Where does the tax expense number come from on the tax history report?

[dbtranmb]

Hi everyone!

I hope someone could explain to me the tax expense number on the tax history report on line 5.  I'm trying figure out the how I got that exact number but I can't come up with the right number on on line 5 tax history report.  Could someone tell me how you calculate to get the number? Thanks a lot for your help.!!!

[rjs]

From what I can see, if you claimed itemized deductions, "Tax expense" on the Tax History Report is the amount of the total deduction for "Taxes You Paid" on Schedule A line 7. If you used the standard deduction, "Tax expense" is the amount of taxes you could have deducted if you had used the itemized deductions. However, if you knew you were not itemizing, you might not have entered all of the taxes that you paid. In that case, the "Tax expense" figure is the amount you could have deducted based on only the taxes that you did enter.

To put it another way, "Tax expense" is the amount from Schedule A line 7, whether or not Schedule A was actually included in your tax return.

[dbtranmb]

Thank you for replying!

Does the formular: "Tax Expense = Effective Tax Rate x Taxable Income" have anything to do with that line 5 on tax history report?  Could you explain why I don't come up the right number by using this formular???

Thanks again!!!

[rjs]

No, your formula has nothing to do with "Tax expense" on the Tax History Report. "Effective tax rate" and "Taxable income" have nothing to do with "Tax expense." The reason you don't come up with the right number by using your formula is that your formula uses figures that have nothing to do with "Tax expense."

"Tax expense" is not the amount of federal tax that you pay. It's not federal income tax at all. It's the amount of taxes that you deducted on Schedule A if you claimed itemized deductions. It's straight from line 7 of Schedule A. The taxes that are deducted on Schedule A are not federal income tax. They are primarily state and local income tax or sales tax, real estate tax, personal property tax, and possibly certain foreign taxes.

If you want to know how the number is arrived at, look at the "Taxes You Paid" section of Schedule A. It's lines 5 through 7. You might also want to look at the IRS instructions for Schedule A for more detail on what's included in lines 5a through 5e and line 6.

If you took the standard deduction instead of itemized deductions, Schedule A is not included in your tax return, so "Tax expense" is essentially meaningless.

[dbtranmb]

Thank You