I am sorry to hear of the passing of your relative. When you say "gift", I'm assuming that you acquired ownership of the bond upon the your relative's death.  The recommended reference is : https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p550.pdf   (The 2017 version of the Pub 550 is latest available today, however, I'm not aware of modifications for this topic.)       Page 9 of the current Pub 550 states, "The manner of reporting interest income on Series E, Series EE, or Series I bonds, after the death of the owner (decedent), depends on the accounting and income-reporting methods previously used by the decedent."  Examples are provided in the publication.  For some cases, the executor of the estate pays taxes as part of the estate taxes.  And if the executor did not pay taxes on the bond from an estate tax return, then it appears that you would pay the taxes--most commonly, when you redeem the bond.  ... View more

With the limited amount of information here, I don't support going down that path.  Your case appears to have disqualifying issues.  The people in your household are not in the typical relational categories--sister, daughter, etc.  And they didn't arrive in your household until July. To be considered as "qualifying relatives", they are supposed to have lived with you "all year as members of your household".  Also, you noted that the children's father is providing support for the children.  Typically, fathers in such situations will attempt to get the tax exemptions for the children--especially if he is making a lot more money than the mother.  If the mother has given the children's exemptions to the father (Form 8332), and if the parents are providing half of their children's support (along with a few other rules that most people satisfy), then it is the father who claims the children.  The father, who files as Single if not married, could receive up to $4,000 in child tax credits. You will create problems if you were to claim a child that is also claimed by the father.  Please be sure that your friend understands that she can still receive many benefits even if she signs away the exemptions to the father to get the child tax credits to assist the father in paying for the support.  (And she retains the right to recall the exemptions in future years.)  As the custodial parent, the mother would still qualify to get child and dependent care credits so she can work; and she will still qualify to file as Head of Household;  and she will still be qualified to receive Earned Income Credits from the government to help to support her and her children. If she can start working to earn money, then you will not find yourself in this situation next year. ... View more

Unless you change your family situation, you will file as "Single" next year and for years moving forward.  Other filing status will not apply to you.  However, you should revisit this conclusion if your family situation changes such that you pick up a future dependent who can be classified as a qualifying child or a qualifying relative.  Here is an IRS link that can assist you for filing status:    https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/what-is-my-filing-status   Yes, the income limit changes when Single.  This year, the Single, over age 65, income number for filing is $13,600.  This is basically just the Standard Deduction number.  At that income point, your Social Security income will not be taxable and will thus not count toward the income number.  Here is the link to the IRS that can provide additional assistance:  https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-need-to-file-a-tax-return   Here is a more complete treatment of filing requirements.  However, your description of your situation does not appear to include these cases.  You must file a return if any of the conditions below apply for 2018. 1. You owe any special taxes, including any of the following.    a. Alternative minimum tax.    b. Additional tax on a qualified plan, including an individual retirement arrangement (IRA), or other tax-favored account. But if you are filing a return only because you owe this tax, you can file Form 5329 by itself.    c. Household employment taxes. But if you are filing a return only because you owe this tax, you can file Schedule H by itself.    d. Social security and Medicare tax on tips you did not report to your employer or on wages you received from an employer who did not withhold these taxes.    e. Recapture of first-time homebuyer credit. See the instructions for Schedule 4 line 60b.    f. Write-in taxes, including uncollected social security and Medicare or RRTA tax on tips you reported to your employer or on group-term life insurance and additional taxes on health savings accounts. See the instructions for Schedule 4, line 62.    g. Recapture taxes. See the instructions for Form 1040 line 11 and Schedule 4 line 62. 2. You (or your spouse, if filing jointly) received HSA, Archer MSA or Medicare Advantage MSA distributions. 3. You had net earnings from self-employment of at least $400. 4. You had wages of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that is exempt from employer social security and Medicare taxes. 5. Advance payments of the premium tax credit were made for you, your spouse, or a dependent who enrolled in coverage through the Marketplace. You or whoever enrolled you should have received Form(s) 1095-A showing the amount of the advance payments.   ... View more

The Earned Income Credit (EIC) varies based on your filing status, your number of children, and your income. Graphs for the earned income credit look a bit like a pyramid with the top cut off.  That is, the credit begin with a zero credit and zero income, and then the credit increases as income increases--up to some EIC maximum amount for your filing status and number of children.  Then the EIC remains constant as income increases--up to some income point.  Then, the EIC will decrease as income increases until the amount of the EIC returns to zero dollars.  The EIC amounts do not directly correspond to your "tax bracket".  From the numbers that you provided, I am taking a guess that you are filing as single, or head-of-household, with one child.  If that is the case, then you are on the high side of the EIC table.  That is, as you earn more income, then the amount of the EIC will decrease.  But I do not recommend that anyone should try to maximize EIC.  I recommend that you earn all that you can because you and your family will be much better off in the long run with that approach. ... View more

1) Yes.  It is the income limit that can make the filing mandatory.  However, in your case, I would still recommend that you file your return and mark your wife as deceased and enter her date of death into the IRS data base.  If her SSN is not already blocked, that action should guarantee that nobody else can use her number in the future. 2) You only get the MFJ option for the tax year in which the death occurs.  The following year, without any dependent child, you would file as SINGLE. 3) I am confused by talk of "refund" since you did not mention having income that would have generated withholdings or situations which would indicated any tax credit.   Lack of adequate inputs often leads to incorrect outputs.  But if someone would have a refund, from a W-2 for example, then they should file to get their refund.  And don't wait. File for each year, and file on time. Forget about this 3-year stuff.  Just because you might be able to get away with doing that does not mean that you should do that.  April 15, 2019 is the due date to file your return for tax-year 2018. ... View more

When you say "settlement", I am assuming that you are talking about some refund of a deposit for an apartment.  First, I would NOT put someone else's name on any of my accounts.   If your friend gives an instruction to "give" you the money (check in your name), then that appears to be a gift.  You did not do any work or service to earn it.  Gifts are not taxable. ... View more

     I am sorry to learn of your loss.  The Social Security Administration should have been informed of your wife's passing, and her checks should have stopped.  If she received an excess check in April, then that should be repaid.  Check with the Social Security office to be sure that all is OK with her account.     Because you say that your are both "green card holders", your status would that of a RESIDENT Alien for U.S tax purposes.  Because your wife passed in 2018, then you would file with status of Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)--if you need to file.  You would include all of your 2018 income and as well as your wife's income for the year. The gross income threshold for filing for a 2018 MFJ tax return (both over age 65), is $25,300 based on income which is not exempt from tax.  So with the income that you indicate (and assuming that you stated all of your combined income), then you are well below the filing requirement.  It does not appear that you have a requirement to file. However, you can file if you want to file. Because I don't know how well the IRS connects with Social Security, some of my friends tell me that filing the return, and marking your spouse as deceased, might be a good practice to help stop future fraud attempts.   You would not owe any tax money for 2018 with the income that you stated. ... View more

I recommend that people establish an account with the IRS.  Then they can just log in and see their payments, and they can easily get tax transcripts.  You can start the process to get an account at this link:  https://www.irs.gov/payments/view-your-tax-account   ... View more

I have to make several assumptions to answer.  With regard to your tax situation, if you are married and are not separated from your wife, then your filing status should normally be Married Filing Jointly.  (Separate filing is not normally recommended--especially if you expect  to receive tax credits.)  Now let's discuss the dependency status for your step-son. This can sometimes be complicated--especially if there is a custody agreement, such as in cases with a divorce. To simplify, I will assume a typical situation where you have full legal custody of the child; your step-son is an unmarried U.S citizen; he is under  age 19; you are older than the child; and you provided over half of the child's support.  In such a case, to claim your step-son as a dependent, then your step-son must have also lived with you for over half of the year.  If he did not live with you for over half of the year, then you cannot normally claim him as your qualifying child for the dependency. (Divorce/separation documents can sometimes modify this.)  You would normally just list your step-son on your tax return. Providing proof is not an issue for filing.  However, if there are custody or dependency issues with another person, such as his biological parent, who also claims your step-son on their tax return, then that will raise a flag to stop all tax returns that list your step-son.  At that point, proof will become and issue, and you would want to have data to substantiate the facts to the IRS. In such cases, the person who is found to have provided false information could receive penalties.  So you just need to be honest, and proof is not needed to file.   Now with regard to your car.  Do you pay good money and expect your insurance company to be honest to pay your loss if you ever suffer an unfortunate circumstance? If so, please understand that your insurance company expects you to be honest too! You normally certify that all information that you give to your insurance company is truthful and accurate.  If your insurance company learns that you willfully lied about the car's location in order to pay them less money than required to cover their risk, then will they have grounds to avoid paying your claim?  Don't give the insurance company a way to avoid paying you.  Honesty is the best policy, and then you shouldn't have to be "worried". ... View more