On a federal tax return for 2017 or earlier, the number of exemptions sits on Line 6d of Form 1040 or Form 1040A, or on Line 5 of Form 1040EZ. On any return filed for 2018 or later, that line no longer exists: the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act zeroed out the personal exemption, and the IRS removed the line from the form. If you need the equivalent figure for a lender or application, count yourself, your spouse if you filed jointly, and the dependents listed in the dependents table on page one of Form 1040.
The Old Exemptions Line on Pre-2018 Returns
For tax years 2017 and earlier, exemptions were near the top of the first page. On Form 1040 and Form 1040A, filers listed themselves, a spouse, and each dependent in the lines above Line 6d, and Line 6d showed the total count. Form 1040EZ handled it differently: Line 5 combined exemptions with the standard deduction into a single figure rather than showing the count on its own.
Each exemption was worth $4,050 in 2017, the last year the system applied, and reduced adjusted gross income before the tax rates were applied.1Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 – Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information (2017) A married couple with two children would have shown four on Line 6d and knocked $16,200 off taxable income. If you still have a paper or PDF copy of that return, Line 6d is the one to read.
Where the Equivalent Information Lives on Current Returns
Post-2017 Form 1040 no longer has an exemptions line, but it still collects dependent information. The first page carries a “Dependents” table asking for each dependent’s name, Social Security number, relationship to you, and whether they qualify for the Child Tax Credit or the Credit for Other Dependents.
To produce a “number of exemptions” figure from a current return, count the rows in the dependents table and add one for yourself, plus one more if you filed jointly with a spouse. That total is the modern equivalent of what Line 6d used to show. The dependents you list here also drive the Child Tax Credit, worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026 and phasing out above $200,000 of adjusted gross income ($400,000 for joint filers), along with the Credit for Other Dependents.2Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
Why the Line Disappeared
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 set the personal exemption amount to zero for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 151 – Allowance of Deductions for Personal Exemptions The zero amount was originally scheduled to sunset after 2025, which would have brought exemptions back, but the One, Big, Beautiful Bill made it permanent.4Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Because the count no longer affects the tax calculation, the IRS took the line off the form. Congress paired the change with a roughly doubled standard deduction and an expanded Child Tax Credit, so anyone comparing returns across years will see the exemption count vanish starting with the 2018 filing.
What to Write When an Application Asks
Mortgage lenders, student loan servicers, and public assistance programs still ask for a “number of exemptions” because their forms often predate the 2018 change and because they use the figure as a proxy for household size. When you’re working from a 2017 or earlier return, copy the number on Line 6d (or Line 5 of Form 1040EZ).
When you’re working from a 2018 or later return, count the dependents on the first page and add yourself, plus your spouse if you filed jointly. If the application asks specifically for the figure shown on the return itself, write the number of dependents from the dependents table and note that the federal personal exemption is no longer a separate line. Lenders often verify the numbers by pulling an IRS transcript with Form 4506-C, so the count you give should match what the return actually shows.
W-4 Allowances Are a Different Number
The “number of allowances” from a Form W-4 is not the same as the number of exemptions on a tax return, and the two get confused often enough to be worth flagging. The W-4 is a payroll form that tells your employer how much federal income tax to withhold; it is not filed with the IRS with your annual return. W-4 versions used before 2020 asked for a total number of allowances, but the IRS redesigned the form in 2020 because the old allowance system was tied to the now-zero personal exemption.5Internal Revenue Service. FAQs on the 2020 Form W-4 The current W-4 uses dollar amounts in Step 3 based on qualifying children and other dependents.6Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 – Employee’s Withholding Certificate If someone is asking for your allowance count, they want a W-4 figure from your employer’s records, not anything from your 1040.
Pulling the Number From a Return You No Longer Have
If you don’t have a copy of the return you need to read, IRS transcripts are the fastest way to recover the information. Ask for the right type: a tax return transcript shows most line items from the original return as filed, including dependent information, and is available for the current year and the three prior tax years.7Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them A record of account transcript adds any post-filing changes. Wage and income transcripts and verification of non-filing letters don’t include dependent data at all, so requesting one of those is a common wrong turn.
Online
The fastest route is the IRS online account at irs.gov. After verifying your identity through ID.me, you can view, print, or download transcripts from the Tax Records page.8Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts ID.me needs a government-issued photo ID and may put you through a short video call if the automated check can’t confirm you.
By Mail
If online access isn’t workable, Form 4506-T requests a transcript by mail. Fill in your name, Social Security number or ITIN, your current mailing address, the address shown on your last filed return if it’s different, the tax years you need, and your signature.9Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506-T – Request for Transcript of Tax Return Delivery usually takes five to ten calendar days and goes to the address the IRS has on file.8Internal Revenue Service. Get Your Tax Records and Transcripts Address mismatches are the most common reason mailed requests bounce back, so check your last return before submitting.
One boundary to note: tax return transcripts only go back three years. If you need exemption information from a 2017 or earlier return and that year has aged out, the alternative is a full copy of the return itself, requested with Form 4506 (not 4506-T), which charges a fee and takes considerably longer.
State Returns as a Backup
Several states still allow personal or dependent exemptions on their income tax returns, with the amounts and rules varying by state. If a federal return no longer shows the number an application is asking for and you filed a state return that year, check the personal exemption or dependent exemption line on the state form. It can be a useful fallback when the federal form has nothing to point to.