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#20250014IndividualIntermediateTY 2025Forms: 1040, Sch EIC, Sch 8812Premium

Lower-income single parent (EITC)

A single parent with one child and modest wages. The return is built on two refundable credits: the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit, producing a refund far larger than the tax withheld.

Taxpayer facts

Who this is and what their year looked like.

Destiny is a single mother in Orlando, Florida, filing head of household. She works at a childcare center and supports her son, who lived with her all year.

Her income is one W-2. She has no investment income to speak of. Her son has a valid SSN and meets the qualifying-child tests.

  • NameDestiny R. Coleman
  • Date of birth02/14/1996
  • SSN593-84-1170
  • Age (as of 12/31/2025)29
  • Filing statusHead of household
  • DependentJayden M. Coleman (son), born 05/22/2019 so age 6 at year end, SSN 596-22-4318, lived with her all 12 months
  • OccupationChildcare assistant
  • Address1815 Mercy Dr, Apt 7, Orlando, FL 32808
  • ResidencyFlorida, full year (no state income tax)
  • Investment income$0 (under the $11,950 EITC limit)

Source documents

Work from these the way you would a real client's paperwork. Everything is fictional.

Form W-2 · Wage and Tax Statement2025PRACTICE
Employer
Bright Beginnings Childcare Inc.
3400 N Pine Hills Rd
Orlando, FL 32808
EIN 59-3288041
Employee
Destiny R. Coleman
1815 Mercy Dr, Apt 7
Orlando, FL 32808
SSN 593-84-1170
Box 1
Wages, tips, other comp.
16,000.00
Box 2
Federal income tax withheld
300.00
Box 3
Social Security wages
16,000.00
Box 4
Social Security tax withheld
992.00
Box 5
Medicare wages
16,000.00
Box 6
Medicare tax withheld
232.00
Box 15
State
FL — no state income tax
Fictional practice document. Modest wages; the credits do the heavy lifting.

Objectives

What a correct return should capture.

  • File as head of household: a single parent maintaining a home for a qualifying child.
  • Confirm the qualifying-child tests for the EITC (relationship, age, residency more than half the year) and that investment income is under the 2025 limit of $11,950.
  • Earned Income Tax Credit: look up the credit in the 2025 EIC table, in the column for her number of qualifying children, at her earned income. It is fully refundable.
  • Child Tax Credit: her son qualifies. The nonrefundable CTC is limited to her income tax liability.
  • Additional Child Tax Credit (Schedule 8812): the refundable piece is 15% of earned income over $2,500, capped at $1,700 per child.
  • Figure taxable income by comparing AGI to the 2025 head of household standard deduction ($23,625), then any income tax.
  • Add it up: the withholding plus the EITC and the ACTC, against any tax, for the refund or balance due.
  • Note that Florida has no state income tax.

Check your work

The answer key and the complete return, the way a real client receives it: the 1040 and its schedules, the workpapers behind every number, and the signature forms.

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