Financial · Live
What you'll
actually owe in tax.
A precise federal income-tax calculator using 2026 IRS brackets and standard deductions. See your total tax, effective rate, marginal bracket, and a full bracket-by-bracket breakdown — for single, married joint, or head-of-household filers.
Inputs
Your taxes
Deduction
Standard deduction for Single: $16,100.00.
- AGI
- $80,000.00
- Taxable income
- $63,900.00
- Federal tax
- $8,770.00
Federal tax owed
2026 · Single
Effective rate 10.96% · Marginal rate 22%
Tax
11%
Breakdown
Bracket-by-bracket
| Rate | Bracket | Tax accrued | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 | $1,240.00 | |
| 12% | $12,400 – $50,400 | $4,560.00 | |
| 22% | $50,400 – $107,525 | $2,970.00 | |
| 24% | $107,525 – $205,200 | $0 | |
| 32% | $205,200 – $260,500 | $0 | |
| 35% | $260,500 – $651,650 | $0 | |
| 37% | $651,650+ | $0 | |
| Total | $8,770.00 | ||
Where it goes
From gross to take-home
- Gross income
- $80,000.00
- Pre-tax contributions
- − $0.00
- AGI
- $80,000.00
- Standard deduction
- − $16,100.00
- Taxable income
- $63,900.00
- Federal tax
- − $8,770.00
- After-tax income
- $71,230.00
- Effective tax rate
- 10.96%
Field guide
How U.S. federal income tax actually works.
Federal income tax in the United States is progressive and marginal: different slices of your income are taxed at different rates. People often think a tax bracket means "I'm in the 22% bracket, so I pay 22% on all of my income." That isn't how the system works and getting the math right turns out to matter for almost every financial decision after that.
The chain: gross → AGI → taxable → tax
The path from your paycheck to your tax bill goes through four numbers, in order:
- Gross income: your total wages, salary, and reported self-employment / 1099 income before any adjustments.
- Adjusted gross income (AGI): gross minus pre-tax contributions like traditional 401(k), traditional IRA, or HSA. These dollars never enter the tax calculation at all.
- Taxable income: AGI minus the standard deduction or your itemized deductions, whichever is larger. This is the number the brackets actually act on.
- Total tax: the sum of (dollars in each bracket × that bracket's rate), summed over every bracket your taxable income reaches.
The bracket formula
For a taxpayer with taxable income T, total federal tax is:
(only summing brackets where lower_b < T)
That looks intimidating but really just says “take the chunk of your income that lands in each bracket and tax it at that bracket's rate, then add the chunks up.” The calculator above shows this chunk-by-chunk in the breakdown table.
2026 brackets, in full
The IRS adjusts brackets for inflation each year. These are the 2026 figures — apply them when filing your 2026 return in early 2027.
Single
- 10% on the first
$12,400 - 12% on income up to
$50,400 - 22% on income up to
$107,525 - 24% on income up to
$205,200 - 32% on income up to
$260,500 - 35% on income up to
$651,650 - 37% on income above
$651,650
Married, filing jointly
- 10% on the first
$24,800 - 12% on income up to
$100,800 - 22% on income up to
$215,050 - 24% on income up to
$410,400 - 32% on income up to
$521,000 - 35% on income up to
$782,050 - 37% on income above
$782,050
Head of household
- 10% on the first
$17,700 - 12% on income up to
$67,400 - 22% on income up to
$107,525 - 24% on income up to
$205,200 - 32% on income up to
$260,500 - 35% on income up to
$651,650 - 37% on income above
$651,650
Standard vs itemized deduction
Every taxpayer subtracts a deduction from AGI before the brackets run. The 2026 standard deductions are:
- Single:
$16,100 - Married, joint:
$32,200 - Head of household:
$24,150
You can take the standard deduction with no documentation, or itemize if your eligible expenses sum to more. Itemized deductions include mortgage interest, state and local taxes (SALT, capped at $10,000), charitable contributions, and certain medical expenses above 7.5% of AGI. Most filers take the standard deduction post-2017 because it's larger than what they could itemize.
Marginal vs effective rate
Two numbers, often confused:
- Marginal rate: the rate of the bracket your last taxable dollar falls into. This is the rate that applies to your next raise, your next bonus, or the next dollar of bonus interest income.
- Effective rate: total tax divided by gross income. Always lower than the marginal rate (sometimes by a lot) because lower-bracket dollars are taxed at lower rates.
For someone earning $80,000 filing single in 2026: their marginal rate is 22%, but their effective rate is roughly 10.4% after the standard deduction.
Worked example
Single filer, gross income $80,000, no pre-tax contributions, standard deduction:
- AGI = $80,000 − $0 =
$80,000. - Taxable = $80,000 − $16,100 =
$63,900. - First $12,400 at 10% =
$1,240. - Next $38,000 ($12,400 → $50,400) at 12% =
$4,560. - Last $13,500 ($50,400 → $63,900) at 22% =
$2,970. - Total tax =
$8,770. - Effective rate =
$8,770 ÷ $80,000 = 10.96%. - Marginal rate =
22%. - After-tax income =
$71,230.
What this calculator doesn't include
Federal income tax is one of several taxes you pay. The calculator deliberately stays focused; the missing pieces you'll need to add separately for a complete picture:
- FICA payroll tax: 6.2% Social Security (on the first
$176,100in 2026) plus 1.45% Medicare with no cap. Self-employed pay both halves (15.3%) via SE tax. - State and local income tax: 0–13% depending on state, with seven states (AK, FL, NV, SD, TN, TX, WY) having none.
- Tax credits: Child Tax Credit, EITC, education credits, retirement savings credits, all of which subtract from total tax.
- AMT, NIIT, Additional Medicare Tax for high earners.
- Capital gains and qualified dividends: taxed at preferential rates of 0/15/20%, separate from ordinary income brackets.
Disclaimer
This calculator is a planning tool, not tax advice. For an exact return, especially with self-employment, capital gains, business income, multi-state filings, AMT exposure, or significant itemized deductions — consult a CPA or use certified tax software.