Income Less Than $100,000

• 1). Open the Form 1040 instructions to the tax tables.
  
  
• 2). Find the rectangle in the tables that corresponds to how many thousands of dollars your taxable income is.
  
  
• 3). Go down the first column in that rectangle and find the line with the range your taxable income falls in.
  
  
• 4). Now follow that line to the right until you reach the column that represents your filing status, for example, "single" or "married filing jointly." The number at the intersection of the row and column is your total taxes payable for the year.
  
  

Income More Than $100,000

• 1). Open the Form 1040 instructions to the Tax Computation Worksheet.
  
  
• 2). Find the section that corresponds to the your filing status, for example, "single" or "married filing jointly."
  
  
• 3). Look down the first column and find the line with the range in which your taxable income falls. This is the only line in the worksheet you will be using.
  
  
• 4). Enter your taxable income in column A.
  
  
• 5). Multiply your taxable income by the percentage, in decimal form as shown in parenthesis, found in the same line of column B. Enter the result in column C.
  
  
• 6). Subtract the value in column D from the value you just entered in column C. Enter the result into the last column. This is your total taxes payable for the year.