This is a guideline only and your situation may present a different circumstance.
Please Note: If you received the advance Premium Tax Credit for your health insurance through a health insurance exchange (aka "Obamacare"), then you MUST file a return for 2020 regardless of your income. Failure to do so will result in non-eligibility for future Premium Tax Credits.
Click on any filing to find out the requirements for filing a federal tax return.
Single
DEFINITION
Your filing status is single if you are considered unmarried and you do not qualify for another filing status. To determine your marital status:
• You are considered unmarried for the whole year if, on the last day of your tax year, you are unmarried or legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree. State law governs whether you are married or legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree.
• For same sex couples, if you were married in a state that recognizes same sex marriages, then for the purpose of federal filing purposes, you are married and not eligible to file single.
• If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year.
UNDER AGE 65
You generally must file a return if your income is $12,400 or more.
AGE 65 or GREATER
You generally must file a return if your income is $14,050 or more.
Married Filing Joint
DEFINITION
You can choose married filing jointly as your filing status if you are considered married (as of the last day of the year) and both you and your spouse agree to file a joint return. On a joint return, you and your spouse report your combined income and deduct your combined allowable expenses. You can file a joint return even if one of you had no income or deductions.
If you and your spouse decide to file a joint return, your tax may be lower than your combined tax for the other filing statuses. Also, your standard deduction (if you do not itemize deductions) may be higher, and you may qualify for tax benefits that do not apply to other filing statuses.
BOTH UNDER AGE 65
You generally must file a return if your income is $24,800 or more.
ONE SPOUSE AGE 65 or GREATER
You generally must file a return if your income is $26,100 or more.
BOTH SPOUSES AGE 65 or GREATER
You generally must file a return if your income is $27,400 or more.
Married Filing Separately
You can choose married filing separately as your filing status if you are married (as of the last day of the year).
This filing status may benefit you if you want to be responsible only for your own tax or if it results in less tax than filing a joint return.
If you and your spouse do not agree to file a joint return, you must use this filing status unless you qualify for head of household status.
You generally must file a return if your income is $5 or more.
Note: If you do not have a divorce or separation agreement as of the last day of the year and you and your spouse have lived apart the last six months of the year, then you may be able to file single or if you have a qualifying child you may be able to file as head of household.
Head of Household
DEFINITION
To qualify for head of household status...
• You must be either unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year. (See the definition for single above.)
• You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
• A qualifying person lived with you in the home for more than half the year.
UNDER AGE 65
You generally must file a return if your income is $18,650 or more.
AGE 65 or GREATER
You generally must file a return if your income is $20,300 or more.
Qualifying Widow(er)
DEFINITION To qualify for qualifying window(er)...
- You were entiltled to file a joint return with your spouse.
- Your spouse must have died in 2018 or 2019.
- You have a child who lived with you all year unless born, died, or kidnapped during the year.
- You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
NOTE: If your spouse died during 2020 you must either file a joint (MFJ) or separate (MFS) return.
UNDER AGE 65
You generally must file a return if your income is $24,800 or more.
AGE 65 or GREATER
You generally must file a return if your income is $26,100 or more.
Rules for Dependents
DEFINITION
If your parents (or someone else) can claim you as a dependent, use this as a guide to see if you must file a return.
Earned income includes salaries, wages, tips, and professional fees. It also includes taxable scholarship and fellowship grants
Unearned income includes investment-type income such as taxable interest, ordinary dividends, and capital gain distributions. It also includes unemployment compensation, taxable social security benefits, pensions, annuities, cancellation of debt, and distributions of unearned income from a trust. Gross income is the total of your earned and unearned income.
SINGLE AND UNDER AGE 65
You must file a return if any of the following apply:
Your unearned income was over $1,100
Your earned income was over $12,400
Your gross income was more than the larger of:
$1,100
Your earned income (up to $12,050) plus $350
SINGLE AND AGE 65 or OVER
You must file a return if any of the following apply:
Your unearned income was over $2,750 ($4,400 if 65 or older and blind)
Your earned income was over $14,050 ($15,700 if 65 or older and blind)
Your gross income was more than:
The larger of:
$ 2,750 ($4,400 if 65 or older and blind)
Your earned income (up to $12,050) plus $2,000 ($3,650 if 65 or older and blind)
MARRIED AND UNDER AGE 65
You must file a return if any of the following apply:
Your unearned income was over $1,100
Your earned income was over $12,400
Your gross income was at least $5 and your spouse files a separate return and itemizes deductions
Your gross income was more than the larger of:
$1,100
Your earned income (up to $12,050) plus $350
MARRIED AND EITHER OR BOTH ARE AGE 65 or OVER
You must file a return if any of the following apply:
Your unearned income was over $2,400 ($3,700 if 65 or older and blind)
Your earned income was over $13,700 ($15,000 if 65 or older and blind)
Your gross income was at least $5 and your spouse files a separate return and itemizes deductions
Your gross income was more than:
The larger of:
$2,400, or $3,700 if 65 or older and blind
Your earned income (up to $12,050) plus $1,650 ($2,950 if 65 or older and blind)
Other Situations When You Must File a Tax Return
You owe any special taxes, including any of the following:
- Alternative minimum tax.
- Additional tax on a qualified plan, including an individual retirement arrangement (IRA), or other tax-favored account. But if you are filing a return only because you owe this tax, you can file Form 5329 by itself.
- Household employment taxes. But if you are filing a return only because you owe this tax, you can file Schedule H by itself.
- Social Security and Medicare tax on tips you did not report to your employer or on wages you received from an employer who did not withhold these taxes.
- Recapture of first-time homebuyer credit. See the instructions for line 60b.
- Write-in taxes, including uncollected Social Security and Medicare or RRTA tax on tips you reported to your employer or on groupterm life insurance and additional taxes on health savings accounts. See the instructions for line 62.
- Recapture taxes. See the instructions for lines 44, 60b, and line 62.
2. You (or your spouse, if filing jointly) received HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA distributions.
3. You had net earnings from self-employment of at least $400.
4. You had wages of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that is exempt from employer Social and Medicare taxes.
5. Advance payments of the premium tax credit were made for you, your spouse, or a dependent who enrolled in coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. You should have received Forms 1095-A showing the amount of the advance payments, if any.
6. Advance payments of the health coverage tax credit were made for you, your spouse, or a dependent.
7. You were required to file Form 965 for a triggering event or Form 965-A for an elected installment payment.