2026 Federal Tax Brackets: How Much Do You Owe?

The 7 Marginal Tax Rates for 2026

The federal income tax system in the United States is progressive, meaning higher income is taxed at higher rates. For 2026, the seven marginal rates remain at the same percentages that have been in effect since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017: 10 percent, 12 percent, 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent, and 37 percent. What changes each year are the income thresholds (brackets) at which each rate begins, adjusted annually for inflation by the IRS based on the Chained Consumer Price Index (C-CPI-U).

A critical concept to understand is that these rates are marginal, not flat. If you are a single filer earning $50,000 in taxable income, you do not pay 22 percent on the entire $50,000. Instead, the first $11,925 is taxed at 10 percent, the next portion up to $48,475 is taxed at 12 percent, and only the remaining amount above $48,475 is taxed at 22 percent. This is why your effective (average) tax rate is always lower than your marginal bracket.

2026 Tax Brackets by Filing Status

The table below shows the projected 2026 income tax brackets for all four filing statuses. These thresholds are inflation-adjusted from the 2025 amounts published by the IRS.

Single Filers

Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)

Married Filing Separately (MFS)

Head of Household (HoH)

2026 Standard Deduction Amounts

Before applying the tax brackets above, you reduce your gross income by either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions — whichever is greater. For the vast majority of taxpayers (about 90 percent), the standard deduction is the better option. The 2026 standard deduction amounts, adjusted for inflation, are projected as follows.

Taxpayers who are blind or aged 65 and older qualify for an additional standard deduction: $1,600 for single filers and heads of household, or $1,300 per qualifying spouse for married filers. These additional amounts stack — a married couple where both spouses are over 65 receives an extra $2,600 combined on top of the $30,600 standard deduction.

Effective vs. Marginal Tax Rate: Why It Matters

The single most common misunderstanding in personal finance is confusing the marginal rate with the effective rate. Your marginal rate is the tax percentage applied to your last dollar of taxable income — it tells you the bracket you are in. Your effective rate is the average rate you actually pay, calculated by dividing total tax owed by total taxable income. The effective rate is always lower than the marginal rate because of the progressive bracket structure.

Why does this matter? People often say, "I am in the 22 percent bracket, so I lose 22 cents of every dollar." That is only true for dollars at the margin — the first $11,925 of income is taxed at only 10 percent regardless. Understanding this distinction affects decisions about Roth conversions, retirement contributions, side-income strategies, capital gains harvesting, and whether to accelerate or defer income across tax years.

Quick Reference: Effective Rate by Income (Single Filer)

Use our tax calculator to compute your exact federal tax liability, effective rate, and marginal bracket for 2026.

Step-by-Step: How to Calculate Your 2026 Federal Income Tax

Let us walk through a complete example for a single filer earning $85,000 in gross income with no dependents and no itemized deductions.

Step 1 — Determine gross income. Add up all income sources: wages, salary, tips, freelance income, investment income, rental income, and any other taxable income. In this example, gross income is $85,000.

Step 2 — Subtract above-the-line deductions. These include traditional IRA contributions, student loan interest (up to $2,500), health savings account (HSA) contributions, and self-employment tax deductions. Assume this filer contributes $3,000 to a traditional IRA. Adjusted gross income (AGI) = $85,000 - $3,000 = $82,000.

Step 3 — Subtract the standard deduction. For a single filer in 2026, the standard deduction is $15,300. Taxable income = $82,000 - $15,300 = $66,700.

Step 4 — Apply the tax brackets. Now apply the marginal rates to the taxable income of $66,700:

First $11,925 at 10% = $1,192.50. Next $36,550 ($11,926 to $48,475) at 12% = $4,386.00. Remaining $18,225 ($48,476 to $66,700) at 22% = $4,009.50.

Step 5 — Add the amounts. Total federal income tax = $1,192.50 + $4,386.00 + $4,009.50 = $9,588.00.

Step 6 — Calculate the effective rate. Effective tax rate = $9,588 / $66,700 = 14.4 percent. This filer is in the 22 percent marginal bracket but actually pays an average of 14.4 percent on their taxable income — or about 11.3 percent of their original $85,000 gross income.

Step 7 — Apply credits. Subtract any tax credits (child tax credit, education credits, energy credits, etc.) from the tax owed. Credits reduce tax dollar-for-dollar, making them more valuable than deductions. Refundable credits (like the Earned Income Tax Credit) can even result in a negative tax liability — a refund beyond what you paid in.

Use our take-home pay calculator to see your net pay after federal, state, and FICA taxes are applied to every paycheck.

FICA Taxes: Social Security and Medicare

Federal income tax is only one component of the taxes deducted from your paycheck. FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes fund Social Security and Medicare and are separate from income tax. For 2026, the FICA rates are as follows.

The Social Security wage base for 2026 is projected at $176,100, up from $168,600 in 2025. Earnings above this amount are not subject to the 6.2 percent Social Security tax. Medicare tax has no wage base limit — all earned income is subject to the 1.45 percent rate. High earners pay an additional 0.9 percent Medicare surtax on wages above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly).

For a single filer earning $85,000, FICA taxes total $85,000 x 7.65 percent = $6,502.50 on top of the $9,588 in federal income tax. Combined, this filer pays approximately $16,091 in federal taxes — about 18.9 percent of gross income. Use our paycheck calculator to see exactly how FICA and income tax reduce each paycheck.

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for 2026

The Alternative Minimum Tax is a parallel tax system designed to ensure high-income taxpayers with significant deductions still pay a minimum amount of tax. If your AMT liability exceeds your regular tax liability, you pay the difference as additional tax.

For 2026, the AMT exemption amounts are projected at $88,100 for single filers and $137,000 for married filing jointly. These exemptions phase out at higher income levels: the phaseout begins at $626,350 for single filers and $1,252,700 for married filing jointly. The AMT rate is 26 percent on AMT taxable income up to $248,300 and 28 percent on amounts above that threshold.

Most taxpayers do not owe AMT thanks to the significantly increased exemption amounts under the TCJA. However, AMT can still affect taxpayers who exercise incentive stock options (ISOs), have large state and local tax deductions (which are not deductible for AMT purposes), or claim significant depreciation deductions on real estate or business assets.

Key Changes from 2025 to 2026

Each year the IRS adjusts tax brackets, standard deductions, and various thresholds for inflation. The key changes for 2026 include inflation-adjusted bracket thresholds (approximately 2 to 3 percent higher than 2025), a higher standard deduction ($15,300 vs $15,000 for single filers), an increased Social Security wage base ($176,100 vs $168,600), and higher AMT exemption amounts.

The TCJA provisions are currently set to sunset after 2025 unless Congress acts to extend them. If the TCJA expires, the 2026 tax year could see significant changes including a return to pre-2018 rates (10, 15, 25, 28, 33, 35, and 39.6 percent), lower standard deductions, restoration of personal exemptions, and changes to the child tax credit amount. However, most projections assume Congress will extend or modify the TCJA provisions before they expire. The brackets in this guide assume the TCJA rates remain in effect for 2026.

Tax Planning Strategies Using the Brackets

Understanding where you fall in the bracket structure enables several powerful tax planning strategies.

Roth conversions: If you are in the 12 percent bracket with room before hitting 22 percent, you can convert traditional IRA funds to a Roth IRA and pay only 12 percent tax on the conversion — locking in a low rate forever. Many retirees use this "bracket filling" strategy in years with lower income.

Income timing: If you expect to be in a higher bracket next year (due to a raise, bonus, or sale of an asset), consider accelerating deductions into this year or deferring income to next year. Conversely, if you are in a low bracket this year, accelerating income (like exercising stock options) can take advantage of the lower rates.

Tax-loss harvesting: If you have capital losses, they offset capital gains dollar-for-dollar and up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year. This is most valuable when you are in a higher bracket, as each dollar of deduction saves you more in taxes.

Retirement contributions: Contributing to a traditional 401(k) or IRA reduces your taxable income at your marginal rate. For someone in the 24 percent bracket, a $23,500 401(k) contribution saves $5,640 in federal income tax alone.

Frequently Asked Questions