All income is taxable unless a law specifically states that it isn’t.  Taxable income includes money you earn, like wages and tips. It also includes bartering, an exchange of property or services. The fair market value of property or services received is normally taxable.

Some types of income are not taxable except under certain conditions, including:

If you are self-employed, there are a few basic things you should know about how your income affects your federal tax return. Here are six important tips from the IRS:

► Self-employment can include income you received for part-time work. This is in addition to income from your regular job.
► You must file a Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, or Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business, with your Form 1040. You may use Schedule C-EZ if you had expenses less than $5,000 and meet certain other conditions. See the form instructions to find out if you can use the form.

If we prepared your tax returns for you, we keep copies of all your documents, so you can simply request a copy of your return from us at any time.

You can also get a Tax Return Transcript, a Tax Account Transcript, as well as actual copies of your tax returns from the IRS.  Here are the details:

Tax Return Transcript.  A return transcript shows most line items from your tax return just as you filed it. It also includes any forms and schedules you filed with your return. However, it does not reflect changes made to the return after you filed it. If you are applying for a mortgage, most mortgage companies require a tax return transcript and participate in our Income Verification Express Service program. If you are applying for financial aid, you can use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool on the FAFSA website to import your tax return information to your financial aid application. In both of these cases, you won’t have to request a transcript directly from the IRS.

The Child Tax Credit is an important tax credit that may save you up to $1,000 for each eligible qualifying child. Be sure you qualify before you claim it. Here are five useful facts from the IRS on the Child Tax Credit:

For the Child Tax Credit, a qualifying child must pass several tests:

Age. The child must have been under age 17 at the end of 2015.

Relationship. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister. The child may be a descendant of any of these individuals. A qualifying child could also include your grandchild, niece or nephew. You would always treat an adopted child as your own child. An adopted child includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.