Filing the Return: Federal Income Tax (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Filing the Return” within federal income tax. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Context for these rules

If you file by the due date of your return (not counting extensions)—April 15, 2026, for most people—you can have the IRS figure your tax for you on Form 1040 or 1040-SR.

If the IRS figures your tax and you paid too much, you will receive a refund. If you didn’t pay enough, you will receive a bill for the balance. To avoid interest or the penalty for late payment, you must pay the bill within 30 days of the date of the bill or by the due date for your return, whichever is later.

The IRS can also figure the credit for the elderly or the disabled and the earned income credit for you.

Filing the Return

After you complete the line entries for the tax form you are filing, fill in your name and address. Enter your social security number in the space provided. If you are married, enter the social security numbers of you and your spouse, even if you file separately. Sign and date your return and enter your occupation(s). If you are filing a joint return, both you and your spouse must sign it. Enter your daytime phone number in the space provided. This may help speed the processing of your return if we have a question that can be answered over the phone. If you are filing a joint return, you may enter either your or your spouse’s daytime phone number.

If you want to allow your preparer, a friend, a family member, or any other person you choose to discuss your 2025 tax return with the IRS, check the “Yes” box in the “Third Party Designee” area on your return. Also, enter the designee’s name, phone number, and any five digits the designee chooses as their personal identification number (PIN). If you check the “Yes” box, you, and your spouse if filing a joint return, are authorizing the IRS to call the designee to answer any questions that may arise during the processing of your return.

Fill in and attach any schedules and forms asked for on the lines you completed to your paper return. Attach a copy of each of your Forms W-2 to your paper return. Also, attach to your paper return any Form 1099-R you received that has withholding tax in box 4.

Mail your return to the Internal Revenue Service Center for the area where you live. A list of service center addresses is in the instructions for your tax return.

Form 1040 or 1040-SR Line Entries

If you want the IRS to figure your tax. Read Form 1040 or 1040-SR, lines 1 through 15, and Schedule 1 (Form 1040), if applicable. Fill in the lines that apply to you and attach Schedule 1 (Form 1040), if applicable. Don’t complete Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 16 or 17.

If you are filing a joint return, use the space on the dotted line next to the words “Adjusted Gross Income” on the first page of your return to separately show your taxable income and your spouse’s taxable income.

Read Form 1040 or 1040-SR, lines 19 through 33, and Schedules 2 and 3 (Form 1040), if applicable. Fill in the lines that apply to you and attach Schedules 2 and 3 (Form 1040), if applicable. Don’t fill in Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 22, 24, 33, or 34 through 38. Don’t fill in Schedule 2 (Form 1040), line 2 or 3. Also, don’t complete Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 6d, if you are completing Schedule R (Form 1040), or Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 27a, if you want the IRS to figure the credits shown on those lines.

Payments.

If you have federal income tax withheld that is shown on Form W-2, box 2; Form 1099, box 4; Form W-2G, box 4; or another form (see the Instructions for Form 1040 for more information), enter the amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 25. Enter any estimated tax payments you made on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 26.

Credit for child and dependent care expenses.

If you can take this credit, complete Form 2441 and attach it to your paper return. Enter the amount of the credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 2. The IRS will not figure this credit.

Net premium tax credit.

If you take this credit, complete Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit (PTC), and attach it to your return. Enter the amount of the credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 9. The IRS will not figure this credit.

Credit for the elderly or the disabled.

If you can take this credit, the IRS can figure it for you. Enter “CFE” on the line next to Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 6d, and attach Schedule R (Form 1040) to your paper return. On Schedule R (Form 1040), check the box in Part I for your filing status and age. Complete Parts II and III, lines 11 and 13, if they apply.

Earned income credit.

If you can take this credit, the IRS can figure it for you. Enter “EIC” on the dotted line on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 27a. If you elect to use your nontaxable combat pay in figuring your EIC, enter the amount on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 1i.

If you have a qualifying child, you must fill in Schedule EIC (Form 1040), Earned Income Credit, and attach it to your paper return. If you don’t provide the child’s social security number on Schedule EIC, line 2, the credit will be reduced or disallowed unless the child was born and died in 2025.

If your credit for any year after 1996 was reduced or disallowed by the IRS, you may also have to file Form 8862 with your return. For details, see the Instructions for Form 1040.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

• Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax: How To Figure Your Tax — Tax Figured by the IRS — Filing the Return — Internal Revenue Service; 2025 edition.

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.