22 — Tax After Credits Updated for tax year 2025

What this line means

Your total tax before credits (line 18) minus your total nonrefundable credits (line 21). This is your remaining income tax liability after the government has given you credit for children, education, energy improvements, and other qualifying items. If credits exceed your tax, this line is zero — it cannot go negative.

Does this apply to you?

• Every filer completes this line — it is line 18 minus line 21, with a floor of zero
• If your credits fully offset your tax, this line is zero
• Tax software calculates this automatically

Easy to overlook

This is not your final tax bill Line 22 is your income tax after credits, but other taxes (self-employment tax, additional Medicare tax, net investment income tax) get added on line 23 from Schedule 2, Part II. Your actual total tax is on line 24. Filers sometimes see a low number on line 22 and think their tax bill is settled when additional taxes still apply. ¹ [SOURCE: IRS Form 1040 instructions — Line 22 computation]

Zero on line 22 does not mean you owe nothing Even with zero income tax after credits, you may still owe self-employment tax (15.3% of net self-employment income), the Additional Medicare Tax (0.9% on wages over $200,000), or the Net Investment Income Tax (3.8% on investment income above thresholds). These other taxes are added on line 23. ² [SOURCE: General filing pattern — tax after credits confused with amount owed]

Watch out for this

Confusing line 22 with line 37 (amount you owe). Line 22 is tax after credits but before other taxes and before payments. The amount you actually owe or get refunded depends on additional taxes (line 23), withholding (line 25d), estimated payments (line 26), and refundable credits (lines 27-31).

Related lines on your return

• Line 18 — Form 1040 — Total tax before credits; the starting point
• Line 21 — Form 1040 — Total credits subtracted from line 18
• Line 23 — Form 1040 — Other taxes from Schedule 2; added to line 22