Need help calculating my previous year's AGI - confused about tuition and donations
I'm trying to figure out my AGI from last year but I'm totally confused about the calculation process. My total wages were $28,421.83 and I paid $12,781.56 in college tuition. I also made charitable donations totaling $2,125. I filed as single. I've never had to look up my AGI before and now I need it to file this year's taxes. Does anyone know the formula or steps to calculate AGI? Do the tuition payments and donations affect my AGI? I'm completely lost and would really appreciate any help with this calculation!
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Gabrielle Dubois
The AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) calculation is actually simpler than it seems! Your AGI starts with your total income (in your case, your wages of $28,421.83), then certain adjustments are subtracted. For your situation, your college tuition might qualify for an adjustment called the tuition and fees deduction, though this would depend on whether you or someone else claimed you as a dependent and other factors. However, your charitable donations of $2,125 are NOT part of the AGI calculation - these would be itemized deductions that come into play after your AGI is determined (if you itemize rather than take the standard deduction). The easiest way to find your previous year's AGI is to look at last year's tax return. It appears on Form 1040 on line 11. If you don't have your return, you can request a tax transcript from the IRS website which will show this information.
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Dmitri Volkov
•Thanks for explaining! So if I understand correctly, my donations don't affect my AGI at all? What about the tuition? Would that have lowered my AGI or is that also something that comes after the AGI calculation? I don't have last year's return because my laptop crashed and I lost the file. I filed electronically and didn't save a paper copy.
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Gabrielle Dubois
•You're exactly right about the donations - they don't affect your AGI. Those are itemized deductions that would reduce your taxable income after your AGI is calculated (and only if you itemize instead of taking the standard deduction). For the tuition, it depends on how you claimed it. If you claimed the tuition and fees deduction (which was available for tax years before 2022), then yes, it would have reduced your AGI. However, if you claimed education credits like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit, these don't reduce your AGI. They're credits that directly reduce your tax after all the income calculations.
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Tyrone Johnson
Hey there, I went through almost the exact same situation last year trying to find my AGI for e-filing. After getting nowhere with old tax software and trying to calculate it manually, I found this tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me so much time. You just upload your tax docs from last year and it extracts the AGI and other key info you need. I was worried about the security of uploading my docs, but they use bank-level encryption and delete everything after analysis. I just took a picture of my W-2 and college tuition statement and it pulled my AGI in seconds. They can even analyze full tax returns if you have them.
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Ingrid Larsson
•Does it work with phone pictures of documents? My scanner is broken and I only have physical copies of my tax forms.
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Carlos Mendoza
•I'm a bit wary of uploading financial documents to random websites. How do you know it's secure and legit? Have many people used this?
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Tyrone Johnson
•Yes, it definitely works with phone pictures! That's actually how I used it. Just make sure you have good lighting so the text is clear, and it works great even with phone photos. Their security is actually one of the main reasons I felt comfortable using it. They use the same encryption standards as banks, don't store your documents after processing, and they're SOC 2 compliant which is a pretty strict security certification. I was skeptical too at first, but they have thousands of users and really good reviews online. I researched them pretty thoroughly before uploading anything.
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Carlos Mendoza
Following up on my question about taxr.ai - I decided to give it a try since I was desperate to find my AGI. Wow, I'm actually impressed! It worked perfectly with just a photo of my W-2 and a PDF of my tuition statement. It pulled my AGI immediately and even highlighted where it found the number so I could verify it. I was concerned about privacy but the process felt really secure, and they don't keep your documents which put my mind at ease. Definitely saved me from having to call the IRS and wait forever to get my transcript. Just wanted to share since it might help others in the same boat!
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Zainab Mahmoud
If you can't find your AGI from your documents, another option is to get your tax transcript directly from the IRS. I used a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that helped me skip the crazy IRS hold times. I was skeptical, but they have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I had been trying to get through to the IRS for DAYS without success. Claimyr held my place in line and called me back when an IRS agent was available. I spoke with the IRS in about 45 minutes instead of spending hours on hold. The agent verified my identity and gave me my AGI from last year over the phone. Super helpful when you're on a deadline to file.
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Ava Williams
•How does this actually work? Do they just call the IRS for you or what? I'm confused how they can get through when no one else can.
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Raj Gupta
•Sorry but this sounds like a scam. The IRS phone system is notoriously bad. I find it hard to believe some random service can magically get through when millions of people can't.
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Zainab Mahmoud
•They don't call the IRS for you - they use technology to navigate the IRS phone system and hold your place in line. When they reach a human at the IRS, you get a call back and are connected directly to the IRS agent. You're the one who talks to the IRS, they just handle the waiting part. Their system basically monitors the hold music and automated system responses and knows how to navigate the menus. It's not magic - just clever use of technology to solve a real problem. The IRS phone system IS bad, which is exactly why this service exists. I was skeptical too, but it worked exactly as advertised and saved me hours of frustration.
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Raj Gupta
I need to apologize for calling Claimyr a scam in my previous comment. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 3 hours yesterday and getting disconnected, I decided to try Claimyr out of desperation. I'm honestly shocked - it actually worked! I got a call back in about an hour, and I was talking to a real IRS representative. I confirmed my identity and got my AGI in minutes. Didn't have to listen to that awful hold music or worry about being disconnected after waiting forever. For anyone else in this situation - it's legit. And getting my AGI directly from the IRS was way better than trying to calculate it myself since I knew the number was 100% correct.
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Lena Müller
Another simple option if you used tax software last year: just log into your account from last year. I use TurboTax and when I logged in, I could access last year's return and find my AGI on line 11 of the 1040 form. Most tax software lets you view your previous returns. This might be easier than calculating it from scratch or requesting transcripts from the IRS!
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Dmitri Volkov
•I wish I could do that but I used a different tax preparer last year and they went out of business. I don't have access to the account anymore. That's why I'm in this mess trying to figure out my AGI manually!
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Lena Müller
•That's definitely frustrating when you lose access to your previous tax information. In that case, the IRS transcript option might be your best bet. You can request it online at irs.gov if you can create an account, or use one of the services others mentioned to contact the IRS by phone. For future reference, I'd recommend always saving a PDF copy of your completed tax return somewhere secure, like a cloud storage service or an external drive. That way, even if the tax preparer goes out of business, you'll still have your information.
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TechNinja
Don't forget about the student loan interest deduction too. If you paid interest on student loans, that's another adjustment that reduces your AGI. The max deduction is $2,500 if you qualify. Also, if you contributed to a traditional IRA, that would lower your AGI as well.
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Keisha Thompson
•The student loan interest deduction is such an important one! I always forget about it. They should make these deductions more obvious. The tax code is so complicated for no reason.
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