Your Paycheck
This is the total amount of money you earn before any taxes or deductions are taken out.
Gross Pay
You fill out this form when you start a new job to tell your employer how much federal income tax to withhold from your paycheck.
W-4
This is the typical deadline (month and day) for filing your federal income tax return.
April 15th
This is the term for money you receive from working a job or running a business.
Earned Income
This is the "take-home pay" you actually see in your bank account after all deductions.
Net Pay
Employers must send you this form by January 31st, showing how much you earned and how much tax was withheld the previous year.
W-2
This is the date you must file after filing for an extension.
October 15th
Interest from a savings account or dividends from stocks are examples of this type of income.
Unearned Income
This common document you receive when you get paid shows your earnings, taxes withheld, and other deductions for a specific pay period.
Pay stub
This form is used by freelancers or "gig" workers who earned at least $600 but were not considered official employees.
1099
This is the term for a person (often a child or relative) who relies on another taxpayer for financial support.
A Dependent
This is the portion of your income that you actually pay taxes on after deductions are subtracted.
Taxable Income
These are the two types of taxes that make up FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act).
Social Security and Medicare taxes
This is the standard IRS form that almost all individual taxpayers use to file their annual income tax return.
1040 or 1040 EZ
This is the first day of the calendar year that you can begin filing your taxes for the previous year.
January 1st
You receive this from the government if you overpaid your taxes throughout the year.
Tax Refund
Spending that is required by law, such as Social Security and Medicare, is known by this term.
Mandatory Spending
While W-2 employees have taxes withheld automatically, gig workers must often pay these to the IRS throughout the year.
estimated tax payments
If you earn less than this amount (the standard deduction), you might not be legally required to file a tax return.
Filing Threshold or $15,750 (will accept 16,000 or 15,000)
These are two different methods a person can use to prepare and file their federal and state taxes.
(any two) Tax software (TurboTax, etc.), a professional tax preparer, or paper filing yourself via the IRS website