How to Fill Out Schedule 1 (Form 1040): Income and Adjustments

To fill out Schedule 1 of Form 1040, you work through two parts: Part I lists income that doesn’t fit on the main Form 1040 income lines, and Part II lists the above-the-line deductions that reduce your adjusted gross income. Total Part I on line 10 and carry it to Form 1040 line 8. Total Part II on line 26 and carry it to Form 1040 line 10. Everything else on the form is either a named category, a lettered catch-all, or a subtotal that feeds those two numbers.

Do You Actually Need Schedule 1

Schedule 1 is required only when your return goes beyond wages, interest, dividends, Social Security, and retirement distributions. Common triggers on the income side are self-employment profit from Schedule C, unemployment compensation, rental or royalty income, gambling winnings, and cancelled debt. On the deduction side, you need it to claim educator expenses, student loan interest, HSA contributions, IRA contributions, self-employed health insurance, the deductible half of self-employment tax, or alimony paid under a pre-2019 agreement.

If none of that applies, skip the schedule and file just the base Form 1040. The blank form is available as a fillable PDF at irs.gov, and tax software generates it automatically once you enter data that belongs on it.

Gather Your Documents First

The IRS already has copies of most 1099s and W-2Gs filed by payors, so a missing document usually means missing income on your side, not theirs. Pull these together before you start entering numbers.

For Part I income:

For Part II adjustments:

  • Receipts for unreimbursed classroom supplies, books, computer equipment, and professional development.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 458, Educator Expense Deduction
  • Form 1098-E for student loan interest of $600 or more. If your servicer didn’t send one, download it from their site.8Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1098-E, Student Loan Interest Statement
  • HSA contribution statements, plus Form 8889.
  • Your completed Schedule SE for the self-employment tax deduction.
  • Premium statements for self-employed medical, dental, and long-term care insurance.
  • Your pre-2019 divorce or separation agreement, the recipient’s Social Security number, and the date the original agreement was executed.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance
  • Traditional IRA contribution statements from your custodian.

Part I: Additional Income, Line by Line

Line 1 — Taxable state and local tax refunds. This only matters if you itemized in a prior year and deducted those state taxes. If you took the standard deduction last year, any refund you received isn’t taxable and you leave line 1 blank.

Lines 2a and 2b — Alimony received. Report only payments received under a divorce or separation agreement executed before 2019. Enter the total on 2a and the date of the original agreement on 2b.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance

Line 3 — Business income or loss. Complete Schedule C for each business, then transfer the net profit or loss here and attach the Schedule C.10Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 1 (Form 1040) Additional Income and Adjustments to Income

Line 4 — Other gains or losses from Form 4797. This covers sales of business property. Personal capital gains are different: they go on Schedule D and transfer directly to Form 1040 line 7, not through Schedule 1.

Line 5 — Rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations, trusts. Enter the amount from Schedule E line 26.11Internal Revenue Service. Schedule E Supplemental Income and Loss

Line 6 — Farm income or loss from Schedule F.

Line 7 — Unemployment compensation. Enter the full amount from box 1 of Form 1099-G.1Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-G, Certain Government Payments

Lines 8a through 8z — Other income. The form gives lettered sub-lines for common categories: gambling income on 8b, cancelled debt on 8c, Alaska Permanent Fund dividends on 8g, jury duty pay on 8h, prizes and awards on 8i, taxable scholarships not on a W-2 on 8r, and digital assets received as ordinary income on 8v. Anything that doesn’t match a lettered sub-line goes on 8z with a written description.10Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 1 (Form 1040) Additional Income and Adjustments to Income

On digital assets: cryptocurrency received as payment, mining rewards, or staking income belongs on line 8v as ordinary income. Capital gains and losses from selling or exchanging digital assets go on Schedule D and Form 8949 instead and don’t pass through Schedule 1. Every filer must still answer the yes-or-no digital asset question on Form 1040 itself.6Internal Revenue Service. Digital Assets

Line 9 totals your line 8 entries. Line 10 combines lines 1 through 7 plus line 9. That total is your additional income, and it transfers to Form 1040, line 8.12Internal Revenue Service. Line-by-Line Instructions Free File Fillable Forms

Part II: Adjustments to Income, Line by Line

These deductions come off gross income before the standard or itemized deduction, which is why they’re called above-the-line. Lowering your AGI here can also help you qualify for other tax benefits with income-based phaseouts.

Line 11 — Educator expenses. Eligible K-12 teachers, instructors, counselors, principals, and aides who worked at least 900 hours in the school year can deduct up to $300 in unreimbursed classroom expenses. If both spouses on a joint return are eligible educators, each can claim up to $300, for a combined maximum of $600.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 458, Educator Expense Deduction

Line 13 — HSA deduction. Enter your contributions and attach Form 8889. For 2026, the contribution limit is $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage.13Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-19

Line 14 — Moving expenses for Armed Forces members. Only active-duty military moving under a permanent change of station orders qualify. Complete Form 3903 and attach it.14Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 455, Moving Expenses for Members of the Armed Forces and the Intelligence Community

Line 15 — Deductible part of self-employment tax. Take the total self-employment tax from Schedule SE, multiply by 50%, and enter the result. This offsets the fact that self-employed workers pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare.

Line 16 — Self-employed retirement contributions. Report deductible contributions to SEP-IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and qualified plans.

Line 17 — Self-employed health insurance. Deduct premiums for medical, dental, and qualifying long-term care insurance for yourself, your spouse, and dependents. Complete Form 7206 to calculate the amount.

Lines 19a, 19b, 19c — Alimony paid. Only payments under a divorce or separation agreement executed before 2019 are deductible. Payments under post-2018 agreements are not. Enter the amount on 19a, the recipient’s Social Security number on 19b, and the date of the original agreement on 19c.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance

Line 20 — IRA deduction. If you or your spouse are covered by a workplace retirement plan, the deduction may be reduced or eliminated based on modified AGI. For 2026, the phaseout range for a single filer covered by a workplace plan is $81,000 to $91,000. For married filing jointly where the contributing spouse is covered, it’s $129,000 to $149,000. If you aren’t covered but your spouse is, the range is $242,000 to $252,000.15Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500

Line 21 — Student loan interest. Up to $2,500 in interest paid on qualified student loans. For 2026, the deduction phases out between $85,000 and $100,000 modified AGI for single filers, and between $175,000 and $205,000 for joint filers. You can’t claim it at all if your filing status is married filing separately.16Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32

Lines 24a through 24z — Other adjustments. Line 24a is for jury duty pay you turned over to your employer: if your employer kept paying your salary during jury service and required you to hand over the jury check, report the full jury pay as income on line 8h in Part I and deduct the same amount here on 24a. Other lettered lines cover deductible expenses from personal property rentals (24b), nontaxable Olympic medal value (24c), reforestation costs (24d), and attorney fees related to discrimination awards (24h).10Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 1 (Form 1040) Additional Income and Adjustments to Income

Line 25 totals lines 24a through 24z. Line 26 adds lines 11 through 23 and line 25. That total is your adjustments to income, and it transfers to Form 1040, line 10.12Internal Revenue Service. Line-by-Line Instructions Free File Fillable Forms

Attaching and Submitting the Schedule

Schedule 1 is not filed separately. It goes with Form 1040 as part of a single return. E-filing software bundles it automatically once you enter triggering data. On a paper return, place Schedule 1 behind Form 1040 in numerical order along with any other schedules and attachments (Schedule C, Schedule E, Form 8889, Form 3903, and so on).

Paper filing addresses depend on your state and whether you’re enclosing a payment. Check the IRS “Where to File” page for Form 1040 for the correct address before mailing.17Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Addresses for Taxpayers and Tax Professionals Filing Form 1040 E-filed returns are generally processed within 21 days; paper returns take six weeks or longer.18Internal Revenue Service. Processing Status for Tax Forms

Fixing a Schedule 1 After You Filed

If you catch an error later, whether missed income, a wrong deduction amount, or a line you forgot, file Form 1040-X. Attach a corrected Schedule 1 and any new or changed supporting schedules. Part II of Form 1040-X asks for a written explanation, so be specific about what changed: “Omitted $3,200 in freelance income on Schedule 1, line 3” is more useful than “Correcting errors.”19Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return You can e-file Form 1040-X for the current year and the two prior years, using the same three-column format (originally reported, net change, correct amount) on each affected line.