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Filing Individual Tax Returns — An Introduction

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Filing Individual Tax Returns — An Introduction

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Tax returns determine the appropriate tax amount that individuals must pay. Depending on their income and potential tax deductions, people can get back some of the taxes they paid during the tax year. Individuals can maximize the amount of taxes they get back by carefully filing their tax return forms. Individuals must submit their federal tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In most cases, tax returns must be filed in April. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the IRS extended the deadline for submitting tax return forms in 2021 to May 17.

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Tax returns determine the appropriate tax amount that individuals must pay. Depending on their income and potential tax deductions, people can get back some of the taxes they paid during the tax year. Individuals can maximize the amount of taxes they get back by carefully filing their tax return forms. Individuals must submit their federal tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In most cases, tax returns must be filed in April. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the IRS extended the deadline for submitting tax return forms in 2021 to May 17.

An indvidual tax return form, also known as Form 1040, consists of two pages. Taxpayers fill out the form to record all sources of their taxable income, including their salary, dividends, interest, and pensions. In 2020, many individuals received a stimulus check from the United States government. Stimulus checks are tax-free income and are not required to be reported on tax returns.

An individual's filing status affects the amount they are taxed. Filing status depends on the person's relationship status. Taxpayers can file their tax returns as single, married, widowed, or head of household. Married taxpayers have the option of filing their taxes separately or jointly.

Although filing jointly can be easier, married individuals can often gain more if they file separately. For instance, a spouse with extensive medical bills can be eligible for more significant deductions than those available for the jointly filing couple. Furthermore, spouses filing separately can capitalize on the child tax credit (CTC). The CTC offers $2,000 in credit per child. However, it requires an adjusted gross income of less than $200,000. Thus, the limit is doubled for couples jointly filing their taxes.

Marriage does not automatically result in single filing status. Individuals can qualify for the head of household (HOH) status if they fulfill three main conditions. Firstly, they must be unmarried on December 31st. Secondly, they must have paid more than half of their home maintenance costs. Thirdly, they must be living with at least one dependent for a minimum of six months. Dependents can include children, elderly family members, or friends in need. The HOH filing status is more advantageous than the single status.

Deductions can be used to reduce one's taxable income, therefore lowering their tax bracket or overall tax liability. For example, people can report their medical costs, education expenses, and charitable donations when filing their tax returns. These deductions are withdrawn from one's total income, thus decreasing the amount of taxes they need to pay.

Tax refunds usually arrive within three to eight weeks based on the filing method. Taxpayers who submit a paper form usually receive their refund checks two months later. However, if one submits their form electronically, their refund arrives in three weeks. The IRS Free File program is available for electronic tax filing.

Additionally, taxpayers can select the method of refund. Tax refunds can be delivered as checks or direct bank deposits. The latter takes less time. Individuals who submit their tax returns electronically and opt for the direct deposit option receive their refunds more quickly.

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Filing Individual Tax Returns - An Introduction

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Tax returns determine the appropriate tax amount that individuals must pay. Depending on their income and potential tax deductions, people can get back some of the taxes they paid during the tax year. Individuals can maximize the amount of taxes they get back by carefully filing their tax return forms. Individuals must submit their federal tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

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A Look at Success Stories in the Field of Cryonics

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A Look at Success Stories in the Field of Cryonics

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Derived from the Greek word “Kyros,” which means cold, cryonics is the practice of deep-freezing the bodies of people who have died, in the hope that scientific and medical advances may allow them to be revived in the future.

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A Look at Success Stories in the Field of Cryonics

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Derived from the Greek word “Kyros,” which means cold, cryonics is the practice of deep-freezing the bodies of people who have died, in the…

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The Multiple Applications of Cryopreservation

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The Multiple Applications of Cryopreservation

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Cryopreservation is a procedure that consists of freezing cells, tissues, or organs at very low temperatures to preserve them and prevent cell death. The procedure has been used since the 1950s, mainly to preserve semen, blood, oocytes, or embryos.

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Cryopreservation is a procedure that consists of freezing cells, tissues, or organs at very low temperatures to preserve them and prevent cell death. The procedure has been used since the 1950s, mainly to preserve semen, blood, oocytes, or embryos.

Initially, the slow freezing technique was used to freeze cels progressively, although soon, this process was replaced by the more advanced vitrification procedure in the 1980s. By adding a substance called cryoprotectant, this procedure allows to better preserve cells and tissues by preventing the formation of intracellular ice crystals and therefore reducing damage. The cells or organs are then stored in liquid nitrogen at -196°C.

Cryopreservation is now a widely used procedure for assisted reproduction technology. It has helped improve IVF procedures and has allowed men and women, in particular, the chance to have additional autonomy over their fertility, be it for medical or societal reasons.

The cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem cells found in blood and bone marrow can provide new therapies for many diseases of the liver and heart and disorders of the muscle and nervous systems. Stem cells can be collected before chemotherapy and infused after the treatment, improving the therapy outcome in patients with lymphoma or solid tumors. As regenerative medicine advances, stem cells seem to have s great potential in treating diseases that have few or no treatments so far.

While it is not yet possible to freeze organs for transplant, the research in this field is ongoing and a few recent successes have made scientists believe that organ banking may become a reality. One day In 2002, scientists managed to freeze a rabbit's kidney at -130°C, rewarm it and transplant it into a living rabbit. The transplanted kidney worked for 48 days. In 2016, a rabbit brain was cryogenically preserved for the long term at -135°C and kept all cell membranes, synapses, and intracellular structures intact. This breakthrough could potentially mean that in the future human brains could be frozen and revived.

Another field where cryopreservation has proven successful already is the preservation of animal species that risk extinction. One species is the northern white rhinoceros, which only counts two living females and no male. Scientists have been collecting sperm and egg cells from northern white rhinos since 1979 in the hope of preserving the species. As of 2021, there were 12 fertilized and cryopreserved embryos implanted in southern white rhino surrogates.

In the past years, in Hawaii, scientists have been collecting sperm and stem cells from 48 species of corals which are now being cryopreserved at -185°C. The coral bank can hold hundreds of samples that may one day be used to salvage the coral reefs around the world.

Last but not least, cryopreservation is already being used to preserve human corpses or severed heads as well as animals. The first human to be cryopreserved was American psychology professor James Bedford in 1967, and since then, there have been many others. While the revival is not yet feasible, the hope is that medical advances will someday allow for the cryopreserved humans and animals to be revived.

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The Multiple Applications of Cryopreservation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cryopreservation is a procedure that consists of freezing cells, tissues, or organs at very low temperatures to preserve them and prevent cell death. The procedure has been used since the 1950s, mainly to preserve semen, blood, oocytes, or embryos.