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?
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 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 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).
Footnotes
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IRS Form 1040 Instructions, Line 22. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040 ↩
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IRS Form 1040 Instructions. See also IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf ↩