Work and pay
You're not sure you even have to file
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You may not have to file a tax return, but filing is often the only way to get back tax that was already taken from your pay.
First: add up every W-2 and 1099 and look at box 2 of each W-2. Anything there is federal tax already withheld, and it comes back only if you file. If you owe tax and skip the return, the late-filing penalty is 5% a month.
Watch the date: you generally have three years from the due date to claim a refund, or you risk losing it. Separately, net self-employment earnings of $400 or more require a return, however low your income.
For 2026 the filing threshold tracks the standard deduction: $16,100 single, $24,150 head of household, $32,200 married filing jointly. Self-employment is the exception — clear $400 and you must file regardless.
Source: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 for the 2026 standard deduction; IRS self-employment filing requirement.
The threshold, and what it tracks
The filing threshold follows the standard deduction. For 2026 that is $16,100 filing single, $24,150 as head of household, and $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly.
Earn less than that from a regular paycheck job and you usually owe no federal income tax. But “do not have to” is not the same as “should not.”
If someone else can claim you as a dependent, lower limits apply. For 2025, if someone else could claim you as a dependent, you had to file if your unearned income, such as interest or investment income, was over $1,350, even with a small paycheck (IRS Publication 501). See Section 41 for free help.
What not filing can cost you
If you are owed money, there is no late-filing penalty, but there is a deadline. You generally have three years from the due date to claim a refund, and you risk losing it after that (IRS Topic 153). The IRS also holds a refund when another return is past due.
If you owe tax, not filing gets expensive fast. The late-filing penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, up to 25% (IRS, Failure to file penalty).
If a return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty for returns due after 2025 is $525 or the full tax owed, whichever is less (same IRS page).
If you owe and also do not pay, a separate late-payment penalty of 0.5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month applies, up to 25% (IRS, Failure to pay penalty). See Section 49.
Interest is added on top. It is 7% a year, compounded daily, for the fourth quarter of 2026 (IRS news release). Your state may add its own late penalties.
Filing itself can cost nothing. See Section 41 for free options.
Why filing anyway is usually worth it
If tax was withheld from your paychecks and you never file, that money stays with the government. Nobody sends it to you, and there is no notice telling you it is there.
Refundable credits go further. The earned income credit and the additional child tax credit can pay out more than you paid in — but only on a return you actually file. See Section 41.
The $400 rule, which is the one that catches people
Drive, tutor, sell, style hair, freelance: once your net earnings from self-employment reach $400 in a year (your profit after business expenses, multiplied by 92.35%, as Schedule SE figures it) you have to file, even if that is the only money you made.
The threshold above does not apply to that income. It is a separate rule and it is much lower than people expect. See Section 20.
Your state is its own question
State filing thresholds are set by each state and can be different from the federal one, so check your state. A few states have no income tax at all — see Section 16.
Check your own state's revenue department rather than assuming the federal answer carries over.
What you can do, in order
- Add up every W-2 and 1099 before deciding. All of it counts, not just the main job.
- Look at box 2 of each W-2. Anything there is federal tax you already paid.
- If any income came with no tax taken out, check whether it crossed $400 in net earnings.
- File anyway if you are near the line. Free filing options exist (see irs.gov), and an unfiled return is the one that cannot refund you.
- If you skipped a past year, file it now, using that year's rules (for 2025, the threshold is $15,750 for a single person under 65, IRS Publication 501). Late penalties grow every month, and refunds expire after three years.
- Check your state threshold separately at your state revenue department.
Where to check this yourself
irs.gov for filing thresholds, the standard deduction and free filing. Your state revenue department for state thresholds.