April 15th is just around the corner and many Americans are starting to get serious about filing their 2009 personal income taxes. While preparing your taxes, many Americans are interested in how the tax system works and how the amount of taxes that they are paying is configured. Tax brackets were created by the IRS to determine how much each individual is required to pay in income taxes.
There are six different tax brackets that were created for the 2009 tax year. Each tax bracket has a corresponding tax rate that ranges from 10% up to 35%. The amount that you pay in taxes each year is dependent on the amount that you earned in gross income. One thing is true year after year- the more money that you earn, the more money Uncle Sam will take. The people who file with the highest taxable income are who carry the majority of the tax burden.
As mentioned, there are six different tax brackets with six different tax rates. The tax rates are 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 32% and 35%. As your income increases, you will move into a higher tax bracket and pay a higher percentage of tax for the portion your income falls into. Your taxes are calculated based on the dollar amount in each bracket. Calculating the amount that you are required to pay in taxes does not take much time when you use a tax table.
General Income Tax Brackets: What You Should Know
The IRS provides a pdf with tables outlining all the different tax brackets. Any that are not listed you can calculate. The materials are attached for your convenience. You will need this to file you 2009 income tax properly. They give the following example on how to use the attached tax tables:
Example. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are filing a joint return. Their Tax Table taxable income on Form 1040, line 43, is $25,300. First, they find the $25,300–25,350 taxable income line. Next, they find the column for married filing jointly and read down the column. The amount shown where the taxable income line and filing status column meet is $2,964. This is the tax amount they should enter on Form 1040, line 44.
To read more about the federal income tax brackets, visit the official IRS website. Or you can leave a comment/question and it will be answered promptly. The official IRS website has lots of valuable information that can be helpful when filing your 2009 personal income taxes.
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