Tax Time Guide: Updated Tax Guide Helps People with Their 2015 Taxes

WASHINGTON — Taxpayers can get the most out of various tax benefits and get useful tips on preparing their 2015 federal income tax returns by consulting a free comprehensive tax guide available on IRS.gov.

Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax, features details on taking advantage of a wide range of tax-saving opportunities, such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit for parents and college students, the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income workers. It also features a rundown on tax changes for 2015 including information on revised tax rates, limits on various tax benefits for some taxpayers and reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act. This useful 286-page guide also provides thousands of interactive links to help taxpayers quickly get answers to their questions.

This is the second in a series of 10 tips called the Tax Time Guide. These tips are designed to help taxpayers navigate common tax issues as this year’s April 18 deadline approaches.

Publication 17 has been published annually by the IRS since the 1940s and has been available on the IRS web site since 1996. As in prior years, this publication is packed with basic tax-filing information and tips on what income to report and how to report it, figuring capital gains and losses, claiming dependents, choosing the standard deduction versus itemizing deductions, and using IRAs to save for retirement.

Besides Pub.17, IRS.gov offers many other helpful resources for taxpayers. Tax Year 2015 and prior year tax forms and taxpayer information publications are available on IRS.gov.