What's considered a reportable interest on Schedule B, Part 1, line 5?

Schedule B, Part 1, line 5 is where you report the total of all your taxable interest income. Yes, you should include interest from regular savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit (CDs) - all of the examples you mentioned should be included in your total. Any financial institution that paid you $10 or more in interest during the tax year should send you a Form 1099-INT showing how much interest you earned. Even if you didn't receive a 1099-INT (maybe because you earned less than $10 from a particular source), you still need to report all taxable interest on your tax return. Don't worry too much about making a small mistake here - the IRS computers will match the 1099-INTs reported to them against what you report. If there's a discrepancy, they'll usually just send a letter proposing an adjustment rather than immediately jumping to "angry letters.

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Don't forget about foreign accounts! If you have more than $1,500 in interest/dividends from foreign financial accounts, you MUST file Schedule B, even if you wouldn't otherwise need to. And if your foreign accounts total more than $10,000 at any point during the year, you also need to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR). Made that mistake my first year with an overseas account and it was a nightmare to fix.

Stupid question maybe, but do I even need to file schedule B if my total interest is only like $60? I got a 1099-INT from my bank but the tax software I'm using is asking if I want to add Schedule B and I'm not sure if it's necessary.

Just to add some clarity for everyone here - the $1,500 threshold that Alexander mentioned is specifically for when you're REQUIRED to file Schedule B. However, you can still choose to file it even if your interest is under $1,500 if you want to itemize your interest sources for your own records. For Natalie's original question: Yes, include ALL three amounts you mentioned - the $12 savings interest, $45 money market interest, and $200 CD interest. That totals $257, which you'd report on your main tax form. Since it's under $1,500, you technically don't need Schedule B unless you have foreign accounts or want the detailed breakdown for your records. One tip: Keep all your 1099-INT forms together when you file. Even though the amounts seem small, they all add up and the IRS will have copies of these forms, so you want to make sure your reported total matches what they have on file.

Great thread everyone! I'm also dealing with Schedule B for the first time and had a related question - what about interest from municipal bonds? I have some tax-free municipal bonds that earned about $85 this year. Do I need to report this anywhere on Schedule B or my tax return? I know it's supposed to be tax-free but I'm not sure if it still needs to be reported somewhere for informational purposes. Also, does anyone know if interest from Treasury bills (T-bills) gets reported the same way as regular bank interest? I have a few that matured this year and want to make sure I'm categorizing everything correctly.