For 2026, the head of household tax thresholds start with a $24,150 standard deduction and seven brackets running from 10% up to 37% at $640,600 of taxable income. The credit and surtax thresholds that matter most cluster at three income levels: $80,000 (where education credits begin to phase out), $200,000 (where the Child Tax Credit starts to shrink and both high-earner surtaxes activate), and $500,000 (where the Alternative Minimum Tax exemption begins to phase out).1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
Who the Thresholds Apply To
Every number below assumes you actually qualify for head of household status. That means on the last day of the tax year you were unmarried or considered unmarried, you paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home, and a qualifying person lived with you for more than half the year.2Internal Revenue Service. Head of Household Filing Status A dependent parent is the one exception to the residency requirement: if your qualifying person is a parent you support, they don’t have to live in your home, but you still need to pay more than half the cost of theirs.
If the IRS reclassifies you as single later, your brackets narrow, your standard deduction drops by thousands, and any credits claimed at head-of-household thresholds can be clawed back with penalties.
2026 Standard Deduction and Tax Brackets
The standard deduction for head of household filers in 2026 is $24,150, which comes off your income before you calculate tax.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill That is $8,050 more than the single filer deduction of $16,100.
Taxable income after the deduction runs through seven brackets:3Tax Foundation. 2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates
- 10% on the first $17,700
- 12% from $17,701 to $67,450
- 22% from $67,451 to $105,700
- 24% from $105,701 to $201,775
- 32% from $201,776 to $256,200
- 35% from $256,201 to $640,600
- 37% on everything above $640,600
Each rate applies only to income within its band, not to your total.
Child Tax Credit Thresholds
The 2026 Child Tax Credit is worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child under 17, with up to $1,700 per child refundable through the Additional Child Tax Credit.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 24 – Child Tax Credit The Credit for Other Dependents adds $500 per qualifying relative who doesn’t meet the age rule, but that piece is non-refundable.5Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
The phase-out starts at $200,000 of modified adjusted gross income. Above that, the credit shrinks by $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction of $1,000) of MAGI over the threshold.5Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit At $215,000, a filer loses $750 in total credit. The credit disappears completely at $244,000 of MAGI for a filer with one child, and later for filers with more children. The $200,000 starting point is set by statute and doesn’t move with inflation.
EITC Income Limits
The Earned Income Tax Credit is fully refundable. For 2026, the maximum EITC for a head of household filer with three or more qualifying children is $8,231.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill The 2026 AGI ceilings by number of children appear in Revenue Procedure 2025-32; the most recent posted thresholds (for tax year 2025) give a working baseline that the 2026 figures will exceed slightly after inflation adjustment:6Internal Revenue Service. Earned Income and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Tables
- No qualifying children: AGI below $19,104
- One child: AGI below $50,434
- Two children: AGI below $57,310
- Three or more children: AGI below $61,555
There is also a hard investment income cap that disqualifies you regardless of earned income. For 2025 that cap was $11,950, and the 2026 figure follows the same structure with a modest adjustment. Interest, dividends, capital gains, and rental income all count.
Education Credit Phase-Out
The American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit share the same phase-out band for head of household filers. Reduction begins at $80,000 of MAGI, and both credits are gone entirely at $90,000.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education That narrow $10,000 window means each additional $1,000 above $80,000 costs about 10% of the credit.
The AOTC is worth up to $2,500 per student for the first four undergraduate years, with 40% ($1,000) refundable. The LLC is worth up to $2,000, covers graduate and professional education as well, and is not refundable. You can’t claim both for the same student in the same year.8Internal Revenue Service. Education Credits – AOTC and LLC These thresholds are not indexed for inflation and have stood at $80,000/$90,000 for years.
Saver’s Credit Tiers
The Saver’s Credit uses hard income tiers rather than a smooth phase-out. For head of household filers in 2026:
- 50% credit rate: AGI of $36,375 or less
- 20% credit rate: AGI between $36,376 and $39,375
- 10% credit rate: AGI between $39,376 and $60,375
- No credit: AGI above $60,375
The maximum contribution counted is $2,000, so the credit tops out at $1,000. Because the tiers are hard cutoffs, one extra dollar of AGI can drop your rate from 50% to 20%, cutting the maximum credit from $1,000 to $400.
Surtaxes That Kick In at $200,000
Two additional taxes activate at $200,000 for head of household filers, and neither threshold adjusts for inflation.
The Net Investment Income Tax adds 3.8% on the lesser of your net investment income or the amount by which your MAGI exceeds $200,000.9Internal Revenue Service. Net Investment Income Tax Covered income includes interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income, and royalties. If your MAGI is $230,000 and you have $50,000 of investment income, you pay 3.8% on $30,000. If your investment income were $20,000, you’d pay 3.8% on that $20,000, since it’s the lesser figure.
The Additional Medicare Tax adds 0.9% on earned income above $200,000. Employers must begin withholding it once your wages exceed $200,000 in a calendar year, regardless of filing status.10Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers for the Additional Medicare Tax Self-employment income above $200,000 triggers it too. A filer with both high wages and investment income above $200,000 can owe both surtaxes, an effective 4.7% marginal add-on to regular income tax.
AMT Exemption and Phase-Out
The Alternative Minimum Tax runs a parallel calculation. For 2026, head of household filers get an AMT exemption of $90,100, so that much alternative minimum taxable income is shielded.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill The exemption starts phasing out at $500,000 of alternative minimum taxable income, dropping 25 cents for every dollar above that line.
Most head of household filers won’t owe AMT at typical income levels because the standard deduction and exemption absorb the calculation. Exposure grows with large state and local tax deductions, significant capital gains, or income from incentive stock options, and the exemption phase-out at $500,000 makes AMT actively relevant for filers regularly at or above that mark.