Do you have to file taxes in 2026? Here’s why you might want to.

There were 161 million individual income tax returns filed to the IRS in 2024, possibly including yours. While not every American is required to file a tax return, most will – and there may be good reasons to file even if you don’t have to.

In fact, filing taxes can be a good thing, particularly if you can claim tax credits or overpayments or otherwise have money returned to you.

Whether you need to file usually depends mostly on your income, filing status and age.

In special situations, you may have to file regardless of your income. If you have net earnings of at least $400 from self-employment, for example, you’re required to file taxes. If you earn at least that much, you pay self-employment tax.

To determine if you’re one of the millions who must file a return, start with three things: your gross income – total income before taxes and adjustments – and your age and filing status.

Filing status means whether you’re single; married filing jointly or separately; head of household; or a widow(er).

Depending on your age and filing status, the IRS has minimum income thresholds that determine whether you must file a tax return. Here are the breakdowns:

More: Should you get a tax refund? Here’s what to know about withholdings, estimated payments

Single filing status: 

$15,750 if younger than 65.

$17,750 if 65 or older.

Married filing jointly: 

$31,500 if both spouses are younger than 65.

$33,100 if one spouse is younger than 65 and one is 65 or older.

$34,700 if both spouses are 65 or older.

Married filing separately:

$5 for all ages.

Head of household: 

$23,625 if younger than 65.

$25,625 if 65 or older.

Qualifying surviving spouse: 

$31,500 if younger than 65.

$33,100 if 65 or older.

More: Many workers will get a minimum wage bump in 2026. Here’s where.

People with “special situations” may have to file a tax return regardless of income. Some of these include:

1. Owing any special taxes, such as:

• Alternative minimum tax, which is generally for very high-income taxpayers.

• Additional tax on a qualified plan, including an individual retirement account (IRA) or another tax-favored account.

• Social Security or Medicare tax on tips you didn’t report to your employer, or on wages you received from an employer who didn’t withhold these taxes.

• Uncollected Social Security, Medicare or railroad retirement tax on tips you reported to your employer; or on group-term life insurance and additional taxes on health savings accounts.

• Household employment taxes.

• Recapture taxes, which means paying back the federal government for the benefits of using tax-exempt mortgage bonds for financing.

2. You (or your spouse, if filing jointly) bought health insurance from a state or federal marketplace or received health savings account distributions.

3. You had net earnings from self-employment of at least $400. 

4. You had wages of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that’s exempt from employer Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Note: If you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return, your tax filing requirements are different. If you’re stumped, use the IRS’ interactive tool to help you determine if you need to file a tax return.

If you think you can get money back, yes. Consider filing if any of the following apply:

• You had income tax withheld from your paycheck. You can get a refund of that amount.

• You overpaid. For example, if you made estimated tax payments or had any of your overpayment for last year applied to this year’s estimated tax, you might be due money back.

• You qualify for the earned income tax credit. You may qualify for this refundable credit, which allows you to get a refund even if you don’t owe taxes. It generally applies to workers in lower income brackets, and the credit can be from $649 to $8,046, depending on income and number of children, but you don’t need to have children to be eligible. The average EITC amount in 2023 year among the 23 million Americans who claimed the credit was $2,743 or the additional child tax credit. If you qualify, you can receive up to $1,700 of the $2,000 child tax credit per child as a refund.

• You qualify for the American Opportunity Credit. If you qualify for this tax credit to help pay for post-high school education expenses, you can get a maximum annual credit of $2,500 per eligible student and 40%, or $1,000, could be refunded if you owe no tax.

Even if you don’t have a refund due, the IRS recommends filing a tax return if you received a 1099-B, which has information about securities or property involved in a transaction handled by a broker, to avoid getting a notice from the agency.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Not everyone has to file taxes. You might want to anyway.