major way the government tracks people. However, if you decide to file jointly with your spouse, just one SSN is required for this. Another thing you need to keep in mind, is if you are currently being claimed as somebody else’s dependent, or if you are not a US citizen, you will not be eligible for a tax credit under the current law.
The first thing you will be asked on the Schedule M Form, is whether your 2010 wages exceeded $6451 as a single person, and $12,903 as a married couple that have decided to file jointly. They will also want to know if you or your spouse got one of those economic recovery stipends that were mass issued in the year 2010. If you didn’t receive one of these payments in 2009, there’s a good chance you did get one in 2010. This tax credit is equal to 6.2% of all your earned income, until you receive the maximum of $400 for an individual, or $800 for you and your spouse. The good news is, you’re still eligible for the full $800 even if just one spouse ends up earning all of the income. For example, if the husband earned $22,000, which is well over the $12,903 qualifier for a married couple, then the husband will have made enough to qualify for $800 for both himself and his spouse.
If you are self-employed, these figures will apply to the net income you received during the calendar year from your business or your farm, if you happen to own one. A majority of people do use the W-2 form to calculate any Schedule M tax credits they could possibly be eligible to get. Also please keep in mind, that if you make too much money, you will not be eligible for this tax benefit. For example, if you make more than $190,000 jointly you will not be eligible for this credit, or if you are a single person you can’t make more than $95,000 to be eligible.