| Rate | Single taxable income | Married filing separately |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,400 | $0 – $12,400 |
| 12% | $12,400 – $50,400 | $12,400 – $50,400 |
| 22% | $50,400 – $105,700 | $50,400 – $105,700 |
| 24% | $105,700 – $201,775 | $105,700 – $201,750 |
| 32% | $201,775 – $256,225 | $201,750 – $256,200 |
| 35% | $256,225 – $640,600 | $256,200 – $640,600 |
| 37% | over $640,600 | over $640,600 |
| Rate | Married filing jointly | Head of household |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $24,800 | $0 – $17,700 |
| 12% | $24,800 – $100,800 | $17,700 – $67,450 |
| 22% | $100,800 – $211,400 | $67,450 – $105,700 |
| 24% | $211,400 – $403,550 | $105,700 – $201,750 |
| 32% | $403,550 – $512,450 | $201,750 – $256,200 |
| 35% | $512,450 – $768,700 | $256,200 – $640,600 |
| 37% | over $768,700 | over $640,600 |
| Item | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Standard deduction — Single / MFS | $16,100 | $15,750 |
| Standard deduction — Married joint | $32,200 | $31,500 |
| Standard deduction — Head of household | $24,150 | $23,625 |
| Additional deduction — 65+ or blind (unmarried) | $2,050 | $2,000 |
| Additional deduction — 65+ or blind (married) | $1,650 | $1,600 |
| LTCG 0% bracket ceiling — Single | $49,450 | $48,350 |
| LTCG 15% ceiling — Single | $545,500 | $533,400 |
| Social Security wage base | $184,500 | $176,100 |
What changed from 2025 to 2026
The 2026 adjustments are unusually small: the IRS chained-CPI inflation measure held the increase to about 2.2%, the smallest bump in years. The single standard deduction rises $350 to $16,100, the joint deduction $700 to $32,200, and every bracket threshold shifts by roughly the same proportion. What changed far more than the numbers is the structure around them — the OBBBA tax law made the 2025-introduced deductions for tips (up to $25,000), overtime (up to $12,500/$25,000), car loan interest (up to $10,000) and seniors (an extra $6,000 per person 65+) permanent features of the code running alongside these brackets, and set the SALT cap at $40,000 for 2026. So the honest headline for 2026: brackets crept up modestly, but the deductions available before you reach them grew dramatically for specific groups.
How to read a bracket table without the classic mistake
A bracket applies to a slice of income, not to all of it. "Single, 22% bracket" means the dollars between $50,400 and $105,700 of taxable income are taxed at 22% — the dollars below that are taxed at 10% and 12% as they pass through their own layers. A single filer with $70,000 of taxable income owes $1,240 (the 10% layer) + $4,560 (the 12% layer) + 22% of the remaining $19,600 ($4,312) = $10,112 total. That is a 14.4% effective rate for a "22% bracket" filer. Every calculator on this site runs this exact layering, and the bracket calculator shows your personal dollar-by-dollar layer table if the arithmetic is easier to see than to read.
Taxable income vs the salary on your offer letter
The tables above are indexed on taxable income, which is gross income minus deductions — the number on your offer letter is not the number in these tables. A $75,000 single salary with no other adjustments starts from a taxable income of $58,900 ($75,000 − $16,100 standard deduction) — already past the 12% bracket. A married couple with two $75,000 salaries ($150,000 joint) lands at $117,800 taxable — inside the 22% layer but $90,000 below its ceiling. When you plan with this table, always run your gross through the deductions first, or use the bracket calculator’s gross mode to do it for you.
The 37% club is smaller than it looks — and the 0% club is bigger
Two ends of the table deserve their own framing. At the top: the 37% rate starts at $640,600 of taxable income for singles ($768,700 joint) — and because the top joint threshold did NOT double from the single one, two $400,000 earners who marry do cross into a genuinely higher top bracket. That is the surviving "marriage penalty," now confined to roughly the last $128,100 of joint income. At the bottom: the 0% bracket is not just for low earners. The long-term capital gains 0% ceiling ($49,450 single / $98,900 joint of taxable income) means a retiree living on $45,000 can realize gains entirely tax-free, and a worker with an unpaid sabbatical year can harvest up to the ceiling at a 0% rate. Bracket management across years — accelerating deductions into high years, realizing gains in low ones — is where these tables become strategy rather than reference.
Where to verify and what to watch
Everything on this page comes from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, published October 2025 in the Internal Revenue Bulletin — the authoritative source for all 2026 inflation adjustments. Three watch-items for the rest of the cycle: the SALT cap of $40,000 steps up 1% per year through 2029 (so 2027 planning differs); the tips/overtime/senior deductions are scheduled to expire after 2028 unless extended, which will change these effective numbers for the 2029 tax year; and the Social Security wage base ($184,500 for 2026) resets each fall with the SSA COLA announcement. Bookmark this page for the table, and use the calculators for the arithmetic — tables answer "what are the rules," calculators answer "what do they mean for my numbers."
Estimates for planning only — not tax, legal or accounting advice. Your actual return depends on facts this tool does not ask about. Figures are based on IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (tax year 2026), verified October 2026.