Where to Find Net Income on a Tax Return: Form 1040

Form 1040 has no line labeled “net income.” When someone asks where to find your net income on your tax return, they usually mean one of two figures: your Adjusted Gross Income on Line 11 of Form 1040, or, if the question is about a business you run, the net profit on Line 31 of Schedule C. Which one to hand over depends entirely on who is asking.

The Three Income Numbers on Form 1040

Every Form 1040 walks through income in three stages. Each stage produces a different number, and each sits on a specific line.

Total Income on Line 9

Total income is the broadest figure. It adds up everything taxable you received during the year: W-2 wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, retirement distributions, business profits, and any other income flowing in from supporting schedules. Federal law defines gross income as all income from whatever source unless a specific exclusion applies.¹ Line 9 pulls those sources into a single total.²

Adjusted Gross Income on Line 11

AGI takes total income and subtracts a specific set of deductions Congress designated as “above-the-line” adjustments under 26 U.S.C. § 62.³ Those adjustments appear on Schedule 1, Part II, and include educator expenses, student loan interest, traditional IRA contributions, HSA contributions, and the deductible half of self-employment tax, among others.⁴ The result lands on Line 11 of Form 1040.²

AGI does the heavy lifting outside your return too. It controls eligibility for dozens of credits and deductions, drives financial aid calculations, and serves as the starting point for most state income tax returns. When someone asks for your “income” from your tax return and doesn’t specify further, AGI is almost always the right figure.

Taxable Income on Line 15

Taxable income is what remains after subtracting your standard deduction or itemized deductions, plus any qualified business income deduction, from your AGI. For tax year 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.⁵ Line 15 is the amount the IRS actually applies its tax rates to.²

Taxable income is always the smallest of the three. It reflects personal choices like whether to itemize and how much you contributed to retirement accounts, so lenders and agencies rarely use it as an income measure.

Which Line to Give When Someone Asks

“Net income” means different things to different requesters. The safest move is to ask which line they need, but the common scenarios line up like this:

Mortgage and personal loan applications: AGI from Line 11. Self-employed borrowers should also expect the lender to pull Schedule C net profit and often two years of returns to average.
FAFSA: pulls AGI directly, along with certain untaxed income items.
Landlord and rental applications: usually AGI, though some want total income from Line 9 to see the picture before adjustments.
Small business or SBA loan applications: Schedule C, Line 31 for sole proprietors, or the K-1 flow-through amounts for partners and S-corporation shareholders.
Government benefit programs: many use Modified Adjusted Gross Income, which is not the same as AGI (see below).

Handing over the wrong figure can delay an application or trigger a request for more documents. If the requester won’t name a line, AGI on Line 11 is the least risky default for personal income questions.

Business Net Income on Schedule C

If you run a sole proprietorship or work as a freelancer, your business net income is calculated on Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business) before it ever reaches Form 1040.⁶ Schedule C starts with gross receipts, subtracts cost of goods sold to reach gross profit, then subtracts every ordinary and necessary business expense: advertising, supplies, vehicle costs, home office, insurance, and the rest.

The bottom line is Line 31, which shows your net profit or loss.⁷ That is the figure business lenders care about, because it reflects what the business actually earned after operating costs. Line 31 then flows to Schedule 1, Line 3, and into total income on Form 1040.⁸

Schedule C net profit also drives self-employment tax on Schedule SE, which covers Social Security and Medicare contributions an employer would otherwise withhold.⁹ Half of that self-employment tax becomes an above-the-line deduction on Schedule 1, reducing your AGI.

Partnership, S-Corp, and Rental Income

Business income doesn’t always come through Schedule C. If you’re a partner or an S-corporation shareholder, your share arrives on a Schedule K-1 instead.

Partnerships: your share of ordinary business income appears in Box 1 of Schedule K-1 (Form 1065).¹⁰
S-corporations: your share of ordinary income appears in Box 1 of Schedule K-1 (Form 1120-S).¹¹

Both K-1 income types, along with rental property income and royalties, flow through Schedule E (Form 1040). Partnership and S-corporation ordinary income appears on Schedule E, Part II, Line 28; rental income from properties you directly own goes through Schedule E, Part I.¹² The Schedule E totals then feed into Form 1040 and become part of AGI. If a lender asks for your “business income” and you don’t have a Schedule C, point them to the K-1 and the matching Schedule E lines.

When the Request Is for MAGI, Not AGI

Some programs and tax benefits don’t use plain AGI. They use Modified Adjusted Gross Income, which starts with AGI from Line 11 and adds back certain income that was excluded or deducted. No single MAGI line exists on Form 1040 because the add-backs vary by benefit.¹³

For the premium tax credit, MAGI equals AGI plus tax-exempt interest, nontaxable Social Security benefits, and excluded foreign earned income.¹³ Roth IRA eligibility uses a different set of adjustments. For most W-2 employees without foreign income or tax-exempt interest, MAGI and AGI are the same number. If a form asks for MAGI, don’t just copy AGI without checking the add-backs, particularly tax-exempt interest on Line 2a and any nontaxable Social Security (the gap between Lines 6a and 6b).

Income That Won’t Appear on Your Return at All

Some money you receive during the year never shows up as taxable income on Form 1040. If a lender or agency is trying to evaluate your full financial picture, those exclusions create a gap between what your return shows and what actually came in. Common nontaxable sources include:

Child support payments, which are not reportable as income by the recipient.¹⁴
Life insurance death benefits paid to a beneficiary, which are generally tax-free.¹⁴
VA disability compensation, pensions, and education benefits, which are excluded from gross income.¹⁴
Welfare and needs-based public assistance.
Gifts and inheritances received (though the giver may have separate obligations).

None of these appear on Form 1040, so if they matter for your application, you’ll need to document them separately with bank statements or award letters.

Finding a Prior Year’s AGI

You need last year’s AGI every time you e-file a federal return, since the IRS uses it as an identity check. The fastest source is your IRS Online Account, where selecting the prior tax year shows your AGI on the Records and Status tab.¹⁵ If you can’t get into an online account, request a free Tax Return Transcript, which shows most line items from your original return for the current year and the three prior years.¹⁶ Either way, the number you want corresponds to Line 11 of that year’s Form 1040.

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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 61 Gross Income Defined
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Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) Profit or Loss From Business (Sole Proprietorship)
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Internal Revenue Service. Transcript Types for Individuals and Ways to Order Them