Do you file federal taxes if you did not work?

Answer 1

Maybe.

If you had some other source of income (interest, dividends, capital gains, rents, royalties, pensions, alimony, taxable scholarships, etc) you may have to file.

You may have to file if you took a distribution from a tax-deferred plan like an IRA or 401k. You may have to file if you are over age 70 1/2 and failed to take a distribution from a tax-deferred plan like an IRA or 401k.

There are many reasons you may have to file even if you did not work.

See Tables 1, 2, and 3 on pages 2, 3, and 4 of Publication 501 to determine if you are required to file:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf