Key points
- Seven federal rates, from 10% to 37%.
- For a single filer, 12% starts at $12,400 and 22% at $50,400 of taxable income.
- Standard deduction: $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly and $24,150 head of household.
- Only the income above each threshold pays the higher rate.
What are the 2026 federal tax brackets?
The IRS set the 2026 brackets in Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 4.01. Each rate applies to taxable income above the threshold in its row, up to the next one.
| Rate | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 12% | $12,400 | $24,800 | $17,700 | $12,400 |
| 22% | $50,400 | $100,800 | $67,450 | $50,400 |
| 24% | $105,700 | $211,400 | $105,700 | $105,700 |
| 32% | $201,775 | $403,550 | $201,750 | $201,775 |
| 35% | $256,225 | $512,450 | $256,200 | $256,225 |
| 37% | $640,600 | $768,700 | $640,600 | $384,350 |
A qualifying surviving spouse uses the married filing jointly column. These are the brackets for tax year 2026, the return you file in 2027.
What is the standard deduction for 2026?
The standard deduction is what you subtract from income before the brackets apply, if you do not itemize. For 2026 it is:
- $16,100 for single filers and married filing separately (up from $15,750 for 2025).
- $32,200 for married filing jointly (up from $31,500).
- $24,150 for head of household (up from $23,625).
If you are 65 or older or blind, you add $2,050 per condition, or $1,650 if you are married. On top of that, the 2025 tax law created a senior deduction of $6,000 per person 65 or older for 2025 through 2028. It shrinks by 6% of income over $75,000 ($150,000 joint), and married couples must file jointly to claim it.
How do tax brackets work? Only the top slice pays the top rate
Your bracket is not the rate on all your income. Each rate taxes only the slice of taxable income that falls inside its row. Take a single filer with $75,000 of income:
- Taxable income: $75,000 − $16,100 standard deduction = $58,900.
- 10% of the first $12,400 = $1,240.
- 12% of the next $38,000 (up to $50,400) = $4,560.
- 22% of the last $8,500 = $1,870.
Tax = $1,240 + $4,560 + $1,870 = $7,670
This filer is in the 22% bracket but pays an effective 10.2% of income. You can run the same steps for your own numbers in the income tax calculator.
Worked examples for 2026
We ran these cases through our income tax calculator, with the standard deduction and all income treated as ordinary earned income:
| Case | Taxable income | Federal tax | Effective rate | Bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single, $75,000 | $58,900 | $7,670 | 10.2% | 22% |
| Head of household, $60,000 | $35,850 | $3,948 | 6.6% | 12% |
| Married filing jointly, $150,000 | $117,800 | $15,340 | 10.2% | 22% |
| Same couple with 2 children under 17 | $117,800 | $10,940 | 7.3% | 22% |
| Single, $200,000 | $183,900 | $36,734 | 18.4% | 24% |
The couple with children pays $4,400 less because the child tax credit is $2,200 per qualifying child in 2026. A credit comes off the tax itself, so it is worth more than a deduction of the same size.
What a raise really costs you in federal tax
Moving into a higher bracket never taxes the dollars you already earned at the new rate. Only the new dollars pay it. If the single filer above earns $76,000 instead of $75,000, the federal tax goes from $7,670 to $7,890: $220 more, 22% of the extra $1,000. The other $780 is still yours before payroll and state taxes.
The same logic works in reverse. A $1,000 contribution to a traditional 401(k) or another pre-tax deduction saves this filer $220 of federal income tax, because it comes off the top slice.
When will the 2027 tax brackets come out?
Not yet. As of October 18, 2026, the IRS has not published the 2027 inflation adjustments. They are expected in an IRS revenue procedure this fall, the same way the 2026 figures came out in Revenue Procedure 2025-32, released on October 9, 2025.
We do not publish projected 2027 brackets. Until the IRS releases the official numbers, plan with the 2026 table above: it is the one that applies to the return you file in 2027. One 2027 figure is already official, but it is a payroll tax, not an income tax bracket: the Social Security wage base rises to $192,300, per the SSA 2027 fact sheet.
What the brackets leave out
The brackets are only one part of your tax bill. Keep these apart:
- Social Security and Medicare are separate payroll taxes, 7.65% of most wages, with no standard deduction. See them line by line in our paycheck calculator.
- Self-employment tax applies to net earnings from your own business; the self-employment tax calculator figures it.
- Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends have their own rates, and the alternative minimum tax has its own rules.
- State and local income tax follows each state's rules.
Our examples are estimates for a typical return. For your actual return, use the IRS forms or a tax professional.
See the brackets applied to real salaries: $50,000 after taxes (12% bracket), $75,000 (partly in the 22% bracket) and $100,000, with a maxed-out 401(k).
Official sources
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32: 2026 inflation adjustments (tax brackets, standard deduction, credits) · sec. 4.01 tax brackets, 4.05 child tax credit, 4.14 standard deduction
- IRS: Working Families Tax Cuts, provisions for individuals and workers · 2025 and 2026 standard deduction and senior deduction
- 26 U.S.C. § 151: deduction for seniors (subsection (d)(5)(C)) · senior deduction, 2025-2028
- 26 U.S.C. § 24: child tax credit · child tax credit
- SSA: 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet · 2027 Social Security taxable maximum