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Individual tax guide
Filing requirements depend on filing status, age, dependency status, the type of income you receive, and certain special taxes. Social Security by itself often does not require a return, but other retirement or investment income can change the answer.
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For most taxpayers who cannot be claimed as a dependent, the filing threshold is generally tied to filing status and age. These 2026 amounts reflect the basic standard deduction plus the additional standard deduction for age 65.
Married filing separately has special filing rules and can require a return at very low income levels. Dependency, blindness, self-employment, and other special situations can also override these general thresholds.
Retirement & Social Security
If Social Security or equivalent Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits are your only income, the benefits generally are not taxable and you may not have to file. The answer can change when you also receive a pension, IRA distributions, wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, or other income.
If that amount exceeds the applicable base amount below, part of your Social Security may become taxable. These are Social Security taxation thresholds, not the normal gross-income filing thresholds.
A retiree receiving only Social Security may have no federal filing requirement. Add taxable pension income, IRA withdrawals, interest, dividends, or gains, however, and both the normal filing threshold and the taxation of Social Security need to be tested.
Dependents
Dependents use a different filing test. The IRS separately looks at earned income, unearned income, and total gross income.
Wages, salaries, tips, professional fees, and other pay for work performed.
Taxable interest, dividends, capital-gain distributions, unemployment, taxable Social Security, pensions, annuities, and certain trust income.
Self-employment
You generally must file and calculate self-employment tax when net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more, even if total income is below the ordinary filing threshold.
This can apply to independent contractors, side businesses, freelance work, and other Schedule C activities.
The filing requirement and the Form 1099 reporting requirement are separate rules. For 2026, net earnings from self-employment of $400 or more can require a tax return, while a business generally does not have to issue Form 1099-NEC until reportable payments reach $2,000.
As a result, you may have income that must be reported even though you did not receive a Form 1099.
Other situations
File anyway?
You may want to file even when you are not required to if: