What Is Taxable Income?
Not all money you receive is taxed the same way. Taxable income is the portion of your income that the government actually uses to calculate your income tax.
💡 Simple Way to Think About It: You start with everything you made, subtract the amounts the law says you can ignore or deduct, and what's left is taxable income.
Start with your total income
First, the tax return adds up your gross income. This usually includes:
📊 Total Income: These items together form your total income before any tax-specific adjustments or deductions are applied.
Subtract adjustments to get AGI
From your total income, the law allows certain adjustments (also called "above-the-line deductions"). After you subtract these, you get Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).
Examples of potential adjustments:
- →Certain traditional IRA contributions
- →Health Savings Account contributions
- →Student loan interest (up to limits)
- →Self-employed health insurance (in some cases)
📖 For a deeper dive, see: What Is AGI?
Subtract the standard deduction or itemized deductions
After AGI, you get to subtract either:
Standard Deduction
A fixed amount for your filing status
Most People Use ThisItemized Deductions
List specific expenses if they're higher
If Larger Than StandardItemized deductions may include:
💡 Most people: Take the standard deduction because it's simple and often larger than their itemizable expenses.
🎯The result: taxable income
When you take your AGI and subtract either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions, the result is your taxable income.
🧮 What happens next: This is the number that the IRS plugs into the tax brackets to calculate how much federal income tax you owe before credits.
🚫What is not taxable income?
Not every dollar that comes into your life is taxable. There are categories of income that may be fully or partly excluded from taxable income under current law, such as:
⚠️ Important: The exact treatment can be complex and may change over time, so it's wise to check current IRS guidance or talk to a professional for your situation.
🗺️Where taxable income fits in the bigger picture
Here's a simple way to see the flow on a tax return:
Total income → all money you made
Minus adjustments → gives you AGI
Minus standard or itemized deductions → gives you taxable income
Apply tax brackets to taxable income → gives your basic tax
Minus credits and payments → gives your refund or balance due
📚 Just starting to learn? It may help to read:
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