Tax Brackets: Filing Status, Marginal Rates, and Deductions

For 2026, the federal income tax brackets keep the seven rates set under current law — 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% — with the income thresholds adjusted upward for inflation. Each rate applies only to the portion of your taxable income that falls inside its range, so moving into a higher bracket never lowers your take-home pay on the dollars below it. A single filer doesn’t reach the top 37% rate until taxable income exceeds $640,600.¹

2026 Brackets by Filing Status

The rates are the same for every taxpayer. What changes with filing status is the income level where each rate kicks in.¹

Single Filers

10%: Taxable income up 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%: Over $640,600

Married Filing Jointly

10%: Taxable income up 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%: Over $768,700

Head of Household thresholds fall between the single and joint amounts, and Married Filing Separately thresholds are generally half of the joint figures. The IRS publishes the full set of thresholds in its annual inflation adjustment announcement.¹

Filing status is not a menu you pick from freely. You qualify based on your marital and household situation on December 31 of the tax year, and if you qualify for more than one status you can choose the one that produces the lower tax. The Qualifying Surviving Spouse status uses the same thresholds as Married Filing Jointly and is available for up to two years after a spouse’s death if you have a dependent child.²

How the Layered Math Works

Your income is taxed in slices. The first slice is taxed at 10%, the next at 12%, and so on. Only the dollars inside each slice pay that slice’s rate.³

Take a single filer with $80,000 of taxable income in 2026:

10% on the first $12,400 = $1,240
12% on $12,401 to $50,400 = $4,560
22% on $50,401 to $80,000 = $6,512

Total federal income tax: $12,312. Even though this filer is “in the 22% bracket,” the actual share of income paid in tax is about 15.4%. A $5,000 raise would add $1,100 in tax (22% of $5,000) and leave $3,900 in extra take-home pay. There is no cliff where earning one more dollar costs you thousands.

Gross Income Isn’t What the Brackets Tax

The brackets apply to taxable income, not to your paycheck or your total earnings. You get to taxable income in a few steps. Start with gross income: wages, interest, dividends, business profits, rental income, and most other money you received during the year. Subtract certain above-the-line adjustments (traditional IRA contributions, student loan interest, and others) to reach adjusted gross income. Then subtract either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions, whichever is larger. What’s left is taxable income.⁴

2026 Standard Deduction

Single: $16,100
Married Filing Jointly: $32,200
Head of Household: $24,150

These amounts do a lot of work. A single filer earning $66,500 in gross wages, with no other adjustments, ends up with $50,400 in taxable income after the standard deduction. Every dollar of that lands in the 10% or 12% brackets. Without the deduction, some of that income would spill into the 22% bracket.¹

Taxpayers 65 or older can claim an additional deduction on top of the standard amount. For 2025 through 2028, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act adds an enhanced deduction of $4,000 per qualifying senior, with phase-outs starting at $75,000 of income for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers.⁵

Itemizing makes sense only when your deductible expenses exceed the standard deduction. Common itemized deductions include mortgage interest, state and local taxes (capped at $40,000 for 2025 through 2029), charitable contributions, and medical expenses above 7.5% of AGI. If your itemized total sits below the standard deduction for your filing status, itemizing costs you money.⁶

Marginal Rate vs. Effective Rate

Your marginal rate is the percentage that applies to your next dollar of income. Your effective rate is your total federal income tax divided by your total income. The effective rate is always lower than the marginal rate, because the earlier slices of your income were taxed at lower rates. When someone says “I’m in the 24% bracket,” they mean the 24% rate touches their top dollars, not that 24% comes off everything they earn. That distinction is why more income always leaves you with more money after tax, even when the raise pushes some of it into a higher bracket.

Long-Term Capital Gains Use Different Rates

Ordinary income brackets do not apply to long-term capital gains and qualified dividends. Assets held longer than a year, and qualified dividend income, use their own rate structure. For 2026:⁷

0%: Taxable income up to $49,450 (single) or $98,900 (joint)
15%: $49,451 to $545,500 (single) or $98,901 to $613,700 (joint)
20%: Above $545,500 (single) or $613,700 (joint)

Short-term gains, on assets held a year or less, are taxed at your regular income tax rates. High earners also face an additional 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax on the lesser of net investment income or the amount by which modified AGI exceeds $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (joint). Those thresholds are not indexed for inflation.⁸

What the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Changed

The seven-rate structure and the higher standard deduction date back to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Both were scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, which would have raised rates and narrowed the brackets starting in 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in mid-2025, made those provisions permanent and added a few new ones.⁹

What that means for 2026:

The seven rates (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, 37%) continue, with the bracket thresholds adjusted for inflation each year.
The standard deduction stays at the elevated post-TCJA level, indexed for inflation.
The personal exemption stays at $0 indefinitely.
The Child Tax Credit is $2,200 per qualifying child under 17, with up to $1,700 refundable for taxpayers with earned income above $2,500. The credit begins phasing out at $200,000 of modified AGI for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers.
The state and local tax deduction cap sits at $40,000 for tax years 2025 through 2029.
New above-the-line deductions apply to tip income and overtime pay, and the enhanced senior deduction adds up to $4,000 for qualifying taxpayers 65 and older.¹⁰

1
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
2
Internal Revenue Service. Filing Status
3
Internal Revenue Service. Federal Income Tax Rates and Brackets
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 63 – Taxable Income Defined
5
Internal Revenue Service. Check Your Eligibility for the New Enhanced Deduction for Seniors
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
7
Tax Foundation. 2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates
8
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 559, Net Investment Income Tax
9
Congress.gov. Tax Provisions in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
10
Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions