How it works
Federal tax is progressive: each slice of taxable income is taxed at its bracket's rate. First find taxable income:
Taxable income = gross − pre-tax deductions − standard deduction
Then apply the 2026 bracket rates (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, 37%) to each portion that falls within each band. Your marginal rate is the bracket your last dollar lands in; your effective rate is total tax ÷ gross income.
Worked example
Single filer earning $80,000, 2026:
- Taxable income = 80,000 − 16,100 (standard deduction) = $63,900
- Federal tax ≈ $8,770 · effective rate ≈ 11.0% · marginal bracket 22%
How we check this calculator
The bracket bounds and standard deductions are transcribed from the IRS's annual inflation-adjustment revenue procedure (Rev. Proc. 2025-32 for tax year 2026) and re-verified against the Tax Foundation's published tables. After each yearly update we re-run fixed test cases — e.g. a single filer at $80,000 must show $8,770 federal tax, an 11.0% effective rate and the 22% marginal bracket — and check the boundary incomes right at each bracket edge, where rounding errors would show up first.