Opentaxsolver

Available Solvers

Workflow

1. Create Input File

Copy a template and fill in values. The format uses line labels followed by values:

Status    Single    { Single, Married/Joint, Head_of_House, Married/Sep, Widow(er) }

L1a   50000.00     { Wages }
      ;

L2b   1200.00      { Taxable Interest }
      ;

• Values go after the line label
• Multiple entries for the same line end with ;
• Comments are in { curly braces }
• Leave lines blank or at 0 if not applicable

2. Run the Solver

OTS=~/.local/share/OpenTaxSolver

# Run a solver on an input file
$OTS/bin/taxsolve_US_1040_2025 my_fed1040_2025.txt

# Output is written to my_fed1040_2025_out.txt

The solver reads the input file and writes a _out.txt file with all computed values.

3. Generate Filled PDF (optional)

$OTS/bin/universal_pdf_file_modifier my_fed1040_2025_out.txt

This fills in a PDF version of the tax form using the computed output.

Input File Format Details

Federal 1040 Key Lines

• Status: Single, Married/Joint, Head_of_House, Married/Sep, Widow(er)
• L1a: Wages (W-2 box 1) — multiple entries end with ;
• L2a/L2b: Tax-exempt / Taxable interest
• L3a/L3b: Qualified / Ordinary dividends
• L4a/L4b: IRA distributions (total / taxable)
• L6a: Social Security benefits
• L25a/L25b/L25c: Federal tax withheld (W-2 / 1099 / other)
• L26: Estimated tax payments
• S1_3: Business income from Schedule C
• S1_15: Deductible part of self-employment tax (from Schedule SE)
• S1_16: Self-employed SEP/SIMPLE/qualified plans
• S1_17: Self-employed health insurance deduction
• S2_4: Self-employment tax (from Schedule SE)
• CapGains-A/D through CapGains-I/L: Capital gains entries
• A1-A18: Schedule A itemized deductions
• Personal info: Your1stName, YourLastName, YourSocSec#, address fields

Schedule C Key Lines

• L1: Gross receipts — multiple entries end with ;
• L8-L27a: Expense categories (advertising, car, contract labor, insurance, office, rent, supplies, taxes, travel, meals, utilities, wages, etc.)
• L30: Business use of home (Form 8829)
• L44a-L44c: Vehicle miles (business, commuting, other)
• L48a-L48i: Other expenses (description + amount pairs)

Schedule SE Key Lines

• L2: Net profit/loss from Schedule C line 31
• L5a: Church employee income
• L8a: Total social security wages and tips

MI 1040 Key Lines

• Status: Single, Married/Joint, Married/Sep
• L9a-L9e: Exemptions
• L10: AGI from federal 1040
• L13: Subtractions from MI Schedule 1
• L26: Property Tax Credit
• L31: Michigan tax withheld (Schedule W)
• L32: Estimated tax payments

Order of Operations

For self-employed filing federal + Michigan:

1. Schedule C first — produces net business income (line 31)
2. Schedule SE — uses Schedule C line 31 to compute SE tax
3. US 1040 — imports Schedule C income (S1_3) and SE tax (S2_4, S1_15)
4. MI 1040 — uses federal AGI (L10) from US 1040

Tips

• Keep input files in a working directory outside the OTS install (e.g., in the Taxes 2025 project folder)
• Each template has a corresponding _example.txt and README_*.txt for reference
• The Round_PDF_to_Whole_Dollars option at the bottom of templates controls PDF formatting
• Output files include detailed line-by-line calculations and marginal tax bracket info
• You can reference a prior year's output file for carryover values (e.g., Schedule D line D6)