If income tax was withheld from your pay, or if you qualify for the earned income credit, the additional child tax credit, the health coverage tax credit, the refundable credit for prior year minimum tax, the making work pay credit, the first-time homebuyer credit, or the American opportunity credit, you should file a return to get a refund even if you are not otherwise required to file a return.

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you must file a return if your gross income for the year was at least the amount shown on the appropriate line in Table 1-1. For other filing requirements, see the instructions for Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040-EZ, and Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, or go to IRS.gov. If you were a nonresident alien at any time during the year, the filing requirements that apply to you may be different from those that apply to U.S. citizens. See Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.

Gross income is all income you receive in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from tax. If you are married and live with your spouse in a community property state, half of any income defined by state law as community income may be considered yours. The community property states are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. For more information about community property, see Publication 555, Community Property.

For more information on what to include in gross income, see chapter 2.

If you are self-employed in a business that provides services (where the production, purchase, or sale of merchandise is not an income-producing factor), gross income from that business is the gross receipts.

If you are self-employed in a business involving manufacturing, merchandising, or mining, gross income from that business is the total sales minus the cost of goods sold. Then, to this figure, you add any income from investments and from incidental or outside operations or sources. See Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, for more information.

If you could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer (that is, you meet the dependency tests in Publication 501), special filing requirements apply. See Publication 501.

A personal representative of a decedent's estate can be an executor, administrator, or anyone who is in charge of the decedent's property.

If you are acting as the personal representative of a person who died during the year, you may have to file a final return for that decedent. You also have other duties, such as notifying the IRS that you are acting as the personal representative. Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, is available for this purpose.

When you file a return for the decedent, either as the personal representative or as the surviving spouse, you should write "DECEASED," the decedent's name, and the date of death across the top of the tax return.

If no personal representative has been appointed by the due date for filing the return, the surviving spouse (on a joint return) should sign the return and write in the signature area "Filing as surviving spouse."

For more information, see Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.

If you are the surviving spouse, the year your spouse died is the last year for which you can file a joint return with that spouse as long as you do not remarry before the end of the year of the decedent's death. After that, if you do not remarry, you must file as a qualifying widow(er) with dependent child, head of household, or single. For more information about each of these filing statuses, see Publication 501.

If you remarry before the end of the year in which your spouse died, a final joint return with the deceased spouse cannot be filed. You can, however, file a joint return with your new spouse. In that case, the filing status of your deceased spouse for his or her final return is married filing separately.