Lesson 2.6: Taxes & Your First Form 1040 — Session 1
The Go Further companion to Lesson 2.6 in Money Decisions.
IRS Free File
The IRS's free filing hub. Most students with a W-2 can prepare and file a real federal return for free through the guided software linked from this page — always start at IRS.gov/freefile, never at a look-alike site.
Key ideas from the lesson
- Filing is settling up, not getting a new bill: all year, withholding prepaid your tax a little at a time. The return figures out what you actually owed and compares it with what you prepaid.
- The path is always the same: total income − standard deduction = taxable income → apply the rates → subtract credits → compare with withholding.
- Brackets tax only the dollars inside each band — a higher bracket never makes your whole income more expensive.
- A credit beats a deduction of the same size: in the 12% bracket a $400 deduction saves you $48; a $400 credit saves you $400.
- If your income is below the standard deduction you probably owe no federal income tax — but withheld money only comes back if you file.
Why this helps
In Sessions 13–14 you file a complete return by hand so you know what every line is doing. Free File is the real-world version of that same return: the IRS's own hub for filing it for free, which is exactly where a first-time filer with a W-2 should start.
Try this
On the Free File page, find which filing options are offered and what income limits they carry this year. Then answer with the lesson's path: if a student earned less than the standard deduction but had $86 withheld, do they owe tax — and what do they have to do to see the $86 again?
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