Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Line 1a of Form 1040 is where the wages from your W-2s go. The instructions tell you to enter the total amount from box 1 of each Form W-2, and on a joint return to include your spouse’s box 1 as well. The number comes straight off your W-2s, and it feeds the first total of the income section.
More IRS forms and schedules for individual filers, read line by line: Schedule H W-2 and W-3 for household employees.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form 4852 substitute W-2 or 1099-R.
Read box by box from the IRS form text: Form W-2c boxes c to i.
Related reading on this site: IRS Notice CP05A (documents to verify wages and withholding), IRS Notice CP2501 (income mismatch, response required) and IRS Notice CP3219A (statutory notice of deficiency).
Schedule 8812 (child tax credit and additional child tax credit) for 2025, read line by line: Schedule 8812 line 3 and Schedule 8812 lines 15 to 20.
What line 1a asks for
The form’s own caption for the line reads “Total amount from Form(s) W-2, box 1 (see instructions)”. The instructions open the line the same way: “Enter the total amount from Form(s) W-2, box 1.” If you had one job, that is a single number copied from one form. If you had two or more employers, each employer sent its own W-2, and the line takes the total across all of them.
The rest of the first income lines are covered in Form 1040 line by line. This page covers only the first one, the line for W-2 wages. Pay that arrives without a W-2 has its own lines, such as line 1b for household employee wages and line 1c for tips that were not part of the amount on this line.
Where the number comes from
The number is box 1 of the Form W-2 your employer gave you. What box 1 contains, and why it can be lower than the figures in boxes 3 and 5, is explained on the box 12 versus box 1 page. For line 1a you do not rebuild box 1 from pay stubs. You copy the box 1 amount from each W-2 and add them up.
If your employer withheld tax, that withholding is a different box and goes to a different part of the return. It is not part of the line 1a figure. To see how your withholding is set up for the year, see the Form W-4 page.
If you are filing a joint return
The instructions add a sentence for married couples: “If a joint return, also include your spouse’s income from Form(s) W-2, box 1.” That means one line 1a figure for the whole return. Your box 1 amounts and your spouse’s box 1 amounts are all added together and entered once.
A labelled illustration, not an IRS example, with the total computed by adding: if your W-2 shows $52,000 in box 1 and your spouse has two W-2s showing $18,000 and $9,500 in box 1 respectively, the joint line 1a total is the sum of $52,000 plus $18,000 plus $9,500 for a total of $79,500. The figures are made up to show the arithmetic only.
Wages that do not belong on line 1a
The instructions name two kinds of box 1 amounts that are kept off this line. The first is prison work: “If you earned wages while you were an inmate in a penal institution, report these amounts on Schedule 1, line 8u.” The instructions then repeat the point directly: “Do not report these wages on line 1a.” The line 8u entry is on the Schedule 1 page.
The second is a certain kind of deferred pay. The instructions say “If you received a pension or annuity from a nonqualified deferred compensation plan or a nongovernmental section 457 plan and it was reported in box 1 of Form W-2” and then say where it goes: “do not include this amount on Form 1040, line 1a.” The instructions send that amount to Schedule 1, line 8t. If either of these describes a box 1 amount on your W-2, take it out of the line 1a total before you enter it.
If you did not get a W-2
The form prints a note beside the wage lines: “If you did not get a Form W-2, see instructions.” Pay that was not on a W-2 is not entered on line 1a. Household employee pay has line 1b, tips you never reported to an employer go on line 1c, and Medicaid waiver payments go on line 1d.
Where it goes next
On the form, the lines at the top of the income section feed one total. The form’s own caption for it reads “Add lines 1a through 1h”. That total is line 1z, and line 1a is one of the amounts added into it.
Line 1z then carries into the next step of the income section. The form’s caption for line 9 reads “Add lines 1z, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b, 7a, and 8. This is your total income”. So whatever you enter on line 1a moves your total income, and the surrounding lines are explained in Form 1040 line by line.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Form 1040 and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-17. They are the forms for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The instructions say “The lines on Forms 1040 and 1040-SR are the same.” so everything here applies to Form 1040 and to Form 1040-SR alike. Check the tax year printed on the form you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s form, because a different year’s form can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Entering a box other than box 1. The instructions say “Enter the total amount from Form(s) W-2, box 1.” Box 3 and box 5 are not what this line asks for.
- Leaving out your spouse on a joint return. The instructions say “If a joint return, also include your spouse’s income from Form(s) W-2, box 1.”
- Including prison wages in the total. The instructions say “Do not report these wages on line 1a.” Those amounts go on Schedule 1, line 8u.
Related: W-2 box 12 vs box 1, Form W-4, Schedule 1 (Form 1040), and Form 1040.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf
- Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.