Money

Income Tax Calculator

Your 2026 federal income tax, worked through the published IRS brackets — including the new tips, overtime and senior deductions.

Enter your income for the year to see your federal income tax.

Estimate. A real-world figure based on the assumptions listed below, which you can change. Figures are for tax year 2026.

How this calculator works

It starts from your income for the year and takes off pre-tax deductions such as traditional 401(k) and HSA contributions, which gives your adjusted gross income.

Then comes the deduction: the 2026 standard deduction — $16,100 for a single filer, $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly, $24,150 for a head of household — plus an extra amount for each person who is 65 or older or blind. If you itemize, your own total is used instead.

Three newer deductions come off on top of that, whether you itemize or not, for tax years 2025 to 2028: qualified tips, the premium portion of qualified overtime, and $6,000 for each person aged 65 or over. Each is capped and phases out at higher incomes, computed line for line as the IRS’s Schedule 1-A does it.

What is left is taxable income, and it is taxed in slices. The first $12,400 of a single filer’s taxable income is taxed at 10%, the next slice at 12%, and so on up to 37%. Only the income inside each bracket is taxed at that bracket’s rate.

Finally the child tax credit — $2,200 per child under 17 — and the $500 credit for other dependents come off the tax. They shrink by $50 for every $1,000 — or part of $1,000 — of income over $200,000 ($400,000 for a joint return).

The formula

Exactly what happens to your numbers, step by step.

Adjusted gross income
```
AGI = income − pre-tax deductions
```

Taxable income

taxable = AGI − standard or itemized deduction − tips, overtime and senior deductions

Tax

tax = Σ (income inside each bracket × that bracket’s rate) − credits

Effective rate
```
effective rate = tax ÷ income
```
Your marginal rate is the rate on your next dollar; your effective rate is what you pay overall.

A worked example

A single filer earning $75,000, taking the standard deduction.

What you enter

Filing status: Single
Income: $75,000
Deduction: Standard ($16,100)

Step by step

Taxable income: $75,000 − $16,100 = $58,900
10% on the first $12,400: $1,240
12% on the next $38,000: $4,560
22% on the last $8,500: $1,870

Federal income tax of $7,670

That is 10.2% of the $75,000 — well below the 22% bracket the last dollars fall in, because most of the income was taxed at 10% and 12% first.

Assumptions

Every result here rests on these. Change your inputs and the result changes with them.

2026 federal brackets, standard deductions and credit amounts from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32.
Tips, overtime and senior deductions follow 26 U.S.C. §§224, 225 and 151(d)(5)(C), phased out exactly as the 2025 Schedule 1-A worksheet does.
Modified AGI is taken to be your AGI, which is true unless you exclude foreign or Puerto Rico income.
Credits reduce the tax to zero at most. The refundable part of the child tax credit is not calculated.

What this cannot tell you

Ordinary income only. Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed at their own lower rates and are not included.
Self-employment tax is separate — use the Self-Employment Tax Calculator for that.
The alternative minimum tax, the earned income credit, education credits, the qualified business income deduction and the car loan interest deduction are not modeled.
Federal only. State income tax is not included.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between my tax bracket and what I actually pay?

Your bracket, or marginal rate, is the rate on your last dollar of taxable income. What you actually pay, your effective rate, is lower, because every dollar below that was taxed at the lower brackets first. A single filer on $75,000 is in the 22% bracket but pays about 10.2% of their income.

Can moving into a higher bracket make me take home less?

No. Only the income above the bracket line is taxed at the higher rate. A raise that takes you $100 into the 22% bracket costs $22 more in tax on that $100 — the rest of your income is taxed exactly as before.

How do the new tips and overtime deductions work?

For 2025 to 2028 you can deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips, and the premium part of qualified overtime — the extra half in time and a half, not the whole overtime paycheck — up to $12,500, or $25,000 on a joint return. Both shrink by $100 for each whole $1,000 of income over $150,000 ($300,000 joint). You need a Social Security number, and married couples must file jointly.

Who gets the $6,000 senior deduction?

Anyone 65 or older by the end of the year, from 2025 to 2028 — $6,000 each, so $12,000 for a married couple who both qualify and file jointly. It is reduced by 6% of income over $75,000 ($150,000 joint), so a single filer with $90,000 of income gets $5,100. It comes on top of the standard deduction, including the extra amount for being 65 or older.

Should I itemize?

Only if your itemized deductions — mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charitable gifts and the rest — add up to more than your standard deduction: $16,100 single or $32,200 married filing jointly for 2026. Most people take the standard deduction.

Sources and review

Sources

Methodology version 1.0.0 · Last reviewed September 30, 2026 · Tax year 2026

Cite this calculator

For coursework, a resource list or your own site. How every calculator is built and checked is set out on the methodology page.

Citation

Chalk Calculator. (2026, September 30). Income Tax Calculator (Methodology version 1.0.0). https://chalkcalculator.com/income-tax-calculator/

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