Your Income Tax ? 2 Use Care In Picking Forms By FRANK O'BRIKX AP Newsfeatures The amount and kinds of income you had in 1954 determine which of the tax forms you are eligible to use. You may have a choice of forms. in that case, your choice will probably depend upon whether you decide to accept the standard de duction for personal expenses, or to itemize your deductions so as to get more than the standard allow ance. The standard allowance is ap proximately 10 per cent of your adjusted gross income: that is 10 per cent of your total income after any business - connected de ductions have been subtracted De ductions will be discussed in articles 7 and 8 of this series. There are just two basic indi vidual income tax forms ? 1040 and 1040A. Hut 1040 can be used as either a short form or a loim form. There is no separate short form 1040 or long form 1040. The forms have been consider ably revised this year to conform j to the new tax law. But the 1954 federal income tax forms are basic ally the same as those used now for many years. Persons with adjusted gross in come of $5,000 or more must use form 1040. In doing so. they may either itemize their personal de mictions. or lane me sianoaro nc duction allowance Persons with income of less than $5,000 may use form 1040A. short form 1040, or long form 1040, depending on the kinds of their income, and how they want to han dle it. There are a number of deciding factors. Here they are, beginning with form 1040A, the simplest tax return, through 1040 short anil 1040 long: 1040A?To be eligible to use this form, your income during 1954 must fit these specifications: 1. If must be less than $5,000 That means up to $4.999 99 If* it 1 a joint return, the combined in come of husband and wife must not,' exceed $4,999.99 , ; 2 It must consist entirely of wages from which income tax was ' withheld and reported on a with holding form iW-2i you get from ' your employer or employers, or ' 3. of wages up to $4,899.99 from which tax has been withheld. 1 plus not more than $100 more of ' other wages, interest and divi- ' dends. This would not include ? dividend receipts excluded from j your income because only the*' taxable part, counts in this $100 1 If it is a joint return, the husband ' Kind wife together must have no ?more than $100 of income from i which taxes Hero not withheld. 4 Your income must not in clude receipts from any of the following if you are to use 1040A: annuities: rents: "royalties: retirement income; business profits or professional earnings; farming; transactions in securities or other property: earnings as a participant in partnerships, estates or trusts: or reimbursed expenses which ate taxable. f> You nun not use form 1040A if you want to deduct business connected expenses from your in come isuch as traveling costs): or if you have a tax credit coming to you from dividend or retirement income; or if vou rlaini the special j "head of household" status or the ? new "joint return status" of a widow or widower whose spouse died in 1952, 1953 or 1954. I Commissioner of Internal Rev enue T. Coleman Andrews urged ' all who are eligible to use form j 1040A: "This eard-type form was specifically designed to make tax tiling as easy as possible for many j millions of taxpayers. For those . millions who can use it. it is sim- 1 plicity itself. The ease of prepara tion will save the user time and 1 inconvenience. We will /ave time ' and money because the card pro cessing is accomplished niechan ically. Our savings are the tax pay- ' rrs' in the linal analvsis, for it is the taxpayers' money that pays for ' the collection of the nation's reve- 1 nues." v As previously, users ? of this 'orm simply put down their name ' tnd social security number ihus s jand and wifei, address, whether pi lot it is a joint return, total wages, ' otal taxe-- withheld, other income. c ?redits and exclusions, and list ex- v imptions. * The wages, withholdings, other t ncome, credits and exclusions of ' loth husband and wife are set ? town separately on the card if it T is a joint return. !' You then put the card, along [' with yoyr W-2 forms, in an en-' i-elope mailed with the form, and 1 send it to the district director. ? The district director's office, us-jt ing this information figures your 1 * ASSEMBLY LINE GIVING to the March of Dimes was demons trated by these members of rfrownie Scout Troop 57 at the Rotary Club dime board in front of the Eirst National Bank Friday after noon. Troop 57 is sponsored by Alpha Theta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. Mrs. Katherine Duval is troop leader and tylrs. Charles I*. Dunn and Mrs. H. W.. Warren are assistant leaders. (Mountaineer Photo*. ax for you and sends you a bill 1 >r refund. The special credit (line 11 on j he card) is for any excess social! | ;ecurity payments you or your wife j nay have made last year, and will' ( >e discussed in the sixth article j, n this series. The exclusion tlinejt 2i is for pay '? received while off , j vork vlue to sickness and will be j x liscusied in the fifth article of the 1 cries. If you claim either of these ( ou should enclose a written ex- ^ ilanation with your 1040A return, j The box at line 10 on the 1040A |, ard, for "other income" is for alljj ncome other than wages on which), axes have been withheld. This i J ? ould include any wages on which \ j ax has not been withheld, interest. 1] nd dividends. You may exclude j 50 of your dividend income under j i he law. entering only the remain-jl ler. If it is a joint return, your ' vife is entitled to a separate $50 ? xclusion i If what \ou and your wife iif it ? s a joint return) enter at line 10; idds no to more than $100. you may !' in( use 1040A, even though your; otal income might be well under I 55.000. A special, single - page instrur- ( ion sheet for form 1040A was mail ?d with the form, in addition to ' he regular instruction booklet. It 11 ells you how to use the form. < line by line. fc Short form 1040?Here, your ad-; justed gross income must be less; in :han $5.000?up to and including y< M.999.99. that is. You may have j ^ otal income of over $5,000 and | ** itill use this form if your deduc- j f ions for employee expenses cut Jl ?our adjusted .gross income to' al jnder $5,000. 'j Any sort income may be re sorted on this-form. so you may vant to use this short form 1040;'^ f you are forced off of 1040A by w iome kind of income that may not c'( Je reported there. For instance, if i'c i'ou want to claim a tax credit for c< tividend income, or have any re- it :irement or rental income, you w must use form 1040, short or long, ti Also, if you have some employe expenses that you want to deduct t, From your income (not possible n with 1040A), this is your next oi simplest form. These business-1st connected deductions, in general, gi include certain reimbursed ex- ol penses. and costs to you as an ol employe of travel and transports-I h lion, or your expenses as an out side salesman. si You may use this form and de-'ri duct from vour tax anv credits you h have coming to you from dividend h >r retirement income. But you may " not itemize personal expense de- |" tactions and still use the short || irm. A table on the back page of the istructions mailed to you with >ur tax forms will tell you your ix liability according to your mar al status, the number of your ex nptions, and the size of your ad isted gross income. ? The table I jtomaticallv gives you the stand -d allowance for personal deduc ons. Long form 1040?Regardless of le size of your income, if you ant to itemize your personal eductions, you must use the long irm. If your adjusted gross in )me is over $5,000 you must use . whether you want to itemize, or ant to take the standard deduc on for personal expenses. The principal difference be-1 veen long and short 1040 is that , i using the long form you work at your tax liability yourself, in ead of finding it in a table. You | et the help of a table, on page 14 [ f the instructions, that does part j f the work for you after you j ave found your taxable income. | The next article, No. 3 in thisi ;ries. will deal with the joint , eturn. ip which important changes ave been made by the new tax j iw, and requirements for filing Donald Green Returns To Naval Base By MRS. SAM FERGUSON Mountaineer Reporter Donald B. Green, U. S. Navy, who has been spending a leave with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Green of Fines Creek, has return ed to the Naval Air Station in San Diego. Calif. He returned from service in the Philippines in No vember ' Green has been in the Navy since August, 1951. He attended the Fines Creek High School be fore entering the service, Mr. and Mrs. Cauley Rogers vis ited the former's brother and sis ter-in-law. Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Rogers, in Asheville Sunday. Mrs. Reeves Ferguson and daugh ter, Nancy, left Tuesday to visit friends and relatives in Ashland as a head of household. (Next: The new law on joint re turns.) The Younger Set By PEGGY REEVES And SUZANNF. ("J^| Hello! The Younger Set was really thankful when this week rolled around! Mid-term exams are over. All that's left is a final exam at the end of the year. Our polio campaign is nearing com pletion. but as of vet we do not know the results. Monday in as sembly, we saw a short movie on the accomplishments of the March of Dimes, with Helen Hayes as narrator. It was very inspirational ; and we're sure this picture will 1 boost the march. Speaking of movies, the Key Club sponsored a full length movie "Guadalcanal Diary," Tues day morning. Practically the en tire student body turned out for the movie, and those who didn't see it certainly missed a wonder ful show! Thank you. Key Club! The Key Club is also beginning j plans for the annual Junior-Senior j Prom to be held February 12. j Plaas are incomplete right now. but from what we've heard we can | expect a wonderful prom. Monday, the Senior Class was increased by one. She is Bates Ray, who hails from Woodfin High School. She is now living at Lake Junaluska. The Senior Class is glad to ?>3ve you, Bates! Hope you like WTHS as well as we do. and Newport News, Va. | A. J. Brown has returned to his studies in the 6th grade after be i ing absent several days on account j of sickness. ' I On the sick list in this commun I ity are Joe Kirkpatriek. Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. McCracken, Mrs. M. M. Kirkpatriek, and Mrs. R. F. Brow n. A number of people here have purchased new TV sets recently: Zeb Clark, Frank Green, M. C. Green, Floyd Fisher, Wayne Moore, and Joe Clark. Furman Noland has a new jeep. | Wayne Ferguson a new car. Vernon Ferguson and Robert Price left this week for Detroit. The Bethel victorv Mountainey-i? ? >n H featetl etui H will he Bre\ Without all the etc., everyone in< i^H town for they jn thing to do. (That K orH ends. The teacher, ,.fl during the week' \\.I merchants and t>>wn,|'^H member the Your r .^H pushing for that Y<>utr^M Maybe our great-erandct^H enjoy it! Congratulation ( ell and Barbara Ihui. ing Mr. and Mis Jan ioc Anne McC'racken am ? i hart on their marriage jfl Charles and Ann are qH the senior (las t High. CARROLL MEDFORlTB IS PROMOTED \ff Carroll V. Mrdtnrd and Mrs. Guy Medford ? Canton, recently was pnH private first class while fl the 123d TransportatiosH Service Company at fI Va*. Private Medford atter.c ?' ??? _? " ? ??? - yields and best quality they have ever made, a the highest dollar returns. When planning your program for next year. *i ? restricted acreage, it is more important than <' 1 to get the highest return per acre that is possib! BLUE RIDGE Tobacco Plant Food is formula! particularly for the Mountain Soils of this sect They are produced at somewhat higher costs tni sure the best quality leaf, with a lower chlorine f tent and more of some of the added elements tfe is found in many other tobacco fertilizer brands Ask your Dealer for BLUE RIDGE Toba? Brands this year, and give your crop the best. f it off right by using BLUE RIDGE Tobacco Bed fertilizer on your beds. SMOKY MOUNTAINS \ FERTILIZER COMPANY % BLUE RIDGE BRANDS P. O. Itox 670 WAYNESVI I.I.E. N. C. Phone (il.endnle 6 " The Home Industry That Specializes in YOUR Needs. ? Our Management Combines 100 Years Experience In Manufacturing \ PLANT FOODS