Fill out Form 1040-SR online

Who uses Form 1040-SR

• People born before January 2, 1961, filing a 2025 federal income tax return
• Older taxpayers reporting social security benefits, pensions, annuities or IRA distributions
• Older taxpayers who still have wages, tips or other income

Before you start

• Social security numbers (or ITINs) for you, your spouse and each dependent
• Your income forms, such as Forms W-2, 1099-R, SSA-1099, and interest or dividend statements
• Records of 2025 estimated tax payments and any overpayment applied from your 2024 return
• Any schedules you need (for example Schedule 1, 1-A, 2, 3 or A), filled in first
• Your bank routing and account numbers if you want a refund by direct deposit
• Your Identity Protection PIN, if the IRS sent you one

How to fill out Form 1040-SR

1. 1

   Top of page 1: name, address and residency

   Enter the fiscal-year dates only if your tax year is not January 1–December 31, 2025. Enter your name and SSN, and your spouse's if filing jointly, then your home address or the foreign address spaces. Check the box if your main home (and your spouse's on a joint return) was in the U.S. for more than half of 2025, and decide whether you want $3 to go to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund; checking that box does not change your tax or refund. If you are filing for someone who died, check the Deceased box and enter the date of death.

2. 2

   Filing Status and Digital Assets

   Check one filing status: Single, Married filing jointly, Married filing separately (enter your spouse's SSN above and their full name), Head of household, or Qualifying surviving spouse. A separate box is for treating a nonresident alien or dual-status alien spouse as a U.S. resident for the entire tax year. Then answer the digital assets question by checking Yes or No.

3. 3

   Dependents, rows (1) to (7)

   For up to four dependents, enter first and last name, SSN and relationship, and check whether each lived with you (and in the U.S.) for more than half of 2025, was a full-time student or permanently and totally disabled, and which credit applies: child tax credit or credit for other dependents. If you have more than four, see the instructions and check the box. The box below row (7) is for MFS or HOH filers who lived apart from their spouse for the last 6 months of 2025, or who are legally separated and did not live in the same household as their spouse at the end of 2025.

4. 4

   Income, lines 1a to 11a

   Line 1a is the total from Form(s) W-2, box 1. Lines 1b to 1h cover other amounts listed there, such as household employee wages not on a W-2, tip income not on line 1a and wages from Form 8919, and line 1z adds lines 1a through 1h. Lines 2a and 2b are tax-exempt and taxable interest, and lines 3a and 3b are qualified and ordinary dividends. Lines 4 to 6 report IRA distributions, pensions and annuities, and social security benefits, with the total on the 'a' line and the taxable amount on the 'b' line; lines 4c and 5c have check boxes such as Rollover, QCD and PSO, and line 6c is for the lump-sum election method. Line 7a is capital gain or loss, line 8 comes from Schedule 1, line 10, line 9 is total income, line 10 is adjustments from Schedule 1, line 26, and line 11a is your adjusted gross income.

5. 5

   Tax and Credits, lines 11b to 24

   Copy your adjusted gross income to line 11b. Check the boxes on lines 12a to 12d that apply, including whether you or your spouse was born before January 2, 1961, or is blind. Enter your standard deduction or itemized deductions from Schedule A on line 12e; the chart on page 4 gives the standard deduction by filing status and the number of boxes checked on line 12d. Line 13a is the qualified business income deduction and line 13b is the amount from Schedule 1-A, line 38. Line 15 is taxable income, and lines 16 to 24 figure your tax, subtract credits and add other taxes to reach your total tax.

6. 6

   Payments, refund and amount you owe, lines 25a to 38

   Enter federal income tax withheld from Forms W-2, Forms 1099 and other forms on lines 25a to 25c and add them on line 25d. Line 26 is for 2025 estimated tax payments and any amount applied from your 2024 return. Lines 27a to 31 are refundable credits and other payments, added on line 32, and line 33 is your total payments. If line 33 is more than line 24, enter the overpayment on line 34, the part you want refunded on line 35a (with routing number, account type and account number for direct deposit), and the part to apply to 2026 estimated tax on line 36. If you owe, enter the amount on line 37 and any estimated tax penalty on line 38.

7. 7

   Third Party Designee and Sign Here, page 3

   Check Yes and enter the person's name, phone number and the five-digit PIN they choose if you want to let them discuss this return with the IRS; otherwise check No. Sign and date the return, enter your occupation, and enter your Identity Protection PIN if the IRS sent you one. On a joint return your spouse must also sign. A paid preparer fills in and signs the Paid Preparer Use Only area.

After you fill it out

If you file on paper, mail the signed return to the IRS. The address depends on where you live and whether you include a payment, so check the filing address on the IRS Where to File page. Attach Forms W-2, and Forms W-2G and 1099-R if tax was withheld, and place any schedules behind the form in the order of their Attachment Sequence No. Keep a copy for your records.

Signing: The instructions say you must handwrite your signature on a return filed on paper; digital, electronic or typed-font signatures are not valid. Print the form and sign it by hand, and on a joint return your spouse must sign too.

Questions about Form 1040-SR

Official information

• About Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR (IRS)
• Instructions for Forms 1040 and 1040-SR (PDF)
• Where to file Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR

Page text last reviewed November 7, 2026.

Related forms

• Form 1040U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
• Schedule 1Additional Income and Adjustments to Income
• Schedule AItemized Deductions
• Form 1040-VPayment Voucher for Individuals
• Form 4868Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return