Internal Revenue Service United States Department of the Treasury
Level Basic Advanced Military International

Filing Basics Workout

Who Must File?

Case Study 1: Mostly Likely Filing Status

For the purpose of determining whether a person must file a return, narrowing the choices down to the most likely filing status(es) is adequate in most cases.

Based on the intake and interview sheet shown, which filing status is this taxpayer most likely to use?

Click here for the Volunteer Resource Guide, Filing Status interview tips in the Starting a Return and Filing Status tab for helpful probing questions.

Click here for an explanation.

Portion of Intake and interview sheet showing that the taxpayer is legally married, spouse could not be claimed as anyone else's dependent, and taxpayer has a son named Joe Smith, born on 1/1/2004.