General Finance
Tax Bracket Calculator
See which 2026 (or 2025) federal bracket your top dollar lands in, your effective rate, and exactly how much income is taxed at each rate.
Calculation inputs
Enter taxable income — the figure after deductions, not your gross pay.
Results
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Complete the fields and select Calculate to show results here.
Estimates only, not tax advice. Credits and special rates (such as capital gains) are not included. Source: IRS.gov.
About this calculator
This tool shows how 2026 (or 2025) federal income tax is built up bracket by bracket from your taxable income and filing status. It reports your marginal rate, your effective rate and the exact amount of income taxed at each rate.
How the calculation works
- Each bracket's tax = (income inside that bracket) × bracket rate
- Total tax = sum of every bracket's tax
- Effective rate = total tax ÷ taxable income
- Marginal rate = the rate of the highest bracket your income reaches
Notes and assumptions
Moving into a higher bracket only raises the rate on the dollars above the threshold, never on all your income.
Brackets come from IRS Revenue Procedures 2025-32 (2026) and 2024-40 (2025) and are adjusted for inflation every year.
How it works in plain English
The United States uses a progressive income tax. Instead of one rate for all income, taxable income is divided into bands called brackets, and each band has its own rate from 10 to 37 percent. The thresholds differ for single filers, married couples filing jointly and heads of household.
The tool starts at the bottom bracket and fills it with income up to its upper limit, taxing that slice at 10 percent. Anything left spills into the next bracket and is taxed at 12 percent, and so on, until all your income has been placed. The table shows how much lands in each band and what it costs.
Adding every slice gives your total federal tax. The marginal rate is the rate on your last, highest dollar, and it matters when you think about a raise or an extra deduction. The effective rate is total tax divided by taxable income, and it shows the share you actually pay overall. Because only the top slice is taxed at the highest rate, the effective rate is always lower than the marginal rate. Enter taxable income, meaning income after deductions, not gross pay.
The formula
- Tax in each bracket = income inside the bracket × bracket rate
- Total tax = Σ tax in each bracket
- Effective rate = total tax ÷ taxable income
Worked example
Suppose a single filer has $85,000 of taxable income in 2026.
The first $12,400 is taxed at 10 percent, costing $1,240. The next slice, from $12,400 to $50,400, holds $38,000 and is taxed at 12 percent, adding $4,560. The remaining $34,600, from $50,400 up to $85,000, falls in the 22 percent bracket and adds $7,612.
Total federal tax is $13,412. The marginal rate is 22 percent, because that is the rate on the last dollar earned. The effective rate is $13,412 divided by $85,000, which is about 15.8 percent, noticeably lower than the 22 percent headline rate. A $1,000 raise would add $220 of tax.
2026 federal income tax brackets
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 | $0 – $24,800 | $0 – $17,700 |
| 12% | $12,401 – $50,400 | $24,801 – $100,800 | $17,701 – $67,450 |
| 22% | $50,401 – $105,700 | $100,801 – $211,400 | $67,451 – $105,700 |
| 24% | $105,701 – $201,775 | $211,401 – $403,550 | $105,701 – $201,750 |
| 32% | $201,776 – $256,225 | $403,551 – $512,450 | $201,751 – $256,200 |
| 35% | $256,226 – $640,600 | $512,451 – $768,700 | $256,201 – $640,600 |
| 37% | Over $640,600 | Over $768,700 | Over $640,600 |
Source: IRS.gov, Revenue Procedure 2025-32, 2026 tax rate schedules. Thresholds are adjusted for inflation each year.
Frequently asked questions
Will moving into a higher bracket reduce my take-home pay?
No. Only the income above the new threshold is taxed at the higher rate; everything below it is still taxed at the lower rates. A raise that pushes you into the next bracket always leaves you with more money after tax, just slightly less of each extra dollar than before. This is one of the most common tax misunderstandings.
What is the difference between marginal and effective rate?
The marginal rate is the percentage charged on your next dollar of income, which is the rate of your highest bracket. The effective rate is your total tax divided by your taxable income, which blends all the brackets together. The effective rate is a better measure of your overall tax burden, while the marginal rate helps with decisions about extra income.
What is taxable income?
Taxable income is what remains after subtracting deductions from your total income. Most people take the standard deduction, which for 2026 is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for joint filers and $24,150 for heads of household. Some subtract itemized deductions instead. Pre-tax retirement savings and certain adjustments also reduce it before brackets apply.
Who can file as head of household?
Generally, you must be unmarried on the last day of the year, pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home, and have a qualifying person, such as a dependent child, live with you for more than half the year. The status offers wider brackets than single filing. The IRS website has a tool to check eligibility.
Does this include credits or capital gains?
No. The tool applies only the ordinary income tax brackets. Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed at separate rates of 0, 15 or 20 percent, and credits such as the Child Tax Credit reduce the tax bill afterward. Your final liability on a return can therefore be lower than the bracket total shown here.
Helpful next steps
- Salary & Paycheck Calculator — Estimate take-home pay per paycheck, including FICA.
- Retirement / 401k Savings Calculator — See how pre-tax 401(k) contributions grow over time.
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