The answer to the question that do you need to file an income tax return in Form 1040 depends upon several things. You need to file an income tax form if you were eligible for any of these items(remember these are just a few examples):

•      Additional child tax credit
•      First time home purchase credit
•      Earned income credit
•      Health coverage tax credit
•      Recovery rebate credit

There are certain exceptions for children under the age of nineteen and also for full time students for filing income tax return. Under certain situations the parent or parents can include the dependent child’s income onto their tax return. In that case, you will need to file tax Form 8814 if you choose this option.You can always find the tax forms on irs.gov

For filing a Tax form, you need to consider various things like:

-The filing status: Resident Alien, Non-Resident Alien or Dual-Status Alien

There can be various circumstantial outcomes when you are a resident alien, non-resident alien or dual-status alien. In most cases non-resident aliens and dual-status aliens need to use different forms. You may need to use the 1040NR or the 1040NR EZ. For more detailed information on that you may want to take a look at Publication 519. This tax publication will help you to understand the requirements needed for you to comply with the United States tax laws.

-1040 Federal Income Tax Form Due Date is April 15th

Generally, the due date of filing an income tax return . But what if I didn’t get it done in time, you can file for an extension using tax Form 4868. You must file this tax form by the original due date. But, a very important thing to remember is that if you owe tax, you can't extend that. You must pay on time with the extention. The extension will give you six months to send in the paperwork but, if you owe, you must pay on time or else you will incur penalties and interest on what monies you owe.

- If you need help in filing tax form 1040 or any other tax form

There is whole lot of information available on the website irs.gov, but even then if you need information & help in filing, you can always choose softwares like Turbotax which not only helps you make your tax return, but also provides you with 24*7 help for any question you have and guarantees you the best refund!! the features are endless!

So get started with preparing your income tax return 1040 for year 2011 as soon as you get all the information.