Your client walks in with a shoebox of W-2s, last year's return, and a green card stamped six months ago. Before any number hits Form 1040, you have to verify identity, sort residency, lock filing status, and decide which return she actually owes. This lesson maps that intake.
Start every engagement by reading the prior year's Form 1040 line by line. Three reasons.
First, comparison. A year-over-year change in wages, withholding, or filing status surfaces missing W-2s, a forgotten dependent, or a divorce the client didn't mention. Compare prior 1040 line 9 (total income) and line 24 (total tax) against the current intake; large swings without an explanation are intake questions, not data-entry tasks.
Second, accuracy. The prior return holds the AGI you need to e-file (the IRS validates the current return against last year's AGI on line 11). It also carries the prior-year refund applied to estimated tax, the carryforward of state refund taxability under the tax benefit rule, and basis records for nondeductible IRA contributions on Form 8606.
Common mistakes
- Filing QSS in year 3. QSS is available only for the two years after the year of death. Year 3 the taxpayer drops to HoH (if a qualifying child still in the home) or single. The death year itself is MFJ.
- Treating a dependent parent's residence as required for HoH. A qualifying parent does not have to live with the taxpayer. Pay more than half the cost of the parent's main home (own home or a care facility) and HoH is preserved.
- Counting H-1B days as exempt. Only F, J, M, Q exempt individuals (within day limits) skip the substantial-presence count. H-1B days count from day one of arrival.
Bottom line
- 2025 standard deduction: $15,750 single and MFS, $31,500 MFJ and QSS, $23,625 HoH; additional $1,600 per box for age 65+ or blind if married, $2,000 if unmarried
- NEW OBBBA senior deduction (2025-2028): $6,000 per individual age 65+ ($12,000 MFJ if both qualify) on Schedule 1-A, stacking on standard OR itemized; phases out at 6% of MAGI over $75,000 single / $150,000 MFJ; MFS ineligible.
- Filing status is fixed December 31; the year of death is MFJ, then QSS for the two following years if you maintain a home for a qualifying child
- Filing status priority: MFJ usually beats MFS; HoH needs unmarried status, more than half the home cost, and a qualifying person
Exam shortcut
Status decision tree: married Dec 31 → MFJ or MFS (run both). Unmarried with qualifying child + spouse died in last 2 years → QSS. Unmarried + qualifying person + >½ home cost → HoH. Otherwise single. Filing-threshold default: standard deduction equals the gross-income filing threshold for non-dependents. Remember the standard deduction and you remember the filing threshold.
The full lesson (about 4,135 words, 28 min read) adds 2 worked examples, all 6 common mistakes, a self-check, free in the app.
Learning objectives
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