IRS Publication 17 Study Notes: Tax Years 2023 to 2026

IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax for Individuals, is the IRS's general guide to preparing a Form 1040. These notes condense it into study-sized pages, one for each of its 14 chapters and one for each tax year from 2023 to 2026, written for people who prepare returns, study for the Enrolled Agent exam (the IRS Special Enrollment Examination) or the Annual Filing Season Program, or want to understand their own return.

What Publication 17 is

Pub 17 follows the order of Form 1040 and its schedules. Part one covers the return itself (who files, status, dependents, withholding), part two income and adjustments, part three the standard deduction and itemized deductions, and part four figuring the tax and the child tax credit. The Tax Table follows. Topics older editions covered at length, such as tip income, dividends, rental income, pensions and the sale of property, now live in other IRS publications; our chapter pages point to them where it matters.

How the notes are organised

Every chapter page follows the same pattern: a short snapshot of the most testable rules, key terms, the rules by topic, a table of every figure that differs by year, worked examples, common mistakes, a map of forms and lines, practice questions with answers and a few frequently asked questions. The four year pages work the other way around. Each one lists what changed in a single year, the key amounts and dates, and what changed in each chapter.

How to study with them

1. Read the chapter page for the topic you are working on.
2. Check the by-year table in that chapter, or the year page, for the figure that applies to the tax year you are studying. Always match the number to its year.
3. Do the practice questions, then read the answers and the reasons.

Editions and the 2026 gap

The IRS keeps prior editions of Pub 17 as PDFs. Chapter numbers and titles are identical in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions; only page numbers shift. The 2025 edition is the current one.

The edition for tax year 2026 has not been published, and the IRS has announced no date. The 2024 and 2025 editions carry cover dates of January 22, 2025 and January 13, 2026, so we expect the next one about mid-January to February 2027; that is our inference, not an announcement, and some older editions are dated as late as March. Until then, every 2026 figure here is labelled a planning figure, taken from Rev. Proc. 2025-32, the 2025 law and the IRS's draft 2026 forms.

The notes

Tax year pages: 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 (planning).

Part 1, the income tax return: Chapter 1, Filing Information; Chapter 2, Filing Status; Chapter 3, Dependents; Chapter 4, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax.

Part 2, income and adjustments: Chapter 5, Wages, Salaries, and Other Earnings; Chapter 6, Interest Income; Chapter 7, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits; Chapter 8, Other Income; Chapter 9, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).

Part 3, deductions: Chapter 10, Standard Deduction; Chapter 11, Taxes; Chapter 12, Other Itemized Deductions.

Part 4, taxes and credits: Chapter 13, How To Figure Your Tax; Chapter 14, Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents.

A study aid, not tax advice

These pages are general information written in our own words, not a copy of the IRS text, and they are not tax advice for your situation. Amounts differ by year, so confirm your year's figure in the IRS publication, and check which tax year your exam covers. For related plain-language guides, see our tax guides and the tax calendar. A CPA can review a return against these figures.