Taxpayer Information (continued)

Gross Income

An approximation of gross income is enough to see if a taxpayer must file a return. Gross income is all the income the taxpayer received during the tax year in the form of money, goods, property, and services that are not exempt from tax. It includes both earned and unearned income.

Click here to view the Volunteer Resource Guide (Tab D), Income section, which lists the sources of taxable and nontaxable income that should be used to determine a person's gross income. You may also refer to the Income lessons in this training guide.

To approximate gross income:

• Obtain the total of wages, tips, and other employment compensation reported in the taxpayer's Form(s) W-2, box 1.
• Review the income questions on page 2 of the intake and interview sheet with the taxpayer to see if there was any additional income from investments, retirement plans, social security, unemployment, self-employment, or other income not reported on Form W-2 or Form 1099 and determine each amount.
• Total the above amounts to determine the taxpayer's approximate gross income.

Click here to view the Volunteer Resource Guide, Page 2, Part III, of the sample intake and interview sheet.