Estimate your 2026 federal income tax from gross income and filing status — with your effective rate, marginal bracket, and after-tax income.
Estimates 2026 FEDERAL income tax only, using IRS brackets and standard deductions. Excludes Social Security/Medicare (FICA), state and local tax, credits (child tax credit, EITC), and phase-outs. Not tax advice — for planning only.
The US uses marginal brackets: only the income within each band is taxed at that band's rate, so a raise never lowers your take-home. Your income first drops by the standard deduction (or your itemized total), and the remainder is taxed bracket by bracket. Your effective rate — total tax ÷ income — is always lower than your top bracket.
Taxable income = gross − deduction; tax = sum of each bracket's slice
US federal income tax is marginal: income is first reduced by a deduction, and the remaining taxable income is taxed in slices, each slice at its own bracket rate. For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for a single filer, $32,200 for a married couple filing jointly and $24,150 for a head of household, and the bracket breakpoints are set in the IRS's annual inflation adjustment (Revenue Procedure 2025-32). The calculator applies exactly that arithmetic and reports the total tax, the effective rate (tax divided by gross income), the marginal bracket the last dollar landed in, and what is left after federal income tax.
It is a federal income tax estimate and nothing more. It leaves out Social Security and Medicare, which take 7.65% of wages from an employee and 15.3% of profit from the self-employed; it leaves out state and local income tax; it applies no credits, so the child tax credit, the earned income credit and education credits are not reflected; and it does not model the phase-outs, the alternative minimum tax or the taxation of Social Security benefits. Treat it as the shape of the bill, not the bill.
Gross income $75,000; single; no extra deductions. Taxable income is 75,000 − 16,100 = $58,900. The 2026 single brackets start at 10% up to $12,400, 12% from $12,400 to $50,400 and 22% from $50,400 to $105,700. So the tax is 12,400 × 10% = $1,240, plus (50,400 − 12,400) × 12% = 38,000 × 12% = $4,560, plus (58,900 − 50,400) × 22% = 8,500 × 22% = $1,870. Total: $7,670. Effective rate 7,670 ÷ 75,000 = 10.2%; marginal bracket 22%; after federal income tax $67,330.
The same $75,000 for a married couple filing jointly is taxed on 75,000 − 32,200 = $42,800: 24,800 × 10% = $2,480 plus 18,000 × 12% = $2,160, so $4,640 and a 6.2% effective rate, still inside the 12% bracket. A head of household on $75,000 owes $5,748. The bracket headline is the same income; the bill differs by three thousand dollars on filing status alone.
Entering net pay instead of gross and understating the bill; entering the standard deduction in the “deductions” box and taking it twice (the box is for the amount above the standard deduction, and only if you itemize); reading the marginal bracket as the rate on all income; forgetting that a bonus is taxed at the same marginal rate as everything else even though withholding on it looks higher; and, for anyone self-employed, treating this figure as the whole liability when self-employment tax on $75,000 of profit adds about $10,597 on its own. The withholding on a W-4 is a separate estimate again, which is why a refund or a balance due is normal.
A single salary with the standard deduction is a calculator problem. Freelance income, a side business, rental income, quarterly estimated payments or two earners with uneven withholding is a running-record problem: what you owe depends on what you have earned and set aside so far this year, and the estimate needs updating every quarter. That is the job the 1099 self-employed tax tracker does — income and deductible expenses logged as they happen, with the quarterly set-aside computed from the same brackets used here — and it is the honest next step before the year gets away from you. For anything with credits, phase-outs or more than one state, the figures here are a planning estimate and a preparer is the answer.
Because only your top dollars hit the top rate. A single filer at $75k is in the 22% bracket but pays an effective rate closer to 11–12% federally.
No — those FICA taxes (7.65% for employees) and any state tax are separate. This is the federal income-tax piece only.
Related: self-employment tax calculator · take-home pay calculator · capital gains tax calculator · all free calculators.
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It uses standard formulas and recalculates the moment you change a value, so the math is exact for the inputs you enter. Treat the result as a reliable planning estimate; for decisions with legal or tax consequences, confirm the figures with a qualified professional.
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Last reviewed: September 2026. Free to use, no signup — Income Tax Calculator by ToolWise Digital.
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