Form 8801 is how individuals, estates and trusts claim the minimum tax credit: a credit for alternative minimum tax (AMT) paid in an earlier year that was caused by deferral items, such as depreciation. On the 2025 form you look back at your 2024 AMT, strip out the part caused by exclusion items, and claim what's left against your 2025 regular tax, up to a limit. The credit goes on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 6b, and any unused amount carries forward to 2026.
Everything below comes from the 2025 Form 8801 and its 2025 instructions, as of October 2026.
Deferral items vs exclusion items
The whole form rests on one split. The instructions explain that AMT is caused by two kinds of adjustments and preferences:
| Type | What it does | Credit later? |
|---|---|---|
| Deferral items, for example depreciation | Generally don't cause a permanent difference in taxable income over time: they shift income between years | Yes. The minimum tax credit is allowed only for AMT caused by deferral items. |
| Exclusion items, for example the standard deduction | Cause a permanent difference | No |
Exclusion items are only these: certain itemized deductions (including investment interest expense reported on Schedule E), certain tax-exempt interest, depletion, the section 1202 exclusion, the standard deduction, and other adjustments related to exclusion items.
Here's the insight that saves people a wasted afternoon: if all of last year's AMT came from exclusion items, such as itemized deductions you couldn't use for AMT, Form 8801 will come out at zero. The AMT you paid on those items isn't coming back. Only the AMT tied to timing differences turns into a credit.
Who should file Form 8801 for 2025
Complete the form if you're an individual, estate or trust that for 2024 had any of these:
- An AMT liability and adjustments or preferences other than exclusion items
- A credit carryforward to 2025, shown on line 26 of your 2024 Form 8801
- An unallowed qualified electric vehicle credit
Then there's a simple test: file Form 8801 only if line 21 is more than zero. If it isn't, you have no credit to claim and nothing to attach.
How the form is laid out
| Part | What it works out |
|---|---|
| Part I, lines 1 to 15 | Net minimum tax on exclusion items: your 2024 AMT recalculated as if exclusion items were the only adjustments |
| Part II, lines 16 to 26 | The minimum tax credit itself and the carryforward to 2026 |
| Part III, lines 27 onward | Tax using maximum capital gains rates, completed only if line 11 or the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet tells you to |
In Part I, line 2 pulls the exclusion items from your 2024 Form 6251: combine lines 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2g and 2h, and if you didn't file Schedule A in 2024, include your 2024 standard deduction. Estates and trusts skip lines 1 to 3 and use a 2024 Schedule I (Form 1041) as a worksheet instead, keeping that worksheet for their records rather than attaching it.
Working out the credit in Part II
- Lines 16 to 18 take your 2024 AMT from Form 6251, line 11, and subtract the net minimum tax on exclusion items from line 15. What's left is the AMT caused by deferral items.
- Line 21 adds that to your 2024 credit carryforward (line 19) and any unallowed qualified electric vehicle credit (line 20).
- Line 22 is your 2025 regular income tax liability minus allowable credits.
- Line 23 is the tentative minimum tax from your 2025 Form 6251, line 9 (or Schedule I, line 52, for estates and trusts).
- Line 24 is line 22 minus line 23, never below zero.
- Line 25, the credit, is the smaller of line 21 or line 24. Enter it on Schedule 3, line 6b, or Form 1041, Schedule G, line 2c.
- Line 26 is the carryforward to 2026: line 21 minus line 25. Keep a record of it.
That line 24 limit explains why the credit often trickles back over several years. You can only use it in a year when your regular tax is higher than your tentative minimum tax, so a taxpayer who's still in AMT territory this year may get little or nothing now and the rest later.
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Figures the instructions give for special cases
- Married filing separately for 2024 with line 4 over $875,950: you add an extra amount on line 4, which is 25% of the excess, up to $66,650 once line 4 reaches $1,142,550.
- The Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet uses 26% on amounts up to $232,600 ($116,300 married filing separately) and 28% above that, minus $4,652 ($2,326 married filing separately).
- A 2024 Form 1040-NR filer with a net gain on US real property interests can't have line 10 below the smaller of that gain or line 4.
These are all as printed in the 2025 instructions, as of October 2026.
Practical checklist
- Find your 2024 Form 6251 and, if you had one, your 2024 Form 8801.
- Pull the exclusion item lines from the 2024 Form 6251 into Form 8801, line 2.
- Complete Part I to see how much of last year's AMT came from exclusion items.
- Complete Part II with your 2025 figures and stop if line 21 is zero or less.
- Carry line 25 to Schedule 3 and note line 26 for next year.
The verdict
If you paid AMT last year because of depreciation or other timing items, Form 8801 is where you get it back, and missing it means leaving a credit on the table for years. If your AMT came from exclusion items alone, don't expect anything. Either way, keep every Form 6251 and Form 8801: next year's credit is built from this year's paperwork.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 8801 used for?
Individuals, estates and trusts use it to figure the minimum tax credit for AMT incurred in prior tax years and any credit carryforward to 2026.
Do you get alternative minimum tax back?
Only the part caused by deferral items, such as depreciation. AMT caused by exclusion items, such as the standard deduction, doesn't create a credit.
Where does the Form 8801 credit go?
The credit on line 25 goes on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 6b, or Form 1041, Schedule G, line 2c.
When should you not file Form 8801?
The instructions say to file Form 8801 only if line 21 is more than zero.
Can the minimum tax credit be carried forward?
Yes. Line 26 shows the credit carryforward to 2026, which is line 21 minus the credit used on line 25.
