Your adjusted gross income sits on Line 11 of Form 1040. To find it, pull the copy of last year’s return you actually filed, open your tax software from the prior year, or request a transcript from the IRS. The same line holds the number on Form 1040-SR (the large-print version for taxpayers 65 and older) and on Form 1040-NR for nonresident aliens.1Internal Revenue Service. Adjusted Gross Income2Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Form 1040-SR
Read from the return you submitted, not a draft worksheet. And don’t confuse AGI with “total income,” which appears a few lines above it. Total income is everything before adjustments; AGI is what’s left after the adjustments on Schedule 1 come off. The standard deduction or itemized deductions come off later still, so AGI is always larger than taxable income.3Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040 and Instructions (2023)
Getting Your AGI From the IRS
If you can’t find last year’s return and your tax software doesn’t have it, the IRS keeps the number and will hand it back to you a few different ways.
Online Transcript
The fastest route is the IRS Get Transcript Online tool. Once you sign in, your AGI is visible right away.4Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts Access runs through an ID.me account, which requires identity verification with a photo ID and a selfie.5Internal Revenue Service. New Identity Verification Process to Access Certain IRS Online Tools and Services Ask for the Tax Return Transcript, which reproduces most line items from the return you filed, including AGI.
By Mail or Phone
If online verification doesn’t work for you, request a transcript by mail using Form 4506-T or by calling the IRS automated line at 800-908-9946. Mailed transcripts arrive in five to ten calendar days at whatever address the IRS has on file for you.4Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts If you’ve moved since your last filing, update your address with the IRS first. Otherwise the transcript goes to the old one.
Why the IRS Wants Last Year’s AGI When You E-File
When you e-file a self-prepared return, the IRS uses your prior-year AGI as an electronic signature to confirm you are who you say you are. Enter a figure that doesn’t match their records and the return is rejected.6Internal Revenue Service. Validating Your Electronically Filed Tax Return It is one of the most common e-filing errors, and it’s avoidable once you know where the number lives.
Two things to keep straight. First, you need the AGI from your most recently filed return, not the return you’re preparing now. Second, if the IRS hasn’t finished processing your prior-year return, enter $0 instead of the actual number. Tax software often carries the figure forward automatically if you filed through the same program last year, but if you switched software or filed on paper, you’ll type it in yourself. Line 11 of last year’s Form 1040 is where to look.
How AGI Is Built
The calculation is worth understanding because it lets you sanity-check the number you’re pulling. Add up your taxable income from every source, subtract a specific list of adjustments the tax code allows, and the result is your AGI. The work happens on Schedule 1 of Form 1040, which flows into Line 10 (adjustments) and then into Line 11 (AGI).7Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule 1 (Form 1040)
Income sources include wages on your W-2, interest on 1099-INT, dividends on 1099-DIV, retirement distributions on 1099-R, self-employment earnings, rental income, unemployment compensation, and other payments reported on various 1099 forms. Everything relevant lands in Part I of Schedule 1 before flowing back to Form 1040.
Part II of Schedule 1 lists the adjustments, sometimes called above-the-line deductions because they reduce your income before you reach the AGI line. Subtract the Part II total from total income and the difference is AGI.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1040
Adjustments That Change the Number
Not every taxpayer qualifies for every adjustment, but the common ones are worth recognizing because they explain why your AGI is smaller than your gross pay:
- Educator expenses of up to $300 for eligible K–12 teachers ($600 for two eligible educators filing jointly, capped at $300 each).9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 458, Educator Expense Deduction
- Student loan interest up to $2,500, subject to income phase-outs based on modified AGI.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 456, Student Loan Interest Deduction
- Health Savings Account contributions, with 2026 limits of $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage; the deduction flows from Form 8889 to Schedule 1.11Internal Revenue Service. Notice 26-05 – HSA Inflation Adjusted Amounts for 2026
- Half of self-employment tax, representing the employer-equivalent portion of Social Security and Medicare.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 164 – Taxes
- Self-employed health insurance premiums for medical, dental, and vision coverage, reported on Schedule 1, Line 17, when you aren’t eligible for an employer-subsidized plan through a spouse.13Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 7206 (2025)
- Traditional IRA contributions, phased out at higher incomes when you or your spouse are covered by a workplace retirement plan.14Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
- Alimony payments, but only if the divorce or separation agreement was finalized on or before December 31, 2018, and has not been modified since to remove the deduction.15Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504 (2025), Divorced or Separated Individuals
- Moving expenses for active-duty members of the Armed Forces relocating on a permanent change of station. Civilians have not been able to claim this since 2017.
AGI Is Not the Same as MAGI
A quick boundary worth knowing before you use your AGI to check eligibility for something. Many tax benefits don’t run on AGI directly. They use modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), which starts with AGI and adds back specific items. The add-backs differ from one benefit to the next.16Internal Revenue Service. Modified Adjusted Gross Income
For Roth IRA contributions, MAGI equals AGI plus any traditional IRA deduction, student loan interest deduction, foreign earned income exclusion, and a few other items. For the Premium Tax Credit tied to marketplace health coverage, MAGI is AGI plus tax-exempt interest and nontaxable Social Security benefits.17Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers on the Premium Tax Credit If your income is straightforward U.S. wages with no foreign exclusions or tax-exempt bond interest, MAGI and AGI are usually the same or very close.
Fixing a Wrong AGI
If you find that you reported the wrong income or missed an adjustment, file Form 1040-X to amend the return. On Line 1, enter the original AGI in Column A, the change in Column B, and the corrected AGI in Column C.18Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1040-X A change to AGI can ripple through credits and deductions tied to income limits, so recalculate anything affected and attach the updated schedules. Part II of the form requires a written explanation of what changed.
One more thing worth checking. Most states that tax income use federal AGI as the starting point for their own calculation. If your federal AGI changes, your state return usually needs an amendment too.