Arlington Personal Tax Preparation

Returns for Arlington Households

Arlington is a large, mostly residential city of about 402,000 people in the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate, and many residents commute to jobs across the Metroplex. Texas has no personal income tax, so the federal return is the main filing each year. BOMCAS prepares returns for Arlington households remotely.

The Texas personal tax page explains homestead and community property rules, and this page applies them to Arlington households.

GM Plant Workers

Hourly workers at the Arlington Assembly plant often have overtime, shift premiums and, in good years, a profit-sharing payment in the first quarter. Profit sharing is taxed as wages and is often withheld at the flat supplemental rate, which can leave too little or too much tax withheld depending on the household's overall income. Workers who are temporarily laid off during model changeovers may receive unemployment benefits and supplemental pay, both taxable. Retirees from the plant receive pensions and may roll lump sums into IRAs. We check W-2s, union-related forms and withholding each year.

UTA Students and Staff

UT Arlington enrolled about 42,800 students in fall 2026, including many graduate students in engineering and science. Domestic students and parents can claim the American Opportunity credit or the Lifetime Learning credit, using Form 1098-T. Teaching and research assistants receive wages, and part of fellowships used for living costs is taxable. International students on F-1 and J-1 visas are usually nonresidents for several years and file Form 1040-NR with Form 8843, sometimes with treaty benefits.

Event-Day and Gig Income

Many Arlington residents earn extra income on game and concert days: parking cars on their property, driving for rideshare, working as independent security or catering staff or renting rooms. Rideshare drivers receive 1099-K or 1099-NEC forms and can deduct mileage. Rental of a home for 14 days or fewer in a year is not reported at all under a special rule, which can help homeowners who rent for big events, but longer rentals are taxable and may require hotel tax collection.

Homeowners

Arlington homes are valued by the Tarrant Appraisal District. The residence homestead exemption reduces the school tax value by $140,000, with more for owners 65 or older and disabled owners, and limits increases in taxable value to 10 percent a year. Protests are generally due by May 15. On the federal return, property tax and mortgage interest count only if you itemize, and state and local taxes fall under the SALT cap.

Families and Commuters

Arlington households often have two earners working in different cities, children in Arlington ISD or Mansfield ISD, and childcare costs that qualify for the dependent care credit. Commuting costs are not deductible for employees, but self-employed people may deduct business travel from a home office that is their principal place of business.

Season Tickets and Donations

Payments to a university athletics programme for the right to buy season tickets are no longer deductible as charitable gifts. Donations to UTA scholarships or local charities still are if you itemize, and taxpayers 70½ or older can give directly from an IRA through a qualified charitable distribution, which counts toward required minimum distributions without adding to taxable income.

Selling a Home

Many Arlington homeowners have seen large gains in value. A married couple can exclude up to $500,000 of gain on the sale of a main home, or $250,000 for a single owner, if they owned and lived in it for two of the last five years. Homes rented out before the sale, such as a house kept after a move, may lose part of the exclusion and owe tax on depreciation taken.

Retirees

Retirees from GM, the school district, the city and the airlines that hub nearby receive pensions and Social Security that are federally taxable but not taxed by Texas. Required minimum distributions, qualified charitable distributions and Medicare premium surcharges based on income are part of retirement planning.

What to Send

W-2s, including profit sharing and unemployment forms.
1098-T and scholarship records.
1099-K, 1099-NEC and mileage logs.
Tarrant Appraisal District and mortgage statements.
Last year's return.