Definition of Ordinary Income and How It Is Taxed
Gain clarity on how the U.S. tax system treats your primary earnings. This guide covers the principles of its taxation and its role in your tax return.
Ordinary income is the most frequent type of taxable income for individuals and businesses in the United States. It encompasses money earned through active means, such as employment or running a business, as well as certain types of unearned income. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has specific rules for what constitutes ordinary income, and this classification determines how it is taxed. Understanding these rules is an important part of managing personal or business finances.
Common Sources of Ordinary Income
The most prevalent source of ordinary income is compensation received as an employee. This includes not just regular wages and salaries, but also tips, commissions, and bonuses. All of these payments for personal services are considered ordinary income.
Interest income is another significant category. This includes interest earned from bank savings accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), and most types of bonds. Unless specifically exempt by law, such as interest from certain municipal bonds, this income is taxable at the same rates as your wages. Similarly, dividends that do not meet the criteria to be “qualified dividends” are taxed as ordinary income.
For those who are self-employed or own a business, the net income from those operations is treated as ordinary income. This applies to sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations, where the business’s profits pass through to the owner’s personal tax return. Rental income from real estate and royalty payments from copyrights, patents, or mineral properties are also classified as ordinary income.
Ordinary Income vs Capital Gains
A primary distinction in the tax code is between ordinary income and capital gains. While ordinary income arises from labor or business activities, capital gains come from the sale of a capital asset. A capital asset is property you own for personal use or as an investment, such as stocks, bonds, or real estate. The profit from selling one of these assets is a capital gain.
The most significant difference between the two lies in their tax treatment, which is determined by how long you held the asset before selling it. If you hold a capital asset for one year or less, the profit from its sale is a short-term capital gain. This gain is taxed as ordinary income at your regular tax rate.
If you hold the asset for more than one year, the profit is a long-term capital gain. Long-term capital gains are taxed at preferential rates, which are generally lower than ordinary income tax rates. For most taxpayers, these rates are 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on their overall taxable income. This favorable treatment is designed to encourage long-term investment.
How Ordinary Income Is Taxed
The United States employs a progressive tax system, which means that higher levels of income are taxed at progressively higher rates. This system is structured through a series of tax brackets. A tax bracket is a range of income that is subject to a specific tax rate. It is a common misconception that if your income falls into a certain bracket, all of your income is taxed at that rate.
In reality, your income fills up the brackets sequentially. Every taxpayer pays the lowest rate on their first portion of taxable income. Once that lowest bracket is full, the next portion of their income is taxed at the next highest rate, and so on. This is known as your marginal tax rate—the rate you pay on your last dollar of income.
Consider a single individual with a taxable income of $60,000. They would not pay a flat percentage on the entire amount. Instead, they would pay 10% on the first segment of their income, 12% on the amount in the next bracket, and 22% on the portion of their income that falls into the 22% bracket. The IRS adjusts these income thresholds for each bracket annually to account for inflation.
Reporting Ordinary Income on Your Tax Return
Taxpayers receive various forms that report the ordinary income they have earned. Employers issue a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, which details an employee’s annual wages, tips, and other compensation. For other types of income, you will receive forms from the 1099 series, such as Form 1099-INT for interest income, Form 1099-DIV for dividends, and Form 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation.
This information is then transferred to your personal tax return, Form 1040. However, some types of income require an intermediate step using other IRS forms known as schedules. For example, if you are a sole proprietor, you will report your business’s gross income and deduct expenses on Schedule C, with the net profit flowing to your Form 1040.
Similarly, rental income, royalties, and income from partnerships or S corporations are reported on Schedule E. The totals from these schedules are then aggregated with other income sources on Form 1040 to determine your total gross income. This figure is the starting point for calculating your tax liability.