J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2026: For Preparing Your 2025 Tax Return (Paperback)

What’s New for 2025 xxix

Significant Tax News for 2025 xxix

Significant Tax Changes for 2025 xxxii

Key Tax Numbers for 2025 xxxv

General Tax-Saving Opportunities xxxvii

Filing Basics 1

Before you get Started 3

Do You Have to File a 2025 Tax Return? 4

Filing Tests for Dependents: 2025 Returns 5

Where Do You File Your 2025 Form 1040 or 1040-SR? 7

Filing Deadlines (on or before) 8

What Forms Do You Need to File? 10

Tax Document Sources for Individual Taxpayers 11

Filing Status 13

1.1 Which Filing Status Should You Use? 14

2.1 No Exemption Deductions Are Allowed 40

3.1 Salary and Wage Income 56

4.1 Tax-Free Health and Accident Coverage Under Employer Plans 74

5.1 Reporting Dividends and Mutual Fund Distributions 98

6.1 General Tax Rules for Property Sales 126

7.1 Like-Kind Exchanges of Real Property Used for Investment or Business 175

8.1 Retirement Distributions on Form 1099-R 191

9.1 Starting a Traditional IRA 227

10.1 Reporting Rental Real Estate Income and Expenses 280

11.1 Rental Activities Generally Treated as Passive 300

12.1 Prizes and Awards 330

13.1 Determining Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) 358

14.1 Does Your Standard Deduction for 2025

15.1 Medical and Dental Expenses Must Exceed AGI Threshold 372

16.1 Overall Limit on Deduction for State and Local Taxes 392

17.1 Deduction for Home Mortgage Interest 402

18.1 Deductible Contributions 420

19.1 Casualty or Theft Losses for Personal-Use Property Must Be Due to a Federally Declared Disaster 447

20.1 Only a Few Expenses Are Allowed as “Other” Itemized Deductions 472

21.1 Who May Deduct Travel and Transportation Expenses 474

22.1 Taxable Income and Regular Income Tax Liability 498

23.1 Computing Alternative Minimum Tax on Form 6251 504

24.1 Filing Your Child’s Return 511

25.1 Overview of Personal Tax Credits 517

26.1 Withholdings Should Cover Estimated Tax 540

27.1 Do You Owe an Estimated Tax Penalty for 2025? 548

28.1 Higher-Income Taxpayers May be Subject to Additional Taxes 554

29.1 Avoiding Tax on Sale of Principal Residence 564

30.1 Planning Year-End Securities Transactions 582

31.1 Real Estate Ventures 599

32.1 Timing of Your Investment Can Affect Your Taxes 613

33.1 Scholarships and Grants 622

34.1 Senior Citizens Get Certain Filing Breaks 641

35.1 Taxable Armed Forces Pay and Benefits 656

36.1 Claiming the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion 664

37.1 Rules for Post-2018 Divorce and Separation Agreements 675

38.1 Overview of Household Employment Taxes 680

39.1 Gifts of Appreciated Property 686

40.1 Forms of Doing Business 698

41.1 Overview of Retirement and Medical Plans 728

42.1 What Property May Be Depreciated? 741

43.1 Standard Mileage Rate 759

44.1 Depreciation Recaptured as Ordinary Income on Sale of Personal Property 774

45.1 What Is Self-Employment Income? 781

46.1 Keeping Tax Records 792

47.1 Filing an Amended Return 800

48.1 Odds of Being Audited 804

2025 Tax Forms 817

Form 1040 818

Schedule 1 820

Schedule 1-A 822

Schedule 2 824

Schedule 3 826

2025 Tax Table 827

2025 Tax Computation Work Sheet 839

2025 Earned Income Credit (EIC) Table 841

Glossary 853

Index 859