what is form 1040 u s individual tax return 
form 1040 is the standard internal revenue service irs form that individual taxpayers use to file their annual income tax returns the form contains sections that require taxpayers to disclose their taxable income for the year to determine whether additional taxes are owed or whether the filer will receive a tax refund who can file form 1040 u s individual tax return form 1040 needs to be filed with the irs by april 15 in most years everyone who earns income over a certain threshold must file an income tax return with the irs keep in mind that businesses have different forms to report their profits 12if a united states citizen wants to or needs to file a federal income tax return they need to file form 1040 or a variation of form 1040 mentioned above there are three general conditions to consider regarding whether an individual needs to file first the irs requires individuals with certain levels of gross income to file taxes this threshold varies based on the individual s filing status and age the table below lists the income limits for individuals under 65 years old keep in mind that older taxpayers tend to have higher thresholds and the threshold changes if neither one or both individuals in a marriage are 65 or older 345children and dependents may not be required to file if they can be claimed as a dependent in 2023 if the dependent s unearned income is greater than 1 250 1 300 in 2024 but under 12 500 13 000 in 2024 earned income is greater than 13 850 14 600 in 2024 or gross income meets certain thresholds the dependent must file their own form 1040 67 these rules are slightly different for single dependents as opposed to dependents who are married 8finally some specific situations require an individual to file form 1040 regardless of their income or dependency status some of those situations include but are not limited to 9