Form 433-A is the IRS Collection Information Statement for wage earners and self-employed individuals. It's a detailed snapshot of your income, living expenses, assets and debts that the IRS uses to decide how you can pay a tax bill you owe. Wage earners fill in Sections 1 to 5; self-employed people fill in Sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Everything below comes from the June 2026 revision of Form 433-A and Publication 1854 (Rev. 6-2026), the IRS guide to preparing it, as of October 2026.
Who gets asked for Form 433-A
Publication 1854 says the IRS uses the form to get the current financial picture it needs to work out how an individual can satisfy an outstanding tax liability. You may need to complete it if you're:
- An individual who owes income tax on Form 1040.
- An individual who may be a responsible person for a Trust Fund Recovery Penalty.
- An individual who may be personally responsible for a partnership liability.
- The individual owner of a limited liability company that's a disregarded entity.
- Self-employed, or have self-employment income, as a sole proprietor or independent contractor.
If your business is anything other than a sole proprietorship filing Schedule C, such as a partnership, corporation or multi-member LLC, line 52 sends the business to Form 433-B instead. The shorter Form 433-F is a different, simpler statement; 433-A is the one with the full section-by-section detail.
Which sections you fill in
| If you are | Complete |
|---|---|
| A wage earner | Sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, plus the signature line |
| Self-employed | Sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, plus the signature line |
| A wage earner with self-employment income | Sections 1 through 7, plus the signature line |
The form asks you to answer every question or write N/A, and to attach extra pages where the space runs out. For a joint liability, both spouses must sign.
What each section asks for
- Section 1, personal information: names, address, county, marital status, everyone in the household and any outside business interests.
- Section 2, employment: employer details, how long you've worked there and your pay period, for you and your spouse.
- Section 3, other financial information: expected changes in income, lawsuits, bankruptcy, time lived abroad in the past 10 years, trusts, safe deposit boxes, and any asset worth more than $10,000 you transferred for less than its full value in the past 10 years.
- Section 4, personal assets: cash, every bank account (including online and mobile accounts), investments and retirement accounts, digital assets, available credit, life insurance, real estate, vehicles and personal assets, foreign and domestic.
- Section 5, monthly income and expenses: gross income from every source and your living expenses, with the IRS allowable amount beside each.
- Sections 6 and 7, self-employed only: business details, payment processors, business accounts and assets, then an average monthly profit and loss.
The allowances the IRS uses for living costs
This is the part people miss. Your actual spending isn't automatically what the IRS accepts. Publication 1854 sets national standards for food, clothing and miscellaneous costs, effective 06/29/2026, and if you claim more you must verify and substantiate it.
| Household size | Monthly allowance for food, clothing and misc. |
|---|---|
| One person | $867 |
| Two persons | $1,558 |
| Three persons | $1,857 |
| Four persons | $2,176 |
| Each additional person | add $397 |
The publication's own example: a family of six adds $397 for each of the two people over four, which is $794, to the $2,176 four-person figure, giving $2,970. For out-of-pocket health care it allows $90 a person under 65 and $163 for those 65 and older. These figures are as of October 2026.
Small rules that trip people up
- Enter gross wages, not take-home pay. Withholding and deductions such as insurance or car payments go in living expenses instead.
- If you're paid twice a month, multiply one paycheck's gross by 2 to get the monthly figure.
- If net business income is a loss, enter 0 on the income line, never a negative number.
- List every bank account, even one with a zero balance, including payroll cards and stored value cards.
- Self-employed income and expenses use a typical period of the prior 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, and should reconcile with your profit and loss statement.
- Don't count a mortgage or car payment twice under secured debts.
Digital assets and foreign accounts
The June 2026 form asks about more than bank balances. Line 15 lists digital assets such as cryptocurrency, NFTs and smart contracts, with the exchange or wallet, where they're held and their value, plus the names of anyone with access to the private keys. Section 4 covers foreign and domestic assets alike, and Section 3 asks whether you hold a US passport, have dual citizenship, or have lived outside the US for 6 months or longer in the past 10 years.
Publication 1854 also tells you to include payment processors you use to take card payments, virtual currency wallets and exchanges, and intangible assets such as licences, domain names, patents and copyrights. Leaving out a PayPal account or a wallet isn't a small slip: it's a gap in a statement you've signed under penalties of perjury.
Expenses you enter yourself
Not every line has a national figure. You enter your own monthly amounts for housing and utilities, vehicle ownership and operating costs, public transportation, health insurance, court-ordered payments, child care, life insurance, current taxes and secured debts. To count, the IRS says an expense has to provide for the health and welfare of you and your family, or for the production of income, and be reasonable in amount. Other payments, such as student loans, may be allowed at minimum levels in some circumstances if you attach a list and an explanation.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
After you send it
The form warns that the IRS may ask for proof of the assets, debts, income and expenses you report, such as filed returns, pay statements, bank and investment statements, loan statements and bills. You sign under penalties of perjury, so every figure needs to be one you can back up. If the numbers point toward settling for less than you owe, the next form you'll meet is Form 656, the offer in compromise.
The verdict
Form 433-A isn't a formality. It's the document the IRS uses to decide what you can afford, and it compares your spending against its own standards rather than your bank statements. Gather six months of statements before you start, fill in only the sections that apply to you, and expect to be asked for proof of anything above the published allowances.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 433-A used for?
The IRS uses it to get the current financial information it needs to work out how a wage earner or self-employed individual can satisfy an outstanding tax liability.
Which sections of Form 433-A do I complete?
Wage earners complete Sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Self-employed individuals complete Sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. A wage earner with self-employment income completes Sections 1 through 7.
What is the food and clothing allowance on Form 433-A?
Publication 1854 sets it at $867 a month for one person, $1,558 for two, $1,857 for three and $2,176 for four, effective 06/29/2026.
Do business owners use Form 433-A or 433-B?
Sole proprietors filing Schedule C use Form 433-A. Partnerships, corporations and other business entities complete Form 433-B.
Do both spouses sign Form 433-A?
For joint income tax liabilities, both husband and wife must sign the statement.
