Free income tax calculator. Estimate your 2026 US federal income tax by filing status, using current IRS tax brackets and standard deduction amounts.
An income tax calculator estimates how much US federal income tax you owe by applying that year's progressive tax brackets to your taxable income ā your gross income minus the standard or itemized deduction ā based on your filing status.
$7,670.00
Estimated amount owed
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Income Tax Calculator
A common misconception is that moving into a higher tax bracket means all of your income gets taxed at that higher rate. In reality, the US federal income tax system is progressive and marginal ā each bracket's rate only applies to the portion of income that falls within that bracket, not your entire income.
This calculator applies that logic directly: it walks through each bracket for your filing status, taxing only the slice of your taxable income that falls within each rate, then sums the result. That's why your effective tax rate ā total tax divided by total income ā is always lower than your top marginal rate.
Filing Status
Filing status determines which set of tax brackets and which standard deduction amount applies to you, and the differences are substantial. Married couples filing jointly generally get roughly double the bracket widths and standard deduction of a single filer, which is why marriage can meaningfully lower a couple's combined tax bill compared to filing separately.
Head of household status, available to unmarried taxpayers who pay for more than half the cost of maintaining a home for a qualifying dependent, sits between single and married-filing-jointly in terms of bracket widths and deduction size ā recognizing the added financial responsibility of supporting a household alone.
Deductions
The standard deduction is a no-questions-asked reduction to your taxable income, and its amount depends only on your filing status. Itemizing requires listing out specific deductible expenses ā mortgage interest, state and local taxes up to a cap, charitable contributions, and certain medical costs above a threshold ā and only makes sense if that total exceeds your standard deduction.
Since the standard deduction roughly doubled under tax reform passed in 2017, the majority of US taxpayers now come out ahead taking the standard deduction rather than itemizing, which is why this calculator defaults to it. Switch to itemized only if you know your deductible expenses genuinely exceed that threshold.
Limitations
This calculator estimates federal income tax only and doesn't account for state or local income taxes, self-employment tax, the Alternative Minimum Tax, tax credits (such as the Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Tax Credit), or income types with special treatment like long-term capital gains and qualified dividends.
It also doesn't account for FICA payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), which are calculated separately from income tax. For a complete picture of your take-home pay from a paycheck, a dedicated paycheck or salary calculator that includes payroll taxes is more accurate than income tax alone.
Practical Use Cases
Estimating a tax refund or bill
Comparing your estimated total tax to what's already been withheld from your paychecks.
Planning for a raise or bonus
Understanding how additional income affects your marginal tax rate and overall tax bill.
Comparing filing statuses
Seeing how married filing jointly vs. separately affects your tax liability.
Deciding between standard and itemized deductions
Checking whether your itemizable expenses would actually lower your tax bill.
Year-end tax planning
Estimating your liability before December 31st to make timely adjustments like retirement contributions.
This calculator uses 2026 tax year federal income tax brackets and standard deduction amounts, as released by the IRS. These apply to income earned during 2026, which you'd typically file a return for in early 2027.
Your marginal rate is the tax rate applied to your last (highest) dollar of taxable income ā the bracket you're currently in. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total income, which is always lower than your marginal rate because of how progressive brackets work.
The standard deduction is a fixed dollar amount, set by filing status, that reduces your taxable income before tax brackets are applied. Most taxpayers use the standard deduction rather than itemizing, since it's simpler and often larger than the total of itemizable expenses.
Itemizing makes sense only if your total itemizable expenses ā mortgage interest, state and local taxes (capped), charitable donations, and certain medical expenses ā exceed the standard deduction for your filing status. Most taxpayers are better off with the standard deduction.
No ā this calculator estimates federal income tax only. State income tax varies significantly by state (some states, like Texas and Florida, have no state income tax at all), so it isn't included here.
Payroll withholding is an estimate your employer calculates throughout the year based on the W-4 you filed, and it doesn't account for every detail of your actual tax situation. The refund or amount owed shown here compares your estimated total tax liability to what you enter as already withheld.