Publication 17 (2024) is the IRS guide for returns on 2024 income, which were due April 15, 2025. The cover is dated January 22, 2025, and the PDF runs 143 pages, one more than the 2023 edition. Chapter numbers and titles are unchanged, so this page lists what was specific to the year. These are unofficial study notes in our own words; the IRS publication controls.
The 2024 edition at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Return due | April 15, 2025 |
| Extended due date | October 15, 2025 |
| Edition | Cover date January 22, 2025; 143 PDF pages; catalog number 10311G |
| Where changes are listed | What's New (printed pages 1 to 2) and Reminders (pages 2 to 3) |
| Layout | 4 parts and 14 chapters; chapter 3 starts on page 27 because chapter 2 is a page longer; the 2024 Tax Table starts on page 112 |
| Look-ahead | Chapter 4 explains withholding and estimated tax for 2025, not 2024 |
What changed for 2024
Law changes
- Child tax credit. The refundable part rose by $100 to $1,700 per child; the credit itself stayed at $2,000.
- Retirement. The IRA limit and the 401(k)-type limit each rose by $500. A surviving spouse who is the designated beneficiary of a plan participant or IRA owner may elect to be treated as the owner for required distributions. The edition says pre-tax catch-up contributions are allowed only if the employee's wages from the plan sponsor did not exceed $145,000; the IRS gave a two-year transition period (Notice 2023-62), so the Roth catch-up rule was not enforced until 2026 (see the tax year 2026 page). Two new exceptions to the 10% early-withdrawal tax apply to distributions after 2023: domestic abuse victims and emergency personal expenses.
- Refunds. The option to send a refund to TreasuryDirect or buy savings bonds ended. Form 8888 now only splits a refund among accounts or between a deposit and a check.
- Filing options. Direct File was described as a permanent free option, starting in 2025, for taxpayers in participating states with simple returns.
- Relief payments. Certain East Palestine derailment payments and qualified wildfire relief payments may be nontaxable. Medicaid waiver payments are reported in Form W-2 box 12 with code II.
- Clean vehicles. A buyer who transferred the credit to a dealer at sale must file a return and attach Form 8936 and Schedule A (Form 8936).
- Last call. 2024 is the final year for Form 5405, which tracks repayment of the 2008 first-time homebuyer credit.
- Form 1099-K. The edition printed a schedule: a form was due when payments exceeded $5,000 for 2024, $2,500 for 2025 and $600 for 2026 and later.
Forms and line changes
- Schedule 1, line 8v: digital assets received as ordinary income that no other line captures.
- Schedule 2: credit recapture, excessive payment and similar amounts from Form 4255 are reported on lines 1d, 1e, 1f, 1y, 17a, 17z and 19; clean vehicle credit repayments from Form 8936 go on lines 1b and 1c.
- Schedule 3, line 13z: U.S. tax allocated to the U.S. Virgin Islands (Form 8689).
- Filing status section: a new box and name line for treating a nonresident or dual-status alien spouse as a U.S. resident.
- Form 1099-K mistakes: wrong amounts or personal items sold at a loss now go in the entry space at the top of Schedule 1 instead of lines 8z and 24z.
Amounts that moved
Most inflation-indexed figures rose. Compared with 2023, the standard deduction is $750 higher for single filers, $1,500 higher for joint filers and $1,100 higher for heads of household.
Key amounts for tax year 2024
Abbreviations: MFS is married filing separately, MFJ married filing jointly, QSS qualifying surviving spouse, HOH head of household, MAGI modified adjusted gross income, EITC earned income tax credit, AMT alternative minimum tax, FSA flexible spending arrangement and TSP Thrift Savings Plan.
| Item | 2024 amount | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| Standard deduction | $14,600 single or MFS; $29,200 MFJ or QSS; $21,900 HOH | Pub 17 (2024) pp. 1, 96 |
| Extra per box (65 or older, blind) | $1,550 married or QSS; $1,950 unmarried | p. 96 |
| Dependent's standard deduction | Greater of $1,300 or earned income plus $450 | p. 94 |
| Must file if gross income is at least | Single $14,600 ($16,550 at 65+); MFJ $29,200; HOH $21,900; MFS $5 | Table 1-1, p. 7 |
| Qualifying relative gross income | Less than $5,050 | p. 35 |
| Child tax credit | $2,000 per child; ACTC up to $1,700; other dependents $500 | pp. 1, 109 to 111 |
| EITC maximum (0, 1, 2, 3 or more children) | $632; $4,213; $6,960; $7,830 | Rev. Proc. 2023-34 sec. 3.06 |
| Adoption credit | $16,810; phase-out MAGI $252,150 to $292,150 | p. 2 |
| IRA limit | $7,000 ($8,000 at 50+) | p. 1 |
| 401(k), 403(b), TSP, most 457 | $23,000 ($30,500 at 50+); SIMPLE $16,000 | pp. 1, 51 |
| Traditional IRA deduction phase-out (covered at work) | Single or HOH $77,000 to $87,000; MFJ $123,000 to $143,000 | pp. 1 to 2 |
| Roth IRA phase-out | Single or HOH $146,000 to $161,000; MFJ $230,000 to $240,000 | p. 2 |
| Social Security wage base | $168,600 | p. 44 |
| Health FSA; transit and parking | $3,200; $315 a month each | pp. 1, 50 |
| Mileage rates | Business 67 cents; medical 21; charity 14 | p. 1 |
| State and local tax cap | $10,000 ($5,000 MFS) | p. 101 |
| Minimum late-filing penalty | Smaller of $510 or 100% of the tax | p. 20 |
| AMT exemption | $85,700 single; $133,300 MFJ; $66,650 MFS; phase-out starts at $609,350 ($1,218,700 joint) | p. 2 |
Tax rates for 2024 (taxable income up to)
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly or QSS |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $11,600 | $23,200 |
| 12% | $47,150 | $94,300 |
| 22% | $100,525 | $201,050 |
| 24% | $191,950 | $383,900 |
| 32% | $243,725 | $487,450 |
| 35% | $609,350 | $731,200 |
| 37% | Above $609,350 | Above $731,200 |
The rate schedules are on page 126. For how brackets work, see tax brackets and rates.
Important dates for 2024
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| January 31, 2025 | Employers send Forms W-2; payers send most Forms 1099 (brokers by February 18) |
| Mid-February 2025 | Earliest refunds for returns claiming the ACTC |
| April 15, 2025 | Return and balance due |
| June 16, 2025 | Due date for certain filers outside the United States using the automatic two-month extension |
| October 15, 2025 | Extended due date with Form 4868 |
| 2024 estimated tax | April 15, June 17 and September 16, 2024; January 15, 2025 (skip it by filing and paying in full by January 31, 2025) |
| About April 15, 2028 | Usual last day to claim a refund on a return filed on time (three years; page 19). April 15, 2028 is a Saturday, so the page 19 next-business-day rule applies |
Chapter map: what changed from 2023 to 2024
| Chapter | What changed in the 2024 edition |
|---|---|
| 1 Filing information | Direct File added; e-file signing split by software or practitioner; savings bond purchases ended; NOL carrybacks use Form 172; minimum penalty $510 |
| 2 Filing status | New paragraph on when a marriage counts for federal tax purposes |
| 3 Dependents | Income test under $5,050; "parent" in the tie-breaker rules means biological or adoptive; TANF payments used for support count as your support |
| 4 Withholding and estimated tax | Looks ahead to 2025; wage base $168,600 for excess Social Security tax |
| 5 Wages and other earnings | Deferral limit $23,000; SIMPLE $16,000; FSA $3,200; transit $315; household employee threshold $2,700 |
| 6 Interest income | Longer explanation of Series HH bonds, whose last issues stop paying interest in 2024; updated Form 1099-OID box descriptions |
| 7 Social Security benefits | New worked example numbers; rules unchanged |
| 8 Other income | Lower 1099-K thresholds; name, image and likeness income explained; East Palestine and wildfire payments |
| 9 IRAs | $7,000 limit; higher phase-outs; required-distribution age shown as 73; two new early-withdrawal exceptions |
| 10 Standard deduction | $14,600, $29,200, $21,900; age 65 means born before January 2, 1960 |
| 11 Taxes you may deduct | $10,000 cap unchanged; sale-proration examples recomputed |
| 12 Other itemized deductions | 67-cent business mileage rate; educator expense wording tied to 2024 |
| 13 How to figure your tax | Elderly or disabled credit points to Schedule R; no savings bond purchases |
| 14 Child tax credit | ACTC $1,700; added guidance on appealing a Form 8862 disallowance period |
Check yourself
Question 1 (2024): What is the standard deduction for a single filer age 66 who is not blind?
Answer: $16,550, which is $14,600 plus the $1,950 extra amount for an unmarried person.
Question 2 (2024): What is the most a family can receive as the additional child tax credit per child?
Answer: $1,700 per qualifying child. The full credit itself is $2,000.
Question 3 (2024): True or false: you can ask the IRS to use your refund to buy savings bonds.
Answer: False. That option ended; Form 8888 only splits a refund.
Question 4 (2024): Where do you report digital assets received as ordinary income that appear nowhere else on the return?
Answer: Schedule 1, line 8v.
Question 5 (2024): A worker earned $200,000 from one employer. How much Social Security tax is owed at 6.2%?
Answer: $10,453.20, because only the first $168,600 of wages is taxed (6.2% of $168,600).
Question 6 (2024): A single filer covered by a workplace plan has modified AGI of $82,000. Is the traditional IRA deduction full, partial or zero?
Answer: Partial. The phase-out range for 2024 is $77,000 to $87,000, and $82,000 sits inside it.
Question 7 (2024): What did the 2024 edition list as the Form 1099-K threshold for payments made in 2025?
Answer: More than $2,500, on a schedule of $5,000 for 2024 and $600 for 2026 and later. The 2025 edition replaced this schedule.
Question 8 (2024): How much is a deduction for 8,000 business miles driven in 2024?
Answer: $5,360, which is 8,000 miles times 67 cents.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 2024 edition's Form 1099-K schedule still apply?
Not as printed. The 2024 edition listed $5,000, $2,500 and $600 thresholds for 2024, 2025 and 2026 and later, and the 2025 edition replaced that with $20,000 and more than 200 transactions. Either way, the edition says income is reportable whether or not you receive the form. See the 1099-K threshold answer for the current position.
Why does chapter 4 of the 2024 edition talk about 2025?
Its withholding section is headed "Tax Withholding for 2025" and its estimated tax section tells readers how to pay for 2025, while the definition of "total tax" refers to 2024. For 2024 estimated tax payments, the dates in the table above and the 2023 edition's chapter 4 are the relevant ones.
Why do chapter page numbers differ between editions?
The chapters themselves match. Chapter 2 runs a page longer in 2024, so chapter 3 starts on page 27 rather than 26. A CPA can review a return against these figures.
Official sources
- IRS Publication 17 (2024), What's New and chapters 1 to 14
- IRS: Rev. Proc. 2023-34 (2024 inflation adjustments)
- IRS: Notice 2023-75 (2024 retirement plan limits)
- IRS: Publication 509 (2024), Tax Calendars
- IRS: Notice 2024-08 (2024 standard mileage rates)
- Social Security Administration: 2024 cost-of-living and other determinations (Federal Register)
This page is a plain-language summary. The official source controls if there is any difference.
General information only, not tax, legal or accounting advice for your situation. Rules, limits and deadlines change; confirm the current rules with the official source or a qualified professional before you act. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship with CPA Tax Payroll and Accounting Corp.