Retirement Tax Brackets: RMDs, Social Security, and Medicare

Retirement tax brackets are the same seven federal marginal rates that apply to wages — 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% — but the income that fills them looks different. Traditional 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, pensions, and a taxable portion of Social Security stack together to form your taxable income, and only the dollars that cross each bracket threshold pay the higher rate. A single retiree age 65 or older can receive up to $18,150 in 2026 before owing any federal income tax, thanks to the standard deduction plus an extra amount for seniors. Everything above that gets taxed one bracket at a time.

How the Brackets Actually Work

Federal income tax is progressive. Your first dollars of taxable income are taxed at 10%, the next range at 12%, and so on up the ladder. You never pay a single flat rate on everything. A retiree whose taxable income lands in the 22% bracket pays 10% on the lowest slice, 12% on the middle slice, and 22% only on the amount above the 12% ceiling.

This matters when you’re deciding how much to withdraw. The real cost of pulling an extra $10,000 from a traditional IRA depends entirely on where that money lands. If you’re sitting near the top of the 12% bracket, part of the withdrawal is taxed at 12% and the rest at 22%. Bracket boundaries shift each year with inflation, using the Chained Consumer Price Index, so cost-of-living increases don’t automatically push you into a higher rate.¹

2026 Federal Tax Brackets by Filing Status

These brackets apply to taxable income — the number left after you subtract your standard or itemized deductions.

Single filers:

10%: $0 to $12,400
12%: $12,401 to $50,400
22%: $50,401 to $105,700
24%: $105,701 to $201,775
32%: $201,776 to $256,225
35%: $256,226 to $640,600
37%: $640,601 and above

Married filing jointly:

10%: $0 to $24,800
12%: $24,801 to $100,800
22%: $100,801 to $211,400
24%: $211,401 to $403,550
32%: $403,551 to $512,450
35%: $512,451 to $768,700
37%: $768,701 and above

Head of household:

10%: $0 to $17,700
12%: $17,701 to $67,450
22%: $67,451 to $105,700
24%: $105,701 to $201,775
32%: $201,776 to $256,200
35%: $256,201 to $640,600
37%: $640,601 and above

Notice that married couples filing jointly get bracket ranges roughly double those of single filers, which is why filing status matters so much when one spouse dies.

What Gets Shielded Before the Brackets Apply

The standard deduction removes a chunk of income from taxation entirely. For 2026, the base amounts are $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for head of household.²

Retirees age 65 and older get an extra amount on top. For 2026, unmarried seniors add $2,050, and married seniors add $1,650 per qualifying spouse.² A married couple where both spouses are 65 or older reaches a total standard deduction of $35,500. A single retiree 65 or older reaches $18,150. Those dollars come off the top before any bracket rate touches your income.

Which Retirement Income Fills the Brackets

Most retirement money counts as ordinary income once it comes out. The taxable sources that stack into your brackets include:

Traditional 401(k) distributions, taxed in full because the contributions went in pre-tax.³
Traditional IRA withdrawals, added to taxable income for the year.⁴
403(b) distributions, treated the same as traditional 401(k) money.⁵
Pension payments, generally taxable in full because they represent deferred compensation.

These add together. Pulling $30,000 from a traditional IRA while receiving $25,000 in pension income means $55,000 hits your return before Social Security is considered. Each source may look modest on its own, but the combined figure is what determines your top bracket.

The Roth Exception

Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s work differently. Contributions were made with after-tax dollars, so qualified withdrawals come out completely tax-free and never appear on your return. A distribution is qualified when you’re at least 59½ and the account has been open for at least five years, with the five-year clock starting January 1 of the tax year of your first Roth contribution.

Because qualified Roth withdrawals don’t add to adjusted gross income, they don’t fill any bracket. They also don’t feed the two calculations discussed below — Social Security taxation and Medicare premium surcharges — that punish higher AGI. That’s what makes Roth income strategically different from traditional withdrawals of the same dollar amount.

Social Security and the Provisional Income Trigger

Social Security benefits aren’t automatically tax-free, and the calculation that determines how much gets taxed sits alongside the regular brackets. The IRS uses a figure called provisional income: your adjusted gross income, plus any tax-exempt interest, plus half of your Social Security benefits.⁶

For single filers:

Below $25,000: benefits are not taxed.
$25,000 to $34,000: up to 50% of benefits become taxable.
Above $34,000: up to 85% of benefits become taxable.

For married couples filing jointly:

Below $32,000: benefits are not taxed.
$32,000 to $44,000: up to 50% of benefits become taxable.
Above $44,000: up to 85% of benefits become taxable.

These thresholds have never been adjusted for inflation since they were set in the 1980s and 1990s.⁶ What was originally aimed at higher-income retirees now catches a large share of Social Security recipients. Even a modest pension plus half your benefit can push a single retiree past $25,000. The taxable share caps at 85%, no matter how high your income climbs.

This is where source selection changes the math. A traditional IRA withdrawal raises provisional income; a qualified Roth withdrawal doesn’t. Shifting some retirement income to Roth sources can hold your Social Security taxation at the 50% tier rather than the 85% tier.

Capital Gains Run on a Separate Rate Ladder

Investments in taxable brokerage accounts don’t use the ordinary income brackets. Long-term capital gains — profits on assets held more than a year — get their own preferential rates. For 2026:

0%: taxable income up to $49,450 (single) or $98,900 (married filing jointly)
15%: taxable income from $49,451 to $545,500 (single) or $98,901 to $613,700 (married filing jointly)
20%: taxable income above $545,500 (single) or $613,700 (married filing jointly)

The 0% rate is the significant one for retirees. A married couple with $98,900 or less in taxable income after their standard deduction pays no federal tax on long-term gains and qualified dividends. Short-term gains, on assets held one year or less, don’t get these rates. They’re taxed as ordinary income and fill your regular brackets just like a 401(k) withdrawal.

Higher-income retirees face a separate 3.8% net investment income tax when modified adjusted gross income tops $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly), applied to the lesser of net investment income or the amount above those thresholds.⁷ That effectively lifts the top capital gains rate to 23.8%.

Required Minimum Distributions Force You Into Brackets

You can’t leave money in tax-deferred accounts indefinitely. Starting at age 73, the IRS requires annual withdrawals from traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and similar accounts.⁸ The required amount comes from dividing your account balance by a life expectancy factor. For those who turn 73 after December 31, 2032, the starting age moves to 75.⁹

Your first RMD can be delayed until April 1 of the year after you turn 73. That delay is a trap. It means you’ll take two RMDs in the same calendar year, and the doubled income can push you into a higher bracket, tax more of your Social Security, and raise your Medicare premiums two years later.

Missing an RMD carries a 25% penalty on the shortfall, dropping to 10% if you correct the miss inside the roughly two-year correction window.¹⁰ Roth IRAs are exempt from RMDs during the original owner’s lifetime.

Filing Status and the Survivor Bracket Shift

The same retirement income produces very different tax results depending on how you file. Married filing jointly has the widest ranges — the 12% bracket runs to $100,800 of taxable income, compared to $50,400 for a single filer. Head of household sits between at $67,450.¹

When one spouse dies, this changes quickly. The surviving spouse can file jointly for the year of death, but usually files as single (or head of household, if qualifying) the next year. Take a couple with $80,000 in taxable income who stayed entirely within the 12% bracket while filing jointly. The following year, that same $80,000 on a single return puts $29,600 into the 22% bracket. The income didn’t move; the bracket ranges shrank around it. Some retirees plan Roth conversions during years when both spouses are alive to reduce the eventual impact of this shift.

Filing status is determined on the last day of the tax year. If your spouse died during the year, you’re still considered married for that return. Qualifying widow or widower status extends the joint-return bracket widths for up to two additional years, but only if you have a qualifying dependent child.

Medicare Premium Surcharges Ride on the Same Income

The Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA, adds surcharges to Medicare Part B and Part D premiums based on modified adjusted gross income from two years prior. For 2026, the Part B tiers are:¹¹

$109,000 or less (single) / $218,000 or less (joint): no surcharge
$109,001–$137,000 (single) / $218,001–$274,000 (joint): $81.20/month extra
$137,001–$171,000 (single) / $274,001–$342,000 (joint): $202.90/month extra
$171,001–$205,000 (single) / $342,001–$410,000 (joint): $324.60/month extra
$205,001–$499,999 (single) / $410,001–$749,999 (joint): $446.30/month extra
$500,000 or more (single) / $750,000 or more (joint): $487.00/month extra

Part D surcharges follow the same income tiers, ranging from $14.50 to $91.00 per month.¹¹

The two-year lookback is the detail that catches retirees. Your 2026 premiums are based on your 2024 return, so a one-time Roth conversion, a large property sale, or a doubled RMD in 2024 can trigger higher premiums in 2026 even if your ongoing income is well below the threshold. Each bracket jump is steep, the surcharges are per person, and at the top tier a married couple pays an extra $11,688 per year in Part B surcharges alone.

Between the seven ordinary income brackets, the separate capital gains ladder, the Social Security provisional income formula, and IRMAA, retirement income runs through several layered systems at once. The dollar you withdraw doesn’t just get taxed at your marginal rate — it can also raise the taxable share of your Social Security check and, two years later, your Medicare bill. That layering is what makes the timing and source of each withdrawal worth thinking through before the December of any given year.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1 – Tax Imposed
2
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-32
3
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Resource Guide – Plan Participants – General Distribution Rules
4
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs Regarding IRAs Distributions (Withdrawals)
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 403 – Taxation of Employee Annuities
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 86 – Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement Benefits
7
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 559, Net Investment Income Tax
8
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
9
Congressional Research Service. Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) Rules for Original Owners
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4974 – Excise Tax on Certain Accumulations in Qualified Retirement Plans
11
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles