Current federal income tax rates do not expire. The seven brackets set by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% — were scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2025, but the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (Public Law 119-21), signed on July 4, 2025, made them permanent.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill The rates themselves are locked in with no future expiration date, though several related provisions were changed, and one — the state and local tax deduction cap — still carries a built-in reversion.
What the Old Sunset Would Have Done
The TCJA (Public Law 115-97) was written with an expiration built into most of its individual provisions. Without new legislation, rates, deductions, and credits would have snapped back to their pre-2018 form on January 1, 2026.2Brookings Institution. Which Provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Expire in 2025 The top rate would have climbed from 37% back to 39.6%, and the middle brackets would have moved higher as well. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill removed that reversion. The rates you see for 2026 are the rates going forward, with only the bracket thresholds moving each year for inflation.
2026 Tax Brackets
For single filers in 2026, taxable income is taxed at:1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
- 10% on income up to $12,400
- 12% from $12,401 to $50,400
- 22% from $50,401 to $105,700
- 24% from $105,701 to $201,775
- 32% from $201,776 to $256,225
- 35% from $256,226 to $640,600
- 37% on income above $640,600
For married couples filing jointly, the thresholds are roughly double, and the 37% rate begins above $768,700.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Because the rates are now permanent, these thresholds will keep adjusting for inflation each year rather than resetting to a different structure.
What Else Was Made Permanent
The rates did not travel alone. Several TCJA provisions that would have expired alongside them are now permanent features of the code.
Standard Deduction
The nearly doubled standard deduction stays. For 2026, the amounts are $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill The OBBB added a small permanent boost on top of the TCJA amount — $750 for single filers and $1,500 for joint filers starting in 2025, adjusted for inflation afterward. Personal exemptions remain permanently set at zero.
Alternative Minimum Tax
The higher AMT exemptions and phase-out thresholds that removed millions of households from AMT exposure are permanent. For 2026, the exemption is $90,100 for single filers (phase-out starts at $500,000) and $140,200 for joint filers (phase-out starts at $1,000,000).1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Under the old sunset, those exemptions would have dropped to roughly $70,900 and $110,400.
Qualified Business Income Deduction
The Section 199A deduction — up to 20% of qualified business income for eligible owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations — was on the list to expire after 2025. The OBBB removed the sunset.3Internal Revenue Service. Qualified Business Income Deduction The existing wage and property limitations still apply, and specified service trades such as law, accounting, health, and consulting still face phase-outs at higher incomes.
Mortgage Interest
The lower cap on deductible mortgage interest — the first $750,000 of home loan debt rather than the pre-TCJA $1 million — is now permanent. Loans taken out before December 15, 2017 remain grandfathered under the $1 million cap. Interest on home equity borrowing used for anything other than buying, building, or substantially improving the home securing the loan stays permanently nondeductible.
Estate and Gift Tax Exemption
Rather than letting the estate and gift tax exemption fall back to roughly $7 million, the OBBB raised it. For 2026, the basic exclusion is $15,000,000 per individual, with transfers above the exemption still taxed at rates up to 40%.4Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Large gifts made between 2018 and 2025 to use the higher TCJA-era exemption remain protected under a finalized anti-clawback rule: your estate’s credit is calculated using the higher of the exemption in effect when the gift was made or the exemption at your death.5Internal Revenue Service. Final Regulations Confirm Making Large Gifts Now Won’t Harm Estates After 2025
What Changed Rather Than Just Extended
Permanence of the rates does not mean everything around them stayed the same. A few provisions were rewritten by the OBBB, and one still has an expiration date attached.
Child Tax Credit
The credit rose to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2025, up from $2,000 under the TCJA, and will be indexed to inflation starting in 2026.6Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit Without the OBBB, the credit would have dropped to $1,000. The phase-out thresholds remain $200,000 for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers, with the credit reduced by $50 for every $1,000 of income above those limits. The refundable portion was up to $1,700 per child for 2025 and is expected to adjust for inflation.
State and Local Tax Deduction Cap
This is the one place where the “permanent” story breaks down. The TCJA’s $10,000 SALT cap was not eliminated. It was raised, on a schedule that ends in a reversion:7Bipartisan Policy Center. How Does the 2025 Tax Law Change the SALT Deduction
- 2025: $40,000 cap
- 2026: $40,400 cap (a 1% increase)
- 2027 through 2029: the cap keeps rising 1% per year
- 2030 and beyond: the cap drops back to $10,000
The cap applies per return, with married couples filing separately each getting half. High earners face a phase-down: once income passes $500,000 (also rising 1% annually), the $40,000 cap shrinks by 30 cents for every dollar above the threshold, effectively returning to $10,000 at high enough incomes. If you live in a high-tax state, plan around 2030 as a real date, not a theoretical one.
New Limit on Itemized Deductions for Top-Bracket Filers
The pre-TCJA Pease limitation, which reduced total itemized deductions for high earners, stays gone. In its place, the OBBB introduced a narrower rule: taxpayers in the 37% bracket face a ceiling on the tax benefit from their itemized deductions starting in 2026.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Filers below the top bracket are not affected.
Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions
Unreimbursed employee expenses, tax preparation fees, and investment advisory fees subject to the 2% AGI floor were suspended by the TCJA and have now been permanently eliminated. Those items are no longer deductible.
So the short answer to when current tax rates expire is that they don’t. The longer answer is that the law that made them permanent also rewrote several rules that sit next to the rates, and the SALT cap is the one piece still on a clock.