Kiddie Tax Threshold 2026

Who it applies to

The amount is applied on the return of a child whose unearned income falls under the § 1(g) kiddie tax for a taxable year beginning in 2026. It works as a reduction against net unearned income rather than as an exemption from the rule, so the child remains inside the kiddie tax regime and the figure only sets how much unearned income escapes it. The same figure also matters to a parent, because the revenue procedure uses it to frame the gross income range in which a parent may elect to report the child's income on the parent's own return. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the amount and does not restate which children § 1(g) reaches.

What changed this year, and why

The kiddie tax amount did not move. For taxable years beginning in 2026, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets at $1,350 the amount in § 1(g) used to reduce the net unearned income reported on a child's return that is subject to the kiddie tax, the same $1,350 that Rev. Proc. 2024-40 stated for taxable years beginning in 2025. The revenue procedure again notes that this figure is the same as the amount provided in § 63 for a dependent's standard deduction, as adjusted for inflation, and that the same $1,350 is used under § 1(g) to determine whether a parent may elect to include a child's gross income in the parent's gross income. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act changes that Rev. Proc. 2025-32 exists to reflect do not include § 1(g).

Common questions

What is the kiddie tax unearned income amount for 2026?

For taxable years beginning in 2026 the amount in § 1(g) used to reduce the net unearned income reported on the child's return that is subject to the kiddie tax is $1,350. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 states it as an inflation-adjusted item. It is a reduction applied to unearned income, not a cut-off that removes a child from § 1(g) altogether.

Did the kiddie tax threshold change for 2026?

No. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 states $1,350 for taxable years beginning in 2026, the same figure Rev. Proc. 2024-40 stated for taxable years beginning in 2025. The amount is an inflation-adjusted item determined by reference to § 1(f), and an indexed figure can be republished unchanged from one year to the next. The legislation Rev. Proc. 2025-32 was issued to reflect did not amend § 1(g) either.

What does the $1,350 kiddie tax amount actually do?

It reduces the net unearned income reported on the child's return that is subject to the kiddie tax. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 describes the figure that way rather than as an exemption or a filing trigger. The reduction is applied to unearned income specifically; the revenue procedure states no equivalent figure for the child's earned income under § 1(g).

Can a parent report a child's income on their own return in 2026?

Rev. Proc. 2025-32 states that the same $1,350 is used for purposes of § 1(g) to determine whether a parent may elect to include a child's gross income in the parent's gross income and to calculate the kiddie tax. The figure therefore does double duty: it sizes the reduction on the child's own return and it sets the bottom of the income band in which the parental election can be considered.

What income range lets a parent make the kiddie tax election for 2026?

The revenue procedure gives one requirement as an example: the child's gross income must be more than the amount referred to in § 1(g), which is $1,350 for 2026, but less than a multiple of that amount which § 1(g) itself specifies. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets out only that requirement; the remaining conditions on the election live in the Code section rather than in the revenue procedure.

Is the kiddie tax amount the same as the dependent standard deduction?

Rev. Proc. 2025-32 says the $1,350 kiddie tax amount is the same as the amount provided in § 63, as adjusted for inflation. In the standard deduction item, the deduction for an individual who may be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer cannot exceed the greater of that same figure or the sum of the individual's earned income and a further amount the procedure states. The two provisions are indexed together.

Does the kiddie tax affect the alternative minimum tax in 2026?

Yes, and Rev. Proc. 2025-32 handles it as a separate item. For a child to whom the § 1(g) kiddie tax applies, the exemption amount under § 55 and § 59(j) for alternative minimum tax purposes may not exceed the sum of the child's earned income for the taxable year plus a fixed amount stated in that item. That AMT figure is a different number from the $1,350 unearned income reduction and moves on its own schedule.

Which tax year does the $1,350 kiddie tax amount apply to?

Rev. Proc. 2025-32 states it for taxable years beginning in 2026, and the effective date section applies the 2026 adjusted items to taxable years beginning in 2026. Unearned income of minor children is not one of the items routed to the procedure's calendar year rule instead. The figure therefore attaches to the child's taxable year, not to the date on which the unearned income was received.

Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Kiddie tax threshold headroom takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.