Federal income tax brackets and standard deduction for 2026
Understand 2026 US federal ordinary-income tax brackets and standard deductions, with a worked example and explicit exclusions. US federal rules only; state and local treatment is outside scope.
On this page
- Standard deduction, single or married filing separately
- $16,100IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments
- Standard deduction, married filing jointly
- $32,200IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments
- Standard deduction, head of household
- $24,150IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments
Tax year and taxable income
These are tax year 2026 federal rules, not state or local income-tax rules. Congress legislates federal tax law; the IRS administers it and publishes the inflation adjustments in Revenue Procedure 2025-32. Ordinary-income rates apply progressively to taxable income, rather than applying the highest band reached to all income. IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments (opens in a new tab).
Single filer brackets
For a single filer, the lowest rate is 10% on taxable income of $12,400 or less. The successive rates apply only to the portion in each band: 12% over $12,400 through $50,400; 22% over $50,400 through $105,700; 24% over $105,700 through $201,775; 32% over $201,775 through $256,225; 35% over $256,225 through $640,600; and 37% over $640,600. IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments (opens in a new tab).
Married filing jointly brackets
For joint filers, the lowest rate is 10% on taxable income of $24,800 or less. The successive bands are 12% over $24,800 through $100,800; 22% over $100,800 through $211,400; 24% over $211,400 through $403,550; 32% over $403,550 through $512,450; 35% over $512,450 through $768,700; and 37% over $768,700. Other filing statuses have different brackets and are outside this bracket explanation. IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments (opens in a new tab).
Standard deduction and a bounded example
The standard deduction is $16,100 for single and married-filing-separately filers, $32,200 for joint filers, and $24,150 for heads of household. IRS, tax year 2026 inflation adjustments (opens in a new tab).
Worked example using the money.financial calculator. For a single filer with $60,000 of annual ordinary income, the money.financial calculator returns $43,900 taxable income and $5,020.00 base federal income tax. This illustration includes only the standard deduction and ordinary-income brackets. It leaves out credits, other deductions, capital-gains rates, FICA, state and local taxes, and final return liability. It is general information, not a filing calculation.