Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Line 2a is where tax-exempt interest goes and line 2b is where taxable interest goes. The instructions say “Enter your total taxable interest income on line 2b.” Your figures come from the Form 1099-INT or Form 1099-OID each payer should send you, and the line 2a figure is generally in box 8 of the 1099-INT.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form 8815 instructions.
Schedule A and Schedule B (Form 1040) for 2025, read line by line: Schedule A lines 9 and 10 and Schedule B lines 1 to 4.
What goes on line 2a
Line 2a is captioned “Tax-exempt interest” on the form. The instructions describe the source this way: “If you received any tax-exempt interest (including any tax-exempt original issue discount (OID)), such as from municipal bonds, each payer should send you a Form 1099-INT or a Form 1099-OID.” Then they say where on those forms to look: “In general, your tax-exempt stated interest should be shown in box 8 of Form 1099-INT or, for a tax-exempt OID bond, in box 2 of Form 1099-OID, and your tax-exempt OID should be shown in box 11 of Form 1099-OID.” The box is covered on the 1099-INT box 8 page.
The instruction closes the thought with the entry rule: “Enter the total on line 2a.” Mutual fund payouts count too. The instruction names exempt-interest dividends from a fund and says where to find the amount: “This amount should be shown in box 12 of Form 1099-DIV”
Bonds bought at a premium and what to leave out
If you paid a premium for a tax-exempt bond, line 2a is not simply the amount on the form. The instructions say that if you acquired a tax-exempt bond at a premium, you “only report the net amount of tax-exempt interest on line 2a”, and it defines the net amount: “(that is, the excess of the tax-exempt interest received during the year over the amortized bond premium for the year).” They point to a longer treatment elsewhere: “See Pub. 550 for more information about OID, bond premium, and acquisition premium.”
Some accounts are kept off the line altogether. The instructions say “Don’t include interest earned on your IRA, health savings account, Archer or Medicare Advantage MSA, or Coverdell education savings account.”
What goes on line 2b
Line 2b is captioned “Taxable interest”. The instruction reads in full: “Each payer should send you a Form 1099-INT or Form 1099-OID. Enter your total taxable interest income on line 2b.” The most common source is the interest box on a bank or brokerage statement, which is laid out on the 1099-INT box 1 page.
The same paragraph adds a filing trigger: “But you must fill in and attach Schedule B if the total is over $1,500 or any of the other conditions listed at the beginning of the Schedule B instructions applies to you.” The schedule itself is described on the Schedule B page.
For the more technical cases, the instructions say “For more details about reporting taxable interest, including original issue discount or market discount on debt instruments and adjustments for amortizable bond premium or acquisition premium, see Pub. 550.” They also include a note for savings bonds: “If you get a 2025 Form 1099-INT for U.S. savings bond interest that includes amounts you reported before 2025, see Pub. 550.”
Where the number comes from
The amounts on these lines come from the forms your payers send. For interest, that means the 1099-INT or 1099-OID from each bank, brokerage, bond issuer or other payer, plus the Form 1099-DIV for exempt-interest dividends on line 2a. A single account can send more than one of these forms, so gather every one before you total the line. The common boxes on all three form families are compared on the 1099-DIV, 1099-INT and 1099-B boxes guide.
If you also hold dividend-paying funds, the dividend side of the same part of the return is on the lines 3a and 3b page, and retirement account payouts are on the lines 4a and 4b page.
Where it goes next
The two lines are separate in the way the form treats them: line 2b feeds the total, while line 2a is a separate entry beside it. The form’s own total-income line reads “Add lines 1z, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b, 7a, and 8. This is your total income”. The later lines are explained on the lines 9, 10 and 11 page.
Of the two interest lines, only line 2b is named in that total-income instruction. Wages are added in from the line 1z page, and the other income lines are on the lines 5a and 5b page and the line 7 page. The full walk-down of the form is on Form 1040 line by line.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Form 1040 and its 2025 instructions, which are the files irs.gov was serving as the current ones on 2026-10-17. The instructions say “The lines on Forms 1040 and 1040-SR are the same.” Check the tax year printed on the form you are filling in, and use the line numbers on that year’s form. If your form is from a different year, its line numbers and wording may not match what is described here.
Common mistakes
- Putting tax-exempt interest on line 2b. The instructions send it to its own line: “Enter the total on line 2a.” Line 2b is for “your total taxable interest income”.
- Reporting the full municipal interest on a bond bought at a premium. The instructions say to “only report the net amount of tax-exempt interest on line 2a”.
- Adding interest from an IRA or health savings account to the line. The instructions say “Don’t include interest earned on your IRA, health savings account”.
Related: 1099-INT box 8 tax-exempt interest, 1099-INT box 1 interest income, Schedule B, and 1099-DIV, 1099-INT and 1099-B boxes.
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- 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.