How Much Do You Have to Make to File Taxes?
When do you have to start paying taxes? Depending on your income, you may not be required to file a tax return. If you're under the required filing threshold for your filing status, you might not have to file a tax return, but if you do, you could still get a refund if you qualify for certain credits. Learn more about the required filing threshold and why you might want to file either way.
The One Big Beautiful Bill that passed includes permanently extending tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including increasing the cap on the amount of state and local or sales tax and property tax (SALT) that you can deduct, makes cuts to energy credits passed under the Inflation Reduction Act, makes changes to taxes on tips and overtime for certain workers, reforms Medicaid, increases the Debt ceiling, and reforms Pell Grants and student loans. Updates to this article are in process. Check our One Big Beautiful Bill article for more information.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio
Key Takeaways
- If you earn less than the Standard Deduction for your filing status, you likely don't need to file a tax return.
- Even if you don't meet the filing threshold, you may still have to file taxes if you have other types of income. For example, you may need to file if you earned self-employment income or significant income from interest or dividends.
- In most cases, if you only receive Social Security benefits, you won't need to file a tax return.
- If you get Social Security benefits and also get tax-exempt income, you may need to file a return. This is because the tax-exempt income may cause your Social Security benefits to be taxable.
- Dependents who earn income may or may not have to file taxes, depending on several factors. For example, if the income they earn is more than their Standard Deduction, they typically need to file a tax return. The same thing goes for certain children who have unearned income that's greater than $1,350 in 2025. This amount increased from $1,300 in 2024.
Do you need to file income taxes for the 2025 tax year?
In 2025, as an example, you don't need to file a tax return if all of the following are true for you:
- under age 65
- Single filing status
- don't have any special circumstances that require you to file (like self-employment income)
- earn less than $15,750 (which is the 2025 Standard Deduction for a taxpayer filing as Single)
The deductions you claim on your tax return determine how much of your income is taxable. So, if your income is less than the Standard Deduction, and you don't have other income to report, you won't need to file a tax return. An example of income that you would likely need to report is self-employment income.
What are the gross income thresholds for the 2025 tax year?
This chart shows the amount of income in 2025 that might require you to file taxes, depending on your status and type of income:
|
Filing Status |
Taxpayer age at the end of 2025 |
File a return if your gross income was at least this amount in 2025: |
|
Single |
under 65 |
$15,750 |
|
Single |
65 or older |
$17,750 |
|
Head of Household |
under 65 |
$23,625 |
|
Head of Household |
65 or older |
$25,625 |
|
Married Filing Jointly |
under 65 (both spouses) |
$31,500 |
|
Married Filing Jointly |
65 or older (one spouse) |
$33,100 |
|
Married Filing Jointly |
65 or older (both spouses) |
$34,700 |
|
Married Filing Separately |
any age |
$5 |
|
Qualifying Surviving Spouse |
under 65 |
$31,500 |
|
Qualifying Surviving Spouse |
65 or older |
$33,100 |
What were the gross income thresholds for the 2024 tax year?
This chart shows the amount of income in 2024 that might require you to file taxes if you missed the filing deadline, depending on your status and type of income:
|
Filing Status |
Taxpayer age at the end of 2024 |
You would have filed a return if your gross income was at least this amount in 2024: |
|
Single |
under 65 |
$14,600 |
|
Single |
65 or older |
$16,550 |
|
Head of Household |
under 65 |
$21,900 |
|
Head of Household |
65 or older |
$23,850 |
|
Married Filing Jointly |
under 65 (both spouses) |
$29,200 |
|
Married Filing Jointly |
65 or older (one spouse) |
$30,750 |
|
Married Filing Jointly |
65 or older (both spouses) |
$32,300 |
|
Married Filing Separately |
any age |
$5 |
|
Qualifying Surviving Spouse |
under 65 |
$29,200 |
|
Qualifying Surviving Spouse |
65 or older |
$30,750 |
Do you have to file taxes on Social Security benefits?
In most cases, if your only income is from Social Security benefits, then you don't need to file a tax return. Depending upon your other income, a portion of your Social Security benefits can count as taxable income.
There are situations that can cause you to have to include a portion of your Social Security income on your tax return even though you do not have any additional income. For example, if you're married and live with your spouse, but you file separate tax returns, you may have to report your Social Security income. You might owe tax if your Social Security income is more than your Standard Deduction. At that point, you will likely have taxable income, and you'll have to file a return.
Another situation is if you earn other tax-exempt income in addition to your Social Security benefits. For example, say you get tax-exempt municipal bond interest payments during the year along with your Social Security income. If this amount makes your total income greater than the threshold for your filing status, you'll have to file a return.
Here's an example of when you may need to file, even with tax-exempt income:
In 2025, you are under age 65, can’t be claimed as a dependent by someone else, and receive $30,000 in Social Security benefits, but also receive another $33,000 in tax-exempt interest. $16,400 of your Social Security benefits would be taxable income. That's because the total amount is greater than your Standard Deduction ($15,750 for a single taxpayer in 2025). In this case, you would need to file a tax return.
How much of your Social Security benefits are taxable?
To figure out how much (if any) of your Social Security benefits are taxable, do the following:
- Add one-half of your Social Security income to all other income, including tax-exempt interest.
- Compare that amount to the base amount for your filing status.
- If the total is more than the 2025 base amount of $25,000 for an individual or $32,000 for those filing a joint return, some of your benefits may be taxable.
TurboTax can help you estimate whether you'll need to file a tax return and what income could be taxable.
TurboTax Tip:
“Be sure to check the filing requirements for states where you earn income as a resident or non-resident. Some states require a non-resident return for any amount of income earned in that state.” – Kelly Wallace, CPA, Homedale, Idaho
What's the biggest Standard Deduction possible?
There are several reasons your Standard Deduction could be higher. For example, if you are at least 65 years old, you get an increase in your Standard Deduction. You also get an increased Standard Deduction if:
- you are blind
- your spouse is also at least 65
- your spouse is blind
The largest Standard Deduction would be for a married couple who are both blind and both 65 years old or older.
Having a larger Standard Deduction means you can have higher income and still not have to file a return. This is true even if your income is higher than someone under age 65 that has to file.
Do minors have to file taxes?
No matter how young, a person has to file taxes if they:
- Earn a certain amount of money
- Are claimed as a dependent
- Meet certain income thresholds
There is an exception. If your dependent only has unearned income, and it's less than $13,500 in 2025, you can choose to include this income on your own tax return.
Do other dependents have to file a tax return?
If you claim someone as a dependent on your tax return, they are subject to certain IRS filing requirements whether they are children or adults. A tax return is necessary when their earned income is more than their Standard Deduction.
The Standard Deduction for single dependents who are under age 65 and not blind is the greater of:
- $1,350 in 2025 ($1,300 for 2024)
- or the sum of $450 + the person's earned income, up to the Standard Deduction for a single taxpayer. This amount is $15,750 in 2025 ($14,600 in 2024).
What counts as earned income versus unearned income?
Earned income is money you get for working, like from a part-time job. For 2025, if a minor makes more than $15,750 from working, they have to file taxes. The filing threshold for unearned income, like interest your child earns from a savings account, is $1,350 for 2025.
A dependent's income can be "unearned" when it comes from sources like dividends or interest payments. When a dependent's unearned income is greater than $1,350 in 2025 ($1,300 in 2024), the dependent is required to file a tax return.
Are you required to file taxes if you don't owe?
There are years when you might not be required to file a tax return, but you may want to do so anyway. If you have federal taxes withheld from your paycheck, you could potentially qualify for a tax refund. This is true if you didn't earn more than your Standard Deduction, or if too much money was withheld from your paycheck for taxes.
For example, say you are a single taxpayer whose only income is earnings of $2,500 from a job. You had $300 withheld from your paycheck for federal tax. In this case, you could get a refund for the entire $300 since you earned less than the Standard Deduction.
The only way you can get that tax refund is to file a tax return.
Does the IRS automatically issue refunds if you’re owed one?
No. The IRS doesn't automatically issue refunds without a tax return. So, if you want to claim a tax refund then you should file a tax return.
How long do I have to claim my tax refund after the filing deadline?
The latest you can claim a refund is either three years from the date you filed the return or two years from the date you paid your tax bill, whichever is later.
If you think you might be eligible for a return for a previous tax year, our tax experts can help. Meet with an expert at 500+ TurboTax locations open now, or connect entirely online.
With TurboTax Expert Full Service, a local expert matched to your unique situation will do your taxes for you start to finish. Or, get unlimited help and advice from tax experts while you do your taxes with TurboTax Expert Assist.
And you can file your own taxes with TurboTax Do It Yourself. Easily start your taxes by adding your forms and answering a few simple questions, then we’ll guide you from there. No matter which way you file, we guarantee 100% accuracy and your maximum refund.
Get started now by logging into TurboTax and file with confidence.


