Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet, Line 16

The Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet is not a separate IRS form; it is a one-page worksheet printed in the Instructions for Form 1040, in the instructions for line 16 (Tax). The worksheet is headed "Keep for Your Records". See "Who uses this worksheet" below.

What is the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet?

The Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet is not a separate IRS form. It is a one-page worksheet printed in the Instructions for Form 1040, in the instructions for line 16 (Tax).

The worksheet is marked "Keep for Your Records": you do not send it to the IRS.

The current worksheet is the one in the 2025 Instructions for Form 1040, used with 2025 tax returns. The blank above is that page (page 38 of the instructions).

Who uses this worksheet

Use the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet to figure your tax if you do not have to use the Schedule D Tax Worksheet and any of the following applies:

• you reported qualified dividends on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 3a;
• you do not have to file Schedule D and you reported capital gain distributions on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 7a;
• you are filing Schedule D, and Schedule D, lines 15 and 16, are both more than zero.

For Form 2555, follow the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet and its footnote.

The 2025 Instructions for Schedule D add an exception: they say not to use this worksheet to figure your tax if Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 15, is zero or less, or if line 15 or line 16 of Schedule D is zero or less and you have no qualified dividends on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 3a. In those cases they send you back to the instructions for Form 1040, line 16.

How to fill out the worksheet

The steps below follow the entries printed on the worksheet. The title of the worksheet ends with "Line 16", and its "Before you begin" note says to see the instructions for line 16 to find out whether you can use it to figure your tax (see "Who uses this worksheet" above). The steps cover one use only: figuring the tax that goes on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 16, with the entries printed on the worksheet. They do not cover the cases in which other IRS instructions tell you to complete this worksheet with different entries or to enter its result on another form or worksheet; three such cases are listed after the steps.

1. Complete Form 1040 or 1040-SR through line 15 before you start. If you do not have to file Schedule D and you received capital gain distributions, the worksheet says to be sure you checked the box on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 7b.
2. On line 1 of the worksheet, enter the amount from Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 15.
3. On line 2, enter the amount from Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 3a.
4. On line 3, if you are filing Schedule D, enter the smaller of Schedule D, line 15 or line 16 (enter 0 if either line is blank or a loss). If you are not filing Schedule D, enter the amount from Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 7a.
5. Follow lines 4 to 21 as printed. They work out the amounts taxed at 0%, at 15% and at 20%, using the amounts for your filing status printed on lines 6 and 13.
6. Line 22 is the tax on the amount on line 5. Line 23 adds lines 18, 21 and 22. Line 24 is the tax on the amount on line 1. For line 22 and for line 24 separately, the worksheet says to use the Tax Table if the amount is less than $100,000 and the Tax Computation Worksheet if it is $100,000 or more.
7. Line 25 is the smaller of lines 23 and 24. The worksheet says to include this amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 16. Keep the worksheet with your records.

Cases the steps do not cover include:

• Form 2555 (foreign earned income): follow the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet and its footnote. For a filer of Form 2555 the worksheet itself prints a different entry on line 1 and a different place for the line 25 amount, and a footnote to lines 2 and 3.
• Form 8615 (Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income): the 2025 Instructions for Form 8615 name this worksheet as one of the ways to figure the tax for Form 8615, lines 9, 15 and 17. Their sections on using it for the line 9 tax and for the line 15 tax start worksheet line 1 from Form 8615, line 8 or line 14, and end by entering the worksheet's line 25 amount on Form 8615, line 9 or line 15, and checking the box on that line. They contain further steps and conditions: follow the Instructions for Form 8615.
• Schedule J (Income Averaging for Individuals With Income from Farming or Fishing): the 2025 Instructions for Schedule J name this worksheet as one of the ways to figure the tax on the amount on Schedule J, line 3; that tax is entered on Schedule J, line 4. Follow the Instructions for Schedule J.

The full line 16 instructions, the Tax Table, the Tax Computation Worksheet and the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet are in the 2025 Instructions for Form 1040 on IRS.gov (irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf). The Schedule D Tax Worksheet is in the Instructions for Schedule D.