Wealthy Pot2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates
There are seven federal tax brackets for 2026: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. For a single filer the 12% rate starts at $12,400 of taxable income and the top 37% rate starts at $640,600; for married couples filing jointly the 37% rate starts at $768,700. The standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married filing jointly. Every figure on this page comes from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, and this guide adds the full tax tables, a calculator, what changed from 2025, and the one thing most people get wrong: your top bracket is not the rate you actually pay.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- Seven rates for 2026: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%.
- Standard deduction: $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household.
- Top rate starts at $640,600 of taxable income (single) and $768,700 (married filing jointly).
- The bottom two brackets got a bigger raise than the rest. The 10% and 12% ceilings rose about 4.0% for 2026; every threshold above them rose about 2.3%. That gap is written into the statute, not an accident of rounding.
- The rates are now permanent. They no longer expire after 2025.
- Because the system is marginal, only the income inside each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate, so your effective rate is always lower than your top bracket.
Estimate Your Tax
Enter your income and filing status. The calculator applies the 2026 standard deduction, runs your income through the brackets, and shows your total tax, your top bracket, your effective rate, and your take-home. Expand the table to see every bracket for your status.
The 2026 Tax Brackets
These are the 2026 federal income tax brackets, the ordinary-income rates for tax year 2026 by filing status, taken directly from the IRS tax rate tables in Rev. Proc. 2025-32. The dollar figures are taxable income, your income after the standard (or itemized) deduction, not your gross pay.
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 | $0 – $24,800 | $0 – $17,700 | $0 – $12,400 |
| 12% | $12,400 – $50,400 | $24,800 – $100,800 | $17,700 – $67,450 | $12,400 – $50,400 |
| 22% | $50,400 – $105,700 | $100,800 – $211,400 | $67,450 – $105,700 | $50,400 – $105,700 |
| 24% | $105,700 – $201,775 | $211,400 – $403,550 | $105,700 – $201,750 | $105,700 – $201,775 |
| 32% | $201,775 – $256,225 | $403,550 – $512,450 | $201,750 – $256,200 | $201,775 – $256,225 |
| 35% | $256,225 – $640,600 | $512,450 – $768,700 | $256,200 – $640,600 | $256,225 – $384,350 |
| 37% | over $640,600 | over $768,700 | over $640,600 | over $384,350 |
Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.01, Tables 1 to 4. Figures are taxable income.
Estates and trusts use a separate, compressed table: 10% up to $3,300, 24% to $11,700, 35% to $16,000, and 37% above that.
Planning ahead? See our 2027 tax brackets estimate, calculated with the same inflation formula until the IRS publishes the official figures.
2026 Tax Tables: What You Actually Owe
The bracket table tells you your rate. The tax tables below tell you the dollar amount, and they are the form the IRS itself publishes: a fixed base amount for everything below your bracket, plus the bracket rate on the part above. Find the row your taxable income falls in and do one multiplication.
Single filers
| If taxable income is | The tax is |
|---|---|
| Not over $12,400 | 10% of taxable income |
| $12,400 to $50,400 | $1,240 plus 12% of the excess over $12,400 |
| $50,400 to $105,700 | $5,800 plus 22% of the excess over $50,400 |
| $105,700 to $201,775 | $17,966 plus 24% of the excess over $105,700 |
| $201,775 to $256,225 | $41,024 plus 32% of the excess over $201,775 |
| $256,225 to $640,600 | $58,448 plus 35% of the excess over $256,225 |
| Over $640,600 | $192,979.25 plus 37% of the excess over $640,600 |
Married filing jointly and surviving spouses
| If taxable income is | The tax is |
|---|---|
| Not over $24,800 | 10% of taxable income |
| $24,800 to $100,800 | $2,480 plus 12% of the excess over $24,800 |
| $100,800 to $211,400 | $11,600 plus 22% of the excess over $100,800 |
| $211,400 to $403,550 | $35,932 plus 24% of the excess over $211,400 |
| $403,550 to $512,450 | $82,048 plus 32% of the excess over $403,550 |
| $512,450 to $768,700 | $116,896 plus 35% of the excess over $512,450 |
| Over $768,700 | $206,583.50 plus 37% of the excess over $768,700 |
Heads of household
| If taxable income is | The tax is |
|---|---|
| Not over $17,700 | 10% of taxable income |
| $17,700 to $67,450 | $1,770 plus 12% of the excess over $17,700 |
| $67,450 to $105,700 | $7,740 plus 22% of the excess over $67,450 |
| $105,700 to $201,750 | $16,155 plus 24% of the excess over $105,700 |
| $201,750 to $256,200 | $39,207 plus 32% of the excess over $201,750 |
| $256,200 to $640,600 | $56,631 plus 35% of the excess over $256,200 |
| Over $640,600 | $191,171 plus 37% of the excess over $640,600 |
Married filing separately
| If taxable income is | The tax is |
|---|---|
| Not over $12,400 | 10% of taxable income |
| $12,400 to $50,400 | $1,240 plus 12% of the excess over $12,400 |
| $50,400 to $105,700 | $5,800 plus 22% of the excess over $50,400 |
| $105,700 to $201,775 | $17,966 plus 24% of the excess over $105,700 |
| $201,775 to $256,225 | $41,024 plus 32% of the excess over $201,775 |
| $256,225 to $384,350 | $58,448 plus 35% of the excess over $256,225 |
| Over $384,350 | $103,291.75 plus 37% of the excess over $384,350 |
Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.01. Married filing separately matches single filers through the 32% bracket, then reaches the top rate far sooner, at $384,350 instead of $640,600.
How Marginal Tax Really Works
The most common tax myth: "I got a raise into the next bracket, so I'll take home less." That's not how it works. The U.S. uses a marginal system, each slice of your income is taxed only at the rate for the bracket it falls in. Moving into a higher bracket only raises the rate on the dollars above that line, never on the income below it.
A single filer with $75,000 taxable income
Total tax $11,212. Top bracket 22%. Effective rate 14.9% of taxable income. That filer had about $91,100 in gross pay before the $16,100 standard deduction, so the same tax bill is 12.3% of gross. Both numbers are real; they just use different denominators.
The tax table above gives the identical answer in one line: $5,800 plus 22% of ($75,000 − $50,400) = $11,212.
This is why your effective rate is always below your marginal rate, your top bracket. A raise is always worth taking, you keep most of every extra dollar, and all of the dollars below the new bracket are unaffected. Two related myths worth retiring: brackets are not only a concern for high earners, since everyone's first dollars are taxed in the 10% band; and self-employment does not exempt you from brackets, it adds self-employment tax on top of them.
The 2026 Standard Deduction
Before any bracket applies, you subtract the standard deduction, unless your itemized deductions are larger. For 2026 it rose to:
| Filing status | 2026 standard deduction | 2025 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $16,100 | $15,750 | +$350 |
| Married filing jointly | $32,200 | $31,500 | +$700 |
| Head of household | $24,150 | $23,625 | +$525 |
| Married filing separately | $16,100 | $15,750 | +$350 |
So a single filer earning $60,000 has just $43,900 in taxable income after the standard deduction, and the brackets apply only to that. The large majority of taxpayers take the standard deduction rather than itemizing.
Three add-ons sit alongside it for 2026:
- Age 65 or older, or blind: an extra $1,650 per qualifying condition, rising to $2,050 if you are unmarried and not a surviving spouse.
- The $6,000 senior deduction: for tax years 2025 through 2028 only, anyone age 65 or older may deduct an additional $6,000 per qualifying individual, so $12,000 for a couple where both qualify. It phases out above modified AGI of $75,000 ($150,000 joint), and you can claim it whether or not you itemize. This is on top of the $1,650 above, not instead of it.
- Dependents: if someone else can claim you, your standard deduction is capped at the greater of $1,350 or your earned income plus $450.
2025 vs 2026: What Changed
The seven rates are identical. What moved is the income at which each one starts, and it did not move evenly.
| Rate | Single, 2025 | Single, 2026 | Threshold rise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $11,925 | $0 – $12,400 | +4.0% |
| 12% | $11,925 – $48,475 | $12,400 – $50,400 | +4.0% |
| 22% | $48,475 – $103,350 | $50,400 – $105,700 | +2.3% |
| 24% | $103,350 – $197,300 | $105,700 – $201,775 | +2.3% |
| 32% | $197,300 – $250,525 | $201,775 – $256,225 | +2.3% |
| 35% | $250,525 – $626,350 | $256,225 – $640,600 | +2.3% |
| 37% | over $626,350 | over $640,600 | +2.3% |
| Rate | Married filing jointly, 2025 | Married filing jointly, 2026 | Threshold rise |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $23,850 | $0 – $24,800 | +4.0% |
| 12% | $23,850 – $96,950 | $24,800 – $100,800 | +4.0% |
| 22% | $96,950 – $206,700 | $100,800 – $211,400 | +2.3% |
| 24% | $206,700 – $394,600 | $211,400 – $403,550 | +2.3% |
| 32% | $394,600 – $501,050 | $403,550 – $512,450 | +2.3% |
| 35% | $501,050 – $751,600 | $512,450 – $768,700 | +2.3% |
| 37% | over $751,600 | over $768,700 | +2.3% |
Why the bottom two brackets got a bigger raise. Since 2018 the bracket tables have been indexed under a rule in section 1(j)(3)(B)(i) that substitutes 2017 for 2016 as the base year, which quietly slowed how fast every threshold grew. The One Big Beautiful Bill narrowed that rule so it now applies "solely for purposes of determining the dollar amounts at which any rate bracket higher than 12 percent ends and at which any rate bracket higher than 22 percent begins." The ceilings of the 10% and 12% brackets fall outside that description, so they went back to the earlier base year and picked up an extra year of cumulative inflation. That is the whole reason the top of the 12% bracket rose about 4.0% while the top of the 22% bracket rose about 2.3%. The change first applies to tax years beginning after 2025.
In practice it means a modest but real cut for anyone whose income sits inside the first two brackets, and roughly ordinary indexation for everyone above. The standard deduction rose 2.2% across all statuses, and the 0% capital gains ceiling rose about 2.3%.
2026 Capital Gains Tax Brackets
Long-term capital gains, on assets held more than a year, get their own, lower rates: 0%, 15%, or 20%. The 2026 breakpoints, the taxable-income levels where each rate ends, are:
| Filing status | 0% rate up to | 15% rate up to | 20% rate above |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | $49,450 | $545,500 | $545,500 |
| Married filing jointly | $98,900 | $613,700 | $613,700 |
| Head of household | $66,200 | $579,600 | $579,600 |
| Married filing separately | $49,450 | $306,850 | $306,850 |
| Estates and trusts | $3,300 | $16,250 | $16,250 |
That 0% band is real: a married couple with taxable income under $98,900 in 2026 can realize long-term gains and owe zero federal tax on them, a legal and powerful planning tool. Short-term gains, on assets held a year or less, do not get these rates; they are taxed as ordinary income at the brackets above. Our guide to capital gains tax works through the holding-period rules and the offsetting of losses.
The Other 2026 IRS Numbers
Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets more than the brackets. The figures below are the ones most likely to touch a normal return, all for tax year 2026.
| Item | 2026 amount |
|---|---|
| Child Tax Credit | $2,200 maximum, of which $1,700 is refundable |
| Earned Income Tax Credit, maximum | $8,231 (three or more children), $7,316 (two), $4,427 (one), $664 (none) |
| AMT exemption | $140,200 joint, $90,100 single, $70,100 filing separately |
| AMT 28% rate starts above | $244,500 of excess taxable income ($122,250 filing separately) |
| Qualified business income (199A) threshold | $403,500 joint, $201,750 all other returns |
| Annual gift tax exclusion | $19,000 per recipient, unchanged from 2025 |
| Estate tax basic exclusion | $15,000,000 per decedent |
| Health FSA salary reduction limit | $3,400, with a $680 carryover |
| Kiddie tax threshold | $1,350 |
| Adoption credit | $17,670 maximum, $5,120 of it refundable |
Two of those deserve a flag. The estate exclusion jumped from $13,990,000 in 2025 to $15,000,000, and that was legislation rather than indexation: the One Big Beautiful Bill set the figure directly, with inflation adjustments resuming for 2027. The gift exclusion did not move at all, staying at $19,000, because the rounding rule holds it at $1,000 increments.
Retirement contribution limits come from a separate IRS notice, not this revenue procedure. They are covered in our guides to the 2026 401(k) limits and the 2026 IRA and Roth limits.
State Taxes Are Separate
Everything above is federal. Most states levy their own income tax on top, with their own brackets, their own deductions and their own rules about what counts as income. Broadly they fall into three groups:
- Progressive brackets, structured like the federal system, in states such as California and New York.
- A single flat rate on all income, as in Colorado.
- No income tax at all, as in Texas and Florida, where the revenue comes from sales and property taxes instead.
Two consequences worth planning around. Your true marginal rate is the federal rate plus the state rate, which can add ten points or more at the top in a high-tax state. And some cities and counties add their own income tax on top of both, so check the local rate before treating a move as a tax cut.
Sources & Methodology
Every figure on this page was read directly from the primary source named below, not from a secondary summary. Verify against IRS.gov before making tax decisions.
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32: the official source for the 2026 rate tables (section 4.01), standard deduction (4.14), capital gains breakpoints (4.03), AMT (4.10), EITC (4.06) and the rest of the 2026 figures. Its section 3.01 also restates the 2025 standard deduction.
- IRS newsroom, 2026 inflation adjustments: the IRS summary of the same figures, including the One Big Beautiful Bill amendments.
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40: the 2025 rate tables and capital gains breakpoints used in the comparison section.
- Public Law 119-21: section 70101 for the permanence of the rates and the quoted amendment to the bracket indexing rule, section 70103 for the senior deduction.
- IRS Fact Sheet FS-2025-03: the $6,000 senior deduction, its per-person basis and its phase-out.
- The calculator subtracts the 2026 standard deduction for your filing status, then applies the marginal brackets above. It covers ordinary income only and excludes state tax, FICA, credits, itemized deductions, capital gains, and other adjustments. An estimate, not a filing.
This article is for general education only and is not tax advice. Individual situations vary widely and the rules are complex. Consult a qualified tax professional or IRS.gov before making decisions based on these figures.
FAQ: 2026 Tax Brackets
What are the 2026 federal income tax brackets?
For tax year 2026 there are seven rates, 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. The 37% top rate starts at taxable income over $640,600 for single filers and over $768,700 for married couples filing jointly. Because the system is marginal, each rate applies only to the income inside its bracket. See the full table by filing status above.
What is the 2026 standard deduction?
For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and married filing separately, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household. You subtract it from your income before the brackets apply, unless your itemized deductions are larger.
What are the 2026 tax brackets for married filing jointly?
For married filing jointly: 10% up to $24,800; 12% to $100,800; 22% to $211,400; 24% to $403,550; 32% to $512,450; 35% to $768,700; and 37% on taxable income above $768,700. These are the same seven rates as other filers, just with wider thresholds.
How do I calculate my 2026 federal tax?
Subtract your standard or itemized deduction from your income to get taxable income, then use the tax table for your filing status. A single filer with $75,000 taxable income owes $5,800 plus 22% of the amount over $50,400, which is $11,212. The calculator above does it for you.
How did the 2026 brackets change from 2025?
The rates are unchanged. The thresholds for the 10% and 12% brackets rose about 4.0%, while every threshold above them rose about 2.3%, because the One Big Beautiful Bill narrowed the indexing rule that had been holding bracket growth down. The standard deduction rose 2.2%.
When do the 2026 tax brackets take effect?
They apply to tax year 2026, meaning income earned during the 2026 calendar year, on the return you file in early 2027. The 2025 brackets still govern the return you file in early 2026.
How much can I earn before paying long-term capital gains tax in 2026?
The 0% long-term capital gains rate applies up to $49,450 of taxable income for single filers and $98,900 for married filing jointly in 2026. Below those levels you can owe zero federal tax on qualifying long-term gains. Above them the 15% rate applies, then 20% at the highest incomes.
Is there an extra deduction for seniors in 2026?
Yes, two of them. Anyone 65 or older gets the long-standing additional standard deduction of $1,650 ($2,050 if unmarried and not a surviving spouse), and separately a temporary $6,000 senior deduction per qualifying individual that runs through 2028 and phases out above $75,000 of modified AGI ($150,000 joint).
Did the tax brackets change for 2026?
The seven rates stayed the same, but the income thresholds for each bracket rose, and the standard deduction increased. The One Big Beautiful Bill (P.L. 119-21) also made the 10% to 37% rate structure permanent, so it no longer expires after 2025.
Cite This Page
Journalists, educators, and bloggers are welcome to cite this guide. Please link back so readers can reach the calculator and primary sources.
“2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates.” Wealthy Pot, 2026. https://wealthypot.com/2026-tax-brackets/
Want an interactive element for your readers? Our 2026 tax calculator and budget calculator are free and embeddable with a one-line snippet.
