How to Find Total Federal Tax Paid: Line 24 vs. Line 33

To find the total federal tax paid on your 1040, look at two lines: Line 24 is your total tax for the year, and Line 33 is the total you paid in through withholding, estimated payments, and refundable credits. Which one you want depends on who’s asking. If a form or lender says “total tax” or “income tax paid,” they mean Line 24. If they ask how much you “paid in” or sent to the IRS, they mean Line 33.

Line 24 vs. Line 33: Which One Do You Need?

Most people searching for their total federal tax actually need one of these two numbers, and mixing them up is the most common mistake. Line 24 is labeled “Total tax” and reflects your final federal tax obligation for the year after credits. Line 33 is labeled “Total payments” and adds up everything sent to the IRS on your behalf.¹

The FAFSA, for federal student aid, asks for “income tax paid” and pulls from Line 24.² Mortgage lenders typically request an IRS tax return transcript, which shows both lines from your filed return.³

The two numbers relate to each other in a simple way. When Line 33 is larger than Line 24, the IRS owes you a refund, shown on Line 34. When Line 24 is larger, you owe a balance, shown on Line 37.¹

What Line 24 Includes

Line 24 is not just income tax. It captures your full federal tax obligation for the year. The number starts with the tax calculated from the tax tables (Line 16), then reflects Schedule 2 additions and nonrefundable credits from Schedule 3.

Schedule 2 is where taxes beyond ordinary income tax get added. Self-employment tax, calculated on Schedule SE, flows to Schedule 2, Line 4.⁴ Other additions include the Additional Medicare Tax, the Net Investment Income Tax, household employment taxes, and early-withdrawal penalties on retirement accounts. All of these get totaled on Schedule 2, Line 21, which feeds into Form 1040, Line 23. Line 24 then adds Lines 22 and 23 for your complete tax obligation.⁵

If you’re self-employed, this matters. Self-employment tax alone can be a significant chunk of Line 24, and many people forget it exists when thinking about their total federal tax burden.

What Line 33 Includes

Line 33 adds up three categories of payments:

Federal income tax withheld from wages and other income, reported on Line 25.
Estimated tax payments made during the year, plus any amount carried forward from the prior year’s return, on Line 26.
Refundable credits, bundled on Line 32. These include the Earned Income Tax Credit (Line 27a), the Additional Child Tax Credit (Line 28), the American Opportunity Credit (Line 29), and others listed on Lines 30 and 31.¹

Refundable credits count as payments because they can produce a refund even if you owe zero tax. That’s why Line 33 can exceed Line 24 for taxpayers who qualify for these credits.

If you sent a payment with an extension request on Form 4868, that amount flows through Schedule 3, Line 10 and rolls into your total payments as well.⁶

What Line 33 Doesn’t Include: FICA Taxes

Here’s a boundary that trips people up. For employees, W-2 Box 2 shows federal income tax withheld, but it does not include Social Security or Medicare taxes. If someone wants your total federal tax burden including payroll taxes, you also need W-2 Box 4 (Social Security, 6.2% of wages) and Box 6 (Medicare, 1.45% of wages).

FICA taxes do not appear anywhere on Form 1040 for employees because your employer handles them separately. They’re already paid, and the IRS does not include them in your Line 24 or Line 33 totals. If a lender or financial planner asks for “everything federal,” pull those figures directly from your W-2 rather than relying on your 1040.

Self-employed people are different. They pay both the employee and employer shares of FICA through self-employment tax on Schedule SE, and that amount does flow into Line 24 by way of Schedule 2.⁵ For them, Line 24 is closer to a true total federal tax figure.

If You Don’t Have a Copy of Your Return

If you can’t put your hands on your 1040, the IRS has two ways to get the numbers.

The first is your IRS online account, which shows up to five years of payment history, your balance for any tax year, and downloadable transcripts.⁷ Setup requires identity verification through ID.me.⁸

The second is a transcript. Three types matter for finding total federal tax paid:

A tax return transcript shows most line items from your original return as filed, including Lines 24 and 33. It’s available for the current year and three prior years, and this is the transcript mortgage lenders most commonly request.
A tax account transcript shows payments, penalty assessments, and adjustments made after you filed. Available for up to nine prior years online. Use this to confirm what the IRS actually received and credited.
A record of account transcript combines both into one document, available for the current year and three prior years.

All three can be viewed, printed, or downloaded through your online account.³ If you can’t use the portal, call 800-908-9946 to have a transcript mailed, or submit Form 4506-T. Most requests process within 10 business days.⁹

If You Amended Your Return

If you filed Form 1040-X, your original 1040 no longer reflects the correct totals. On the amended return, the corrected total tax appears on Line 11, Column C, and the corrected total payments on Line 17. Column C is the one that matters, showing the final amounts after your changes.¹⁰

Once the amendment is processed, your IRS account transcript will also reflect the change. If you’re pulling transcripts after amending, the account transcript is more reliable than the return transcript, because the return transcript shows your original filing rather than the corrected version.³

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040 (2025)
2
Federal Student Aid. Filling Out the FAFSA
3
Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them
4
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040)
5
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule 2 (Form 1040)
6
Internal Revenue Service. Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File
7
Internal Revenue Service. Online Account for Individuals
8
Internal Revenue Service. New Identity Verification Process
9
Internal Revenue Service. Form 4506-T Request for Transcript of Tax Return
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040-X Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return