Income tax calculator
Enter your wages, other income, and filing status to see your 2026 federal income tax, your marginal and effective rates, and the tax owed in each bracket. Federal tax only.
Enter your wages to see your federal income tax for 2026.
- Marginal rate
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- Effective rate
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- Taxable income
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- Deduction
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- Child tax credit
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- Refundable child credit
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Breakdown by bracket
| Rate | Income taxed | Tax |
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Each line is rounded to the cent. Long-term gains are taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% on top of your ordinary income.
How it’s calculated
- Formula
tax = bracket tax on taxable income + long-term gains tax − child tax credit- With your numbers
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An estimate of federal income tax only
This covers federal income tax under the 2026 schedules. It leaves out Social Security and Medicare taxes, self-employment tax, state and local income taxes, the Additional Medicare Tax, the alternative minimum tax, the qualified business income deduction, and every credit except the child tax credit. It is not tax advice.2026 tax brackets: Single
Standard deduction: $16,100
| Taxable income over | Up to | Rate |
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The rules this uses
Your taxable income is wages and other income, minus the standard or itemized deduction and the extra deductions for age 65 or older, qualified tips, and qualified overtime. Ordinary income is taxed at the bracket rates above. Long-term gains stack on top of it and fill the 0%, 15%, and 20% bands in turn.
The child tax credit is $2,200 per child under 17 and phases out from $200,000 of income for single filers ($400,000 jointly). Up to $1,700 per child can be refunded, based on earned income above $2,500. The extra deductions for age 65 or older, tips, and overtime apply from 2025 through 2028, and married filing separately does not get them.
Verified on October 8, 2026. Sources: IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments); IRS, One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act: tax deductions for working Americans and seniors; 26 U.S.C. 151(d)(5)(C), 224 and 225; 26 U.S.C. 24 (phase-out, refundable earned-income threshold); amounts from Rev. Proc. 2025-32 section 4.05.
How to use it
- Choose your filing status and enter your wages and any other taxable income.
- Add long-term capital gains, or leave the field empty if you have none.
- Keep the standard deduction, or switch to itemized deductions if they are larger, and check any age 65 or blindness boxes.
- Enter children under 17, qualified tips, or qualified overtime if they apply.
- Read your federal income tax, marginal and effective rates, and the tax owed in each bracket.
Frequently asked questions
How much federal income tax do I pay on $40,000?
About $2,620 in 2026 as a single filer with the standard deduction. Taxable income is $23,900 after the $16,100 deduction: 10% on the first $12,400 and 12% on the rest.
What is the 2026 standard deduction?
$16,100 for single and married filing separately, $24,150 for head of household, and $32,200 for married filing jointly. Each box checked for age 65 or older or blindness adds $2,050 for single and head of household filers, or $1,650 for married filers.
What are the 2026 federal tax brackets for single filers?
The rates are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. The 12% bracket starts at $12,400 of taxable income, the 22% bracket at $50,400, the 24% bracket at $105,700, the 32% bracket at $201,775, the 35% bracket at $256,225, and the 37% bracket at $640,600.
Does this calculator include state income tax?
No. It estimates federal income tax only. Social Security and Medicare taxes, state and local income taxes, and credits other than the child tax credit are not included.
How are long-term capital gains taxed?
Gains from assets held more than one year are taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on your total taxable income and filing status. The calculator stacks them on top of your ordinary income and shows the thresholds.
The formula
- Taxable income: wages and other income, minus the standard deduction or your itemized total, minus the extra deductions for age 65 or older, qualified tips, and qualified overtime.
- Tax on ordinary income: each slice of taxable income is taxed at its bracket rate.
- Long-term gains: taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% on top of your ordinary income, depending on where the total falls.
- Child tax credit: up to $2,200 per child under 17 reduces the tax, and up to $1,700 per child can be refunded.
A worked example
A single filer with $40,000 of wages takes the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100, which leaves $23,900 of taxable income. The first $12,400 is taxed at 10%, which is $1,240. The remaining $11,500 is taxed at 12%, which is $1,380. Federal income tax comes to $2,620: a marginal rate of 12% and an effective rate of 6.55% of gross income.
Filing status changes the brackets
Married couples filing jointly get brackets twice as wide as single filers at the bottom and a standard deduction of $32,200. Head of household falls in between. Married filing separately uses the single brackets, except that the 37% rate starts at $384,350 of taxable income. Pick the status that matches your return; the calculator shows the schedule it uses.
What the calculator leaves out
Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA), self-employment tax, state and local income tax, the alternative minimum tax, the qualified business income deduction, and credits other than the child tax credit are not included. Treat the result as an estimate of federal income tax only.
Where the figures come from
The 2026 brackets, standard deductions, and capital gains thresholds follow IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The extra deductions for age 65 or older, tips, and overtime follow IRS guidance for tax years 2025 through 2028. The child tax credit follows 26 U.S.C. 24. The sources and dates are listed under the calculator.
Related calculators
To compare your tax with what your employer already withheld, use the tax refund calculator. If you work for yourself, add Social Security and Medicare with the self-employment tax calculator. For a yearly view of an hourly wage, use the hourly to salary calculator. To work out overtime before you file, use the overtime calculator, and check your base rate against the minimum wage by state table. To see what the tax does to each paycheck, use the paycheck calculator.
Updated on October 8, 2026