2025 Form 1040, Line 16
Tax Computation: Figuring Your Line 16 Tax
Line 16 of the 2025 Form 1040 is where your taxable income becomes actual tax. Most filers use the Tax Tables or the Tax Computation Worksheet under IRC §1; filers with qualified dividends or capital gains use the worksheets that apply the preferential rates.
Tables, worksheet, or capital-gain worksheets
Ordinary income only: look up the Tax Tables, or use the Tax Computation Worksheet if your income exceeds the table ceiling. Either path applies the §1 rate schedules for your filing status. Have qualified dividends or capital gains? The Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet — or the Schedule D Tax Worksheet if Schedule D requires it — routes that slice of income to the preferential 0/15/20% rates of §1(h). The right worksheet is not optional; each one is keyed to the income you actually have.
What Line 16 is not
Line 16 is only the income tax on taxable income. It does not include self-employment tax, the additional taxes from Schedule 2, or the effect of nonrefundable credits — those enter later on the road to total tax on Line 24. And alternative minimum tax computed on Form 6251 never touches Line 16: it flows through Schedule 2. For the full walkthrough of rates, worksheets, and credits, see chapter 4 of the Guide.
Questions, answered
- Which worksheet do I use for Line 16?
- Ordinary income only: the Tax Tables or the Tax Computation Worksheet under §1. Qualified dividends or capital gains: the Qualified Dividends Worksheet or the Schedule D Worksheet, which apply the 0/15/20% rates under §1(h).
- Do capital gains get their own rates on Line 16?
- Yes — qualified dividends and long-term gains are taxed at the preferential 0/15/20% rates of §1(h) through the worksheets, not at ordinary brackets.
- Where does AMT go?
- Not on Line 16 — alternative minimum tax computed on Form 6251 flows through Schedule 2 and lands in total tax on Line 24.
Keep reading: Taxable Income · Total Tax · Amount Owed