Federal Tax Brackets 2026 and 2025: Rates for Every Filing Status

Federal tax brackets 2026: seven rates from 10% to 37%

The federal tax brackets for 2026 keep seven rates, 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%, with every income band raised for inflation. According to the IRS release of October 9, 2025 (IR-2025-103), the 37% rate starts above $640,600 of taxable income for single filers and above $768,700 for married couples filing jointly. The full tables are in Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 4.01.

The 2026 brackets apply to income you earn from January 1 to December 31, 2026, and to the return you file in early 2027. Your employer already uses them to set the federal tax taken from each 2026 paycheck. See what they mean for your own pay with the US paycheck calculator, which runs the 2026 brackets for single, joint and head of household filers.

Each figure is taxable income, not salary. The first $12,400 of a single filer's taxable income is taxed at 10% whatever they earn in total, the next $38,000 at 12%, and so on up the table. Married filing separately matches single up to $256,225; its 37% band then starts at $384,350, half the joint figure.

Federal tax brackets 2025: the rates for the return you file in 2026

The 2025 federal tax brackets use the same seven rates, with lower income bands, and they apply to the 2025 return due in April 2026. According to Revenue Procedure 2024-40, the 37% rate for 2025 starts above $626,350 for single filers and above $751,600 for married couples filing jointly. The IRS page on federal income tax rates and brackets, last reviewed July 27, 2026, shows the same 2025 single and joint figures.

The seven rates are now permanent. According to section 2.01 of Revenue Procedure 2025-32, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, July 4, 2025) made permanent the rate tables that were due to expire after 2025, so "the existing seven tax rates" remain. Pages written before mid-2025 that warn of higher rates from 2026 are out of date.

Standard deductions for 2026 and 2025, and the mid-2025 change

The standard deduction for 2026 is $16,100 for single filers and married people filing separately, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $24,150 for heads of household, according to Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 4.14. You subtract it from your income before any bracket applies, so it works like a 0% band at the bottom of the table.

The 2025 figures changed part way through the year. The IRS first announced $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for joint filers on October 22, 2024 (IR-2024-273). The One Big Beautiful Bill Act then raised them to $15,750 and $31,500, and section 3.01 of Revenue Procedure 2025-32 formally replaced the old amounts. If a table you are reading still shows $15,000 for 2025, it predates the law change.

People aged 65 or over can also claim a separate deduction of up to $6,000 each for 2025 to 2028. According to the IRS, it phases out once modified adjusted gross income passes $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers. More on how the deduction works is in the glossary entry for the standard deduction.

How tax brackets work: only the income inside each band pays that band's rate

US tax brackets are marginal: each rate applies only to the slice of taxable income that falls inside its band, never to your whole income. The IRS puts it plainly: when your income moves into a higher bracket, you pay the higher rate "only on the part that's in the new tax bracket".

This gives you two different rates to know:

• Your marginal tax rate is the rate on your top dollar of taxable income, which is the bracket people mean when they say "I'm in the 22% bracket". It tells you how much of a raise, bonus or extra shift goes in federal income tax.
• Your effective tax rate is your total federal income tax divided by your income. It is always lower than your marginal rate, because the lower bands are taxed at 10% and 12%.

The brackets use taxable income, which is your gross income less pre-tax deductions such as a traditional 401(k), then less the standard deduction or your itemized deductions. So the answer to "are tax brackets based on gross income" is no: they start after those subtractions.

Worked example: federal tax on a $75,000 salary for a single filer in 2026

A single filer earning $75,000 in 2026, with no 401(k) or other pre-tax deductions, pays $7,670 in federal income tax, an effective rate of 10.23% of salary. These figures come from the site's US paycheck engine, and you can reproduce them in the US paycheck calculator by entering $75,000, single, 0% 401(k) and no dependants.

First the standard deduction: $75,000 minus $16,100 leaves taxable income of $58,900. That $58,900 then fills the brackets from the bottom.

This person is in the 22% bracket, but only $8,500 of their income is taxed at 22%. Their effective federal income tax rate is 13.02% of taxable income and 10.23% of their $75,000 salary. On a biweekly schedule, that is about $295 of federal tax a paycheck.

The same $75,000 salary in 2025 would have carried $7,949 of federal income tax: taxable income of $59,250 after the $15,750 standard deduction, taxed at the 2025 rates. The higher 2026 deduction and wider bands cut the bill by $279.

Social Security and Medicare are extra: $4,650 and $1,087.50 on $75,000. They are payroll taxes, not part of the brackets.

Tax bracket myths that cost people money

The most common bracket myth is that a raise into a higher bracket makes your whole salary taxable at the new rate, and it is false. Only the dollars above the bracket line pay the higher rate.

Myth 1: "A raise could leave me with less take-home pay"

A single filer on $66,500 has taxable income of exactly $50,400 in 2026, the top of the 12% band, and pays $5,800 in federal income tax. A $1,000 raise to $67,500 pushes $1,000 into the 22% band. According to the site's US paycheck engine, federal tax rises to $6,020, so the raise costs $220 in income tax plus $76.50 in Social Security and Medicare. Before any state tax, the worker keeps $703.50 of the $1,000. The $50,400 below the line is taxed exactly as before.

Myth 2: "Tax brackets include Social Security and Medicare"

The brackets cover federal income tax only. Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) are separate payroll taxes, together called FICA, charged from your first dollar of wages with no standard deduction.

Myth 3: "My bonus is taxed at a higher bracket"

A bonus is ordinary income and ends up taxed at your normal marginal rate on your return. What differs is withholding: according to IRS Publication 15 (2026), employers may withhold a flat 22% on supplemental wages, or 37% on the part of supplemental wages over $1 million in a year. If 22% is more than your real marginal rate, the difference comes back as a refund.

Myth 4: "Brackets change per paycheck"

Brackets are annual. Your employer annualizes each paycheck to estimate withholding, which is why a single large paycheck can look heavily taxed. The full method is in our guide to how much federal tax is withheld from your paycheck.

Myth 5: "Married couples always get brackets exactly double the single ones"

Joint brackets are exactly double the single brackets up to the top of the 32% band, and not above it. For 2026, the joint 32% band ends at $512,450, twice the single $256,225, but the joint 37% rate starts at $768,700, well under twice the single $640,600. Two high earners with more than $512,450 of joint taxable income can pay more married than they would as two single filers.

How to know which tax bracket you are in

You find your tax bracket by working out your taxable income and finding the band it falls in for your filing status. Take these steps:

1. Start with your expected gross pay for the year, including bonuses and overtime.
2. Subtract pre-tax payroll deductions, such as traditional 401(k) contributions and health premiums taken before tax.
3. Subtract the standard deduction for your filing status ($16,100 single for 2026), or your itemized deductions if they are larger.
4. Find the result in the 2026 table above. The band it falls in is your marginal rate.

For a single filer with no pre-tax deductions, the 2026 bracket lines translate into these salaries: the 12% band starts above $28,500, the 22% band above $66,500, the 24% band above $121,800 and the 32% band above $217,875. Each figure is the bracket line plus the $16,100 standard deduction.

Tax brackets do not change with age, but people aged 65 or over get the extra standard deduction shown above, which lowers taxable income. A qualifying surviving spouse uses the joint table: Revenue Procedure 2025-32 lists surviving spouses under the same 2026 brackets and standard deduction as married couples filing jointly.

Capital gains have their own brackets: 0%, 15% and 20%

Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20%, depending on your total taxable income. According to Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 4.03, for 2026 the 0% rate applies up to $49,450 of taxable income for single filers and $98,900 for joint filers, and the 15% rate up to $545,500 single and $613,700 joint. Above those amounts the rate is 20%.

According to IRS Topic 409, a gain is long-term only if you held the asset for more than one year; gains on assets held one year or less are taxed at the ordinary brackets above. For 2025 the 0% limit was $48,350 single and $96,700 joint. Work out the tax on a sale with the capital gains tax calculator.

State income tax is charged on top of the federal brackets

State income tax is a separate charge with its own rates, and the federal brackets say nothing about it. Some states use a flat rate, some use their own brackets, and some charge no tax on wages at all. The paycheck pages for each state show the 2026 state tax alongside the federal brackets for a range of salaries.

To see both together for your own salary, enter your pay, filing status and state in the US paycheck calculator. If your result shows more federal tax than your paychecks are withholding, the federal withholding guide explains how to fix it on Form W-4 before the end of 2026.