Filing 2024 Taxes in 2025: Your Go-To Guide
As you prepare to file taxes for 2024, use this guide for important dates (and extensions), filing requirements, tax changes, and other useful information.
When a significant natural disaster hits – such as a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, wildfire, blizzard, or the like – the IRS will extend upcoming federal tax deadlines for affected taxpayers if a federal disaster is declared. The extended due dates apply to most federal tax returns and payments, including those for income taxes (including estimated tax payments), payroll taxes, and excise taxes. If you’re impacted by a natural disaster, check our IRS Disaster Relief page to see if you qualify for an automatic tax filing or payment extension.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio
Key Takeaways
- You generally have to file a 2024 federal income tax return if your gross income is at least as much as your Standard Deduction for the year.
- The deadline for filing 2024 federal tax returns is April 15, 2025. You can get a six-month extension to October 15, 2025, but it doesn't extend the time to pay any taxes owed.
- Tax changes for the 2024 tax year included higher Standard Deduction amounts, updated tax brackets, and new rules for 1099-K forms.
- Watch out for scammers who try to get refund checks from the IRS by stealing your personal information and filing tax returns in your name. One way to prevent this is to get an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number from the IRS.
TurboTax Tip:
With TurboTax, you can file your tax return on your own, get help from a tax expert, or have a local tax expert do your taxes for you. Either way, your return will be 100% accurate, guaranteed.
If you’re going to do your own taxes, you can use tax software (like TurboTax) to prepare and electronically file your return. Otherwise, you’ll have to print the necessary tax forms from the IRS website, fill them in by hand, and mail them to the IRS when you’re done. It’s generally much easier to use tax software. Plus, e-filing is faster, typically more secure than mailing paper forms, and will normally speed up payment of any refund.
Which 1040 form should I use?
Form 1040 is the federal income tax form used to report your income to the IRS, claim tax deductions and credits, and calculate any refund or tax due for the year.
For most people, there are two main versions to choose from:
- Form 1040. The standard Form 1040 is the version most taxpayers will use. While Form 1040 is only two pages long, many people need to attach additional forms and schedules to their tax returns to report different types of income and claim deductions and tax credits.
- Form 1040-SR. This is a newer version of Form 1040 for people age 65 and older. The basic difference between this version and the standard Form 1040 is that Form 1040-SR uses a larger font and includes a Standard Deduction table printed right on the form.
There’s also the less common Form 1040-NR, which is used by nonresident aliens who have U.S. source income, and Form 1040-X, which is used to amend tax returns that you previously filed.
What tax changes for 2024 do I need to know about?
Every year there are at least some changes to the federal tax rules that can impact how much you owe or the size of your tax refund. Many of the changes are simply annual inflation adjustments to dollar amounts in the U.S. tax code, while others can be based on legislation passed by Congress or new IRS policies.
Many of the tax changes for 2024 are listed in the "What's New” section of the 2024 Form 1040 instructions, but let’s take a quick look at a few of the more significant ones here.
Updated tax brackets. There are a lot of factors influencing the amount of tax you owe, and the tax bracket you’re in is one of the most important. But did you know that the federal income tax brackets are adjusted each year to account for inflation?
While the income tax rates that go along with each bracket haven’t changed (they go from 10% to 37%), the taxable income ranges for each bracket were adjusted for the 2024 tax year.
The 2024 tax brackets for federal income tax returns due April 15, 2025, are as follows (based on your filing status).
Filing Status: Single, Married Filing Jointly (MFJ), and Qualifying Surviving Spouse (QSS)
|
Tax Rate |
Single Taxable Income Range |
MFJ and QSS Taxable Income Range |
|
10% |
Not over $11,600 |
Not over $23,200 |
|
12% |
Over $11,600 but not over $47,150 |
Over $23,200 but not over $94,300 |
|
22% |
Over $47,150 but not over $100,525 |
Over $94,300 but not over $201,050 |
|
24% |
Over $100,525 but not over $191,950 |
Over $201,050 but not over $383,900 |
|
32% |
Over $191,950 but not over $243,725 |
Over $383,900 but not over $487,450 |
|
35% |
Over $243,725 but not over $609,350 |
Over $487,450 but not over $731,200 |
|
37% |
Over $609,350 |
Over $731,200 |
Filing Status: Head of Household (HOH) and Married Filing Separately (MFS)
|
Tax Rate |
HOH Taxable Income Range |
MFS Taxable Income Range |
|
10% |
Not over $16,550 |
Not over $11,600 |
|
12% |
Over $16,550 but not over $63,100 |
Over $11,600 but not over $47,150 |
|
22% |
Over $63,100 but not over $100,500 |
Over $47,150 but not over $100,525 |
|
24% |
Over $100,500 but not over $191,950 |
Over $100,525 but not over $191,950 |
|
32% |
Over $191,950 but not over $243,700 |
Over $191,950 but not over $243,725 |
|
35% |
Over $243,700 but not over $609,350 |
Over $243,725 but not over $365,600 |
|
37% |
Over $609,350 |
Over $365,600 |
Use our Tax Bracket Calculator to estimate your taxable income for 2024 and figure out which tax bracket you're in.
Higher Standard Deductions. There were several 2024 changes to tax deductions and credits resulting from the annual inflation adjustments. But one of the most impactful inflation adjustments each year are those for the Standard Deduction (since about 90% of all taxpayers claim this deduction each year).
For the 2024 tax year, the Standard Deduction for Single filers and married taxpayers who file separate returns was increased from $13,850 (for 2023) to $14,600, while it jumped from $27,700 to $29,200 for married couples filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses. For Head-of-Household filers, the 2024 Standard Deduction rose from $20,800 to $21,900.
The additional Standard Deduction amounts for age or blindness were also increased for the 2024 tax year. It’s equal to $1,550 for joint filers, married taxpayers filing separately, and surviving spouses (up from $1,500 for 2023); and $1,950 for Single taxpayers and Head of Household filers (up from $1,850 for 2023).
If you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return, your Standard Deduction for 2024 can’t exceed the greater of $1,300 (up from $1,250 for 2023), or $450 ($400 for 2023) plus your earned income (up to the regular Standard Deduction amount).
New Form 1099-K thresholds. There have been a lot of questions about 1099-K forms ever since changes were made by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 to the thresholds for sending the form to someone who receives payments for the sale of goods or services. The legislation changed the threshold from payments over $20,000 from more than 200 transactions to payments over $600 regardless of the number of transactions.
The IRS is implementing the change in stages. The pre-ARPA threshold was used for the 2022 and 2023 tax years. However, for the 2024 tax year, a $5,000 payment threshold, without regard to the number of transactions, applies.
For 2025, the threshold will be $2,500, regardless of the number of transactions, while the $600 threshold will finally apply for 2026 and thereafter.
Can I file taxes for previous years when I file my 2024 taxes?
You may be missing out on a refund or perhaps owe back taxes if you didn’t file a tax return for a previous year. If you want to file the missed return now, you can do that when you file your 2024 return. You’ll just want to separate your current year return and any prior year returns – that is, use separate forms, envelopes (if mailing your returns), versions of tax software, and the like.
If you’re due a tax refund from a previous tax year for which you didn’t file a return, you generally have three years from the due date for the missed return to file. So, for example, you can still file tax returns for the 2021 tax year until April 18, 2025, to claim a refund.
If you’re filing a return now for a pre-2024 tax year, be sure you’re using the right tax forms. Don’t use forms for 2024. Instead, use forms specifically designated for the tax year of your return. For example, if you’re preparing a return for the 2021 tax year, you have to use 2021 tax forms, schedules, and instructions.
You can typically use tax preparation software – such as TurboTax – to file a prior-year return. If you prefer to file a paper return, you can print older tax forms from the IRS website.
Are there “tax scams” to watch out for when filing 2024 taxes?
Unfortunately, there are some dishonest people out there who try to steal your personal information so they can file bogus tax returns in your name – and get the IRS to send them a big refund check in the process.
Many scammers try to get your personal information through phone, email, or social media “phishing” schemes. These are designed to trick you into giving up the information they want – often using demands or threats to scare you.
Sometimes scammers impersonate government officials – like IRS agents. Don’t fall for this. The IRS won't:
- contact you on social media
- threaten to call law enforcement or immigration officials
- take your citizenship status, driver's license, or business license
- leave pre-recorded voicemails (robocalls)
- mail tax debt resolution advertisements
Instead, their initial contact with a taxpayer is generally through the mail – not by phone or email. They may later contact you by other means, but that’s not until after the initial contact has been made. If you do get a letter or notice from the IRS, you can search IRS.gov for its number to learn more about it (look in the upper right hand corner for the number). If the letter or notice doesn’t appear in your search or looks suspicious, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to report it.
One way to prevent criminals from filing tax returns in your name is to get an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN). Only you and the IRS will know this number. If an income tax return with your name on it is filed electronically, the IRS will reject it if your IP PIN isn’t included. For paper returns, the IRS will delay processing a return using your name until it can validate the personal information.
With TurboTax Live 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 Live Assisted.
And if you want to file your own taxes, TurboTax will guide you step by step so you can feel confident they'll be done right. 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.
