You may not owe federal income tax if your income falls below a certain threshold, but filing anyway can still benefit you

Whether you have to pay federal income tax depends on how much you earned, what type of income it was, and your filing status. The IRS sets a standard deduction — an amount of income you can earn without owing tax. If your total income is below that threshold, you generally do not owe federal income tax. However, you may still want to file a return, because you could be owed a refund or tax credits worth more than what you paid in.

The standard deduction changes each year and varies by age and filing status. A single person under 65 has a lower standard deduction than a married couple filing jointly, and anyone 65 or older gets an additional amount. You can find the current year's standard deduction on the IRS website or on the Form 1040 instructions that come out each January.

Key Takeaways

  • If your total income is below the standard deduction for your filing status and age, you do not owe federal income tax.
  • The standard deduction is higher for people 65 and older, and it changes every year based on inflation.
  • Even if you do not owe tax, filing a return can get you a refund if taxes were withheld from your paychecks or if you may have access to for refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit.
  • Self-employed people and those with certain types of income must file even if their income is below the standard deduction.
  • Married couples filing separately have lower standard deductions and may owe tax on less income than those filing jointly.

Standard deduction thresholds for 2024

The standard deduction for 2024 is $14,600 for a single filer under 65, and $29,200 for married couples filing jointly where both spouses are under 65. If you are 65 or older, you get an extra $1,850 (single) or $1,500 per spouse (married filing jointly). These amounts are set by the IRS each year and published in early January.

If your total income — wages, interest, dividends, and other sources combined — is below your standard deduction, you do not owe federal income tax. This is true even if you had income; the tax system straightforward does not tax income below that floor. However, this does not mean you should skip filing. If your employer withheld taxes from your paychecks, you may be owed a refund. If you earned less than the threshold but worked, you may also may have access to for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which can result in a refund of several hundred or thousand dollars.

When you must file even if you earn below the threshold

Certain types of income trigger a filing requirement regardless of how much you earned. If you were self-employed and had net earnings of $400 or more from your business, you must file to pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare tax). This is true even if your total income is below the standard deduction. Self-employment tax is separate from income tax and is owed on business profit, not just on what you take home.

You must also file if you had income from sources that require it: certain types of investment income, foreign earned income, or income from a dependent. If you are claimed as a dependent on someone else's return, your filing requirement is different — you may owe tax on unearned income (like interest or dividends) at a lower threshold than the standard deduction. The IRS instructions for Form 1040 spell out these exceptions in detail.

Refunds and tax credits you might miss by not filing

The biggest reason to file even when you do not owe tax is to claim refundable credits. The Earned Income Tax Credit is the most common: it can return $600 to $3,700 or more depending on your income, filing status, and whether you have children. You only get this money if you file a return. The same is true for the Child Tax Credit and other refundable credits.

If your employer withheld federal income tax from your paychecks — which happens when you fill out a W-4 form — you have overpaid your tax liability. Filing a return is how you get that money back. Even if you owe no tax, the IRS will not send you a refund unless you file. Many people who earn below the standard deduction are may have access to to refunds of $500 to $2,000 or more.

Married filing separately and other filing statuses

If you are married and file separately, your standard deduction is lower than if you file jointly. For 2024, a married person filing separately has a standard deduction of only $14,600 — the same as a single filer — even though a married couple filing jointly gets $29,200. This means married couples filing separately owe tax on less income and may have to file even if a joint return would have been below the threshold.

Married filing separately is rarely the best choice for tax purposes, but it may be necessary if you and your spouse cannot agree on a joint return or if one spouse is pursuing an income-driven student loan repayment plan. If you are considering this status, work through the math with both scenarios to see which results in less total tax.

How to determine your filing requirement

Start by adding up all your income for the year: wages from a W-2, self-employment income, interest, dividends, capital gains, and any other sources. Compare that total to the standard deduction for your filing status and age. If your income is below the threshold and you do not have self-employment income of $400 or more, you do not owe federal income tax.

However, you should still consider filing if you had taxes withheld, if you are self-employed, or if you think you might may have access to for a credit. The IRS provides a filing requirement worksheet in the Form 1040 instructions each year. You can also use the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant tool on IRS.gov to walk through your situation step by step.

What happens if you do not file when you should

If you owe tax and do not file, the IRS will eventually contact you. Penalties and interest accrue on unpaid tax, and the longer you wait, the more you owe. However, if you do not owe tax and straightforward do not file, there is no penalty — the IRS has no reason to pursue you. The risk is that you miss out on a refund or credit you were may have access to to.

The IRS generally allows you to claim a refund for up to three years after the filing important date. If you are owed money and do not file, you can still file a return in year two or three and receive your refund. However, waiting longer means you are not using that money now. If you think you might be owed a refund, filing sooner is better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to file if I made less than $15,000 and had no taxes withheld?

If your income is below the standard deduction for your filing status and you have no self-employment income, you do not owe federal income tax and are not required to file. However, if you worked and earned income, you may may have access to for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which requires filing to receive. Check whether you might may have access to before deciding to skip filing.

What if I'm claimed as a dependent — do I still use the standard deduction?

If you are a dependent, your standard deduction may be lower than the regular amount. For unearned income like interest or dividends, you may owe tax on amounts as low as $1,250 (in 2024). For earned income from a job, the standard deduction is higher. The Form 1040 instructions include a worksheet to calculate your standard deduction as a dependent.

Do I have to file if I'm self-employed and made less than $15,000?

If you had net self-employment income of $400 or more, you must file to pay self-employment tax, even if your total income is below the standard deduction. Self-employment tax funds Social Security and Medicare. You calculate it on Schedule SE and include it with your Form 1040.

Can I file even if I don't have to?

Yes. Filing a return when you are not required to is always allowed and often beneficial. If you had taxes withheld, filing gets you a refund. If you may have access to for credits, filing is the only way to claim them. There is no downside to filing when you do not owe tax.

Where do I find the current standard deduction?

The IRS publishes the standard deduction for each tax year in early January on IRS.gov. You can also find it in the Form 1040 instructions or on the IRS's "Standard Deduction" page. The amount changes each year based on inflation.