Complete & Print Your Form 1040

How to fill out Form 1040 (2025)

Form 1040 is the standard tax form individuals in the United States use to file annual income tax returns. This form is issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is used to report various types of income, deductions, and credits. If you are a freelancer, contractor, or individual taxpayer with a simple tax situation, you can fill out the form yourself without hiring a tax professional.

Here are step-by-step instructions to complete a 1040 fillable form:

Step 1: Assemble the paperwork

Before filling out the 1040 form, collect all the necessary documents and information. These may include:

 W-2 forms from your employers.

 1099 forms for any freelance or contract work.

 All the needed 1040 Schedules.

 Records of any other income, such as rental income, interest, or dividends.

 Receipts for deductible expenses, like charitable donations or medical expenses.

 Information about any tax credits you may be eligible for.

Step 2: Get a printable 1040 form

To get started, you will need to access the 1040 form PDF. Click the “Start your tax return” button on this page and start filing your taxes immediately. You can also go to the official IRS website and download the PDF.

Step 3: Specify fiscal year (optional)

Suppose your fiscal year follows a schedule other than the standard January 1 through December 31 calendar year. In that case, you can indicate your fiscal cycle's beginning and ending months in the space provided at the top of page 1.

Step 4: Personal information

Enter your filing status, name, address, and Social Security number. If you are married and filing a joint return, you must include your spouse's information.

Step 5: Figure out your filing status

Deciding your filing status is crucial to completing Form 1040, as it directly influences your tax rates, standard deduction amounts, and eligibility for certain tax credits and deductions.

Filing-status choices on the 2025 form are Single, Married filing jointly, Married filing separately, Head of household, and Qualifying surviving spouse.

Note:

To accurately select your filing status, carefully review the criteria for each status in the IRS instructions. Your choice plays a vital role in calculating your tax liability and determining how much you may owe or receive as a refund. If you're uncertain about which status fits your situation best, consider using the IRS's Interactive Tax Assistant online tool for guidance or consult with a tax professional.

Step 6: Additional information and dependents

Specify if you received or sold any digital assets during the year. For example, digital assets include NFTs and virtual currencies, such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

In the next section, you should provide information about your dependents if you have them. If you don't have any dependents, leave it blank.

Step 7: Report income

In the next section of your tax return, you report your income, adjustments and deductions and arrive at your taxable income. Follow the line-by-line instructions in the official IRS instructions linked below.

On the 2025 Form 1040, capital gain or loss is line 7a, and adjusted gross income is line 11a, carried to line 11b on page 2. Lines 12a through 12d are checkboxes (someone can claim you or your spouse as a dependent, your spouse itemizes on a separate return, dual-status alien, born before January 2, 1961, blind). Line 12e is the standard deduction or itemized deductions, line 13a is the qualified business income deduction, line 13b is additional deductions from Schedule 1-A, line 38, line 14 adds lines 12e, 13a, and 13b, and line 15 is taxable income.

The 2025 Form 1040 lists base standard deductions of $15,750 for Single or Married filing separately, $31,500 for Married filing jointly or Qualifying surviving spouse, and $23,625 for Head of household. These are not everyone's final deductions. If you check any box on lines 12a through 12d, or elect to increase the standard deduction by a net qualified disaster loss, follow the Form 1040 instructions for line 12e. If line 12b (spouse itemizes on a separate return) or line 12c (dual-status alien) is checked, the standard deduction is zero.

Note:

This section does not report income from self-employed individuals who get 1099-NEC instead of W-2. It should be reported with Schedule C of Form 1040.

Step 8: Calculate your tax liability

Use the tax tables provided by the IRS to determine your tax liability based on your taxable income and filing status. They can be found in the Form 1040 instructions. Write the amount on line 16.

Calculate additional taxes, including self-employment tax, using Schedule 2.

After adding your taxes, review any tax credits you may be eligible for. Tax credits directly reduce the tax you owe, so you must claim all the credits you qualify for.

Common tax credits include the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and education credits. Calculate them using forms Schedule 8812 and Schedule 3.

At the end of the section, calculate the total tax liability and enter it in line 24.

Step 9: Report payments

In this section, you should report all payments you made to the IRS during the year. In most cases, you would need to provide the following info:

1. Line 25a is for employees who receive W-2s. Copy the amount from box 2 of W-2.
2. Line 25b is for non-employees who receive 1099s. The amount withheld is shown in box 4 of your 1099.
3. Line 25c is for all other taxes withheld. For example, reported on box 4 of Form W-2G.
4. Line 25d is a total federal income tax withheld.
5. Line 26 is to report the total amount of estimated payments (Form 1040-ES) and the amount applied from the previous return.
6. Lines 27a, 32 and 33. On the 2025 Form 1040, the earned income credit is entered on line 27a. Line 32 totals it with other payments and refundable credits, and line 33 combines those amounts with the payments on lines 25d and 26.

Step 10: Determine your refund or amount owed

Subtract the total tax liability (Line 24) from total payments (Line 33) to determine whether you should get a refund or owe some taxes.

The overpayment is line 34, and the amount you want refunded is line 35a.

If the amount is negative, you owe something. Specify the amount on Line 37 and see the instructions to calculate the penalties you should pay and the taxes you owe. In case there are penalties, write the amount on Line 38.

Step 11: Review, download and sign the return

After completing all the necessary sections, review the form for accuracy. To download the 1040 form, click the Export button and choose one of the methods. You can either print the PDF, share it with your tax advisor to take a look, or download it as PDF.

Paper filing: complete the form, print it, sign it by hand, and mail it to the applicable IRS address. A digital, electronic, or typed-font signature is not a valid signature on a paper-filed Form 1040 or 1040-SR.

Electronic filing: if you file online using tax software, sign with a Self-Select PIN. If you file electronically through a tax practitioner, use either a Self-Select PIN or a Practitioner PIN. Applying a visible signature to a PDF does not file the return electronically.

Submitting the Form 1040

For most calendar-year taxpayers, the 2025 Form 1040 was due April 15, 2026. Taxpayers who timely requested an extension generally have until October 15, 2026 to file; the extension did not extend the time to pay.

File electronically or submit a paper return using an IRS-approved delivery method. Do not send a tax return by ordinary email. There are two ways to file:

1. By Mail

Print your completed 1040 Form and all the other forms and schedules that need to be filed with it. Send all the paperwork to the IRS office address provided in their instructions. The address depends on your state and whether you need to attach a payment or not.

2. eFiling

If your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $89,000 or less (tax year 2025), you can prepare and file through IRS Free File guided software. Free File Fillable Forms are available at any income. See the IRS e-file options.

Which IRS revision is current

Form 1040 (2025), the tax year 2025 revision filed in 2026, is the current IRS revision.

Official IRS form and instructions

• Form 1040 (2025), official IRS PDF (irs.gov)
• Instructions for Form 1040 (2025) (irs.gov)

Source: IRS (irs.gov), Form 1040 (2025) and Instructions for Form 1040 (2025). Reviewed September 2026.