Updated October 23, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 IRS chart lists 524210 for insurance agencies and brokerages and 524290 for other insurance related activities. The code goes on line B of Schedule C beside your line A description. A neighboring row such as 523900 may fit better, depending on the principal source of your receipts.
The two insurance rows on the chart
The chart has two insurance rows, and both sit under the same activity heading. One names the selling side and the other is a catch-all for related work.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 524210 | Insurance agencies & brokerages |
| 524290 | Other insurance related activities |
The first row reads “Insurance agencies & brokerages”. The second reads “Other insurance related activities”, which points at activity near insurance rather than the agency itself.
Line A and line B for an agency
Line A asks for a description of the work: “Describe the business or professional activity that provided your principal source of income reported on line 1.” Line B asks for the code: “Enter on line B the six-digit code from the Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes chart” The code goes in the box on line B, beside the description.
For line A, an agent might write something like selling property and casualty policies to families. That is an example of the kind of description, not IRS wording. Line B then holds the row that reads closest, and the person filling it in makes that call.
Nearby rows that mention advice or brokers
Insurance work often touches advice and brokerage. These rows are worded close enough to read next to the two above.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 523900 | Other financial investment activities (including investment advice) |
| 425120 | Wholesale trade agents & brokers |
| 531210 | Offices of real estate agents & brokers |
“Other financial investment activities (including investment advice)” is the row that names investment advice, which an agent who also gives financial guidance may want to compare against. The wholesale row, “Wholesale trade agents & brokers”, and the real estate row, “Offices of real estate agents & brokers”, use the words agents and brokers but for other kinds of sales, so their wording does not reach policies.
The chart’s rule has two steps: “Select the category that best describes your primary business activity”, and then “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
Mixed income and the words the chart avoids
An agent with commission from policies and fees from planning work has one schedule and two possible rows. The chart’s own step is to find “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”, so the larger source decides which row the wording points to. If the work is run as two separate businesses, “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
The chart has no row that names an insurance agent; the word agencies appears in “Insurance agencies & brokerages” and the chart uses the word agents in other rows too, such as the wholesale and real estate rows. Brokerage is named in the same insurance row, “Insurance agencies & brokerages”.
Where the code goes next
Whichever row you read as closest, the code goes on line B of Schedule C (Form 1040) beside the line A description. Commission-based businesses can look at Schedule C lines 10 and 11 for that line, and the receipts side is on line 1.
Edition and chart year
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-23 (byte-identical to the archived copies). They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041”. Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the chart that comes with that year’s instructions, because a different year’s chart can list different codes or reword them.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the word agent leads to the wholesale or real estate row. The rule is to “Select the category that best describes your primary business activity” and then the activity, not the job word.
- Ignoring the second row. The chart’s wording for 524290 is “Other insurance related activities”, so it is a separate activity, not a duplicate.
- Putting an advisory side business on the same schedule without reading the rule. The instructions say “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C lines 10 and 11, and Schedule C line 1.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdf
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 23, 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.