Tax bracket calculator: your bracket, tax in each band and effective rate

What the tax bracket calculator tells you

This tax bracket calculator answers three questions from one number: which bracket your last dollar falls in, how much tax each bracket contributes, and what share of your income goes to federal income tax overall. It uses the official 2026 and 2025 rate schedules published by the IRS.

A tax bracket is a range of taxable income taxed at one rate. Only the income inside each range pays that range's rate, so moving into a higher bracket never raises the tax on the dollars below it. The how tax brackets work page explains the idea with pictures; this page is about running the numbers.

Inputs: what to enter

• Tax year: 2026 (the return filed in 2027) or 2025 (filed in 2026). 2027 brackets are not yet announced; the IRS usually publishes them in October or November.
• Filing status: single, married filing jointly (also used by a qualifying surviving spouse), married filing separately, or head of household.
• Taxable income: Form 1040 line 15, which is income after adjustments, the standard or itemized deduction and the qualified business income deduction.
• Optional gross income: if you enter total income before deductions, the tool also reports your effective rate on gross income.

How the tool splits income by bracket

The calculator fills each bracket from the bottom up. It places income in the 10% band until that band is full, moves to the 12% band, and so on until all taxable income is assigned. Each band's income is multiplied by its rate and the results are added.

Married filing separately uses the single limits up to $256,225, then 35% to $384,350 and 37% above. The full history, including 2025 limits, is on federal tax brackets by year.

The shortcut the IRS uses

Instead of adding every band, the IRS rate schedules give a fixed amount plus a percentage of income over the band's floor. For a 2026 single filer in the 24% band, tax is $17,966 plus 24% of the amount over $105,700. The calculator's band-by-band total and the shortcut always match.

Example output: single filer with $120,000 of taxable income

A single filer with $120,000 of taxable income in 2026 owes $21,398 of federal income tax. The income fills four brackets.

• Marginal rate: 24%, the rate on the next dollar.
• Effective rate on taxable income: $21,398 / $120,000 = 17.83%.
• Effective rate on gross income: with the $16,100 standard deduction, gross income was $136,100, so the rate is 15.72%.
• Room left in the 24% bracket: $81,775 before income reaches $201,775 and the 32% rate.

The same $120,000 under other filing statuses

At $120,000 of taxable income, a head of household owes $19,587 (also in the 24% bracket) and a married couple filing jointly owes $15,824 (in the 22% bracket, $91,400 below the 24% line). Married filing separately matches the single figure, $21,398.

Can I compare 2025 and 2026 brackets?

Yes. Switch the tax year and the calculator reruns the same taxable income through the 2025 schedule. Because the 2026 bracket limits rose with inflation, the same taxable income produces slightly less tax in 2026.

The single filer at $120,000 would have owed $21,647 under 2025 brackets, $249 more than in 2026. A joint couple at $250,000 of taxable income owes $45,196 for 2026, down from $45,694 under the 2025 schedule. The 2025 figures come from the IRS federal income tax rates page; the 2026 figures from Revenue Procedure 2025-32. See 2026 IRS tax brackets for the source table.

Is the marginal tax rate calculator result my true marginal rate?

Not always. A marginal tax rate calculator reports the bracket rate on your next dollar of ordinary income, but other rules can change what an extra dollar actually costs. Check these before acting on the result.

• Phaseouts. Above $200,000 of modified AGI ($400,000 joint), the Child Tax Credit shrinks by $50 per $1,000 of income, which adds about 5 points to the real marginal rate.
• Capital gains and qualified dividends use separate 0%, 15% and 20% rates stacked on top of ordinary income, so a bracket calculator that treats them as wages overstates tax.
• Payroll taxes. Wages also carry 7.65% FICA up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base, and 1.45% Medicare above it.
• Net investment income tax. A 3.8% surtax applies to investment income once modified AGI passes $200,000 single or $250,000 joint.
• Alternative minimum tax. A separate AMT calculation can override regular tax for some high-income filers.

Using the result

1. Price a pretax contribution. A traditional 401(k) or deductible IRA dollar saves your marginal rate, so 24 cents per dollar in the example above.
2. Time extra income. If you are $3,000 from the next bracket, a year-end bonus larger than that pushes only the excess into the higher rate.
3. Check a Roth conversion. Convert only up to the top of your current bracket if you want to avoid the next rate.
4. Compare with withholding. Put the calculator total next to Form W-2 box 2 to see whether you are headed for a refund or a balance due, then confirm with the tax refund calculator.

The result is tax before credits. Subtract the Child Tax Credit and other credits to get the final figure, or use the tax calculator tools hub for a full estimate.