Income Tax Calculator
Estimate the refund or amount owed on a federal return for 2025 or 2026, from your income, deductions, credits and what has already been withheld.
Example
Sample: a single filer aged 30, $80,000 of wages with $9,000 withheld, for 2025.
This is a sample result, not your calculation. Enter your own values to replace it.
Fill in your income and press Calculate to estimate the tax owed or refunded.
Tax Amount Owe
The return, line by line
| Total Income | — |
|---|---|
| Total Deductions | — |
| Taxable Income | — |
| Regular Taxes | — |
| Alternative Minimum Tax | — |
| Net Investment Income Tax | — |
| All Tax Credits | — |
| Total Tax with Credits | — |
| Marginal Tax Rate | — |
| Tax Pre-payments | — |
| Tax Amount Owe | — |
An estimate of federal tax only. It takes the mainstream path through each rule and cannot know everything a real return turns on, so treat it as a guide rather than a filing. State returns, the earned income credit and the refundable part of the child credit are not modelled.
Check your entries
How to use this calculator
- Set your file status, age, dependants and the tax year you are estimating.
- Enter your income. Wages and federal tax withheld come straight off your W-2 (boxes 1 and 2); the rest of the boxes cover interest, dividends, gains and anything else that arrives on a 1099.
- Add your deductions and credits. Leave anything that does not apply at zero — the calculator will simply take the standard deduction if itemizing does not beat it.
- Press Calculate to see the return line by line, ending in what you owe or get back.
A worked example
A single filer aged 30 earned $80,000 in 2025 and had $9,000 of federal tax withheld. Nothing else applies.
The standard deduction of $15,750 comes off first, leaving $64,250 of taxable income. That is taxed in three slices: 10% of the first $11,925 is $1,193, 12% of the next $36,550 is $4,386, and 22% of the remaining $15,775 is $3,471 — $9,049 in all. Their marginal rate is 22%, but their effective rate is only 11.3%. Against $9,000 already withheld, they owe $49.
The 2025 and 2026 brackets
Both years use the same seven rates on inflation-adjusted thresholds. These are the single filer's; joint filers get roughly double, and head of household sits between the two.
| Rate | 2025 taxable income | 2026 taxable income |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $11,925 | $0 – $12,400 |
| 12% | $11,925 – $48,475 | $12,400 – $50,400 |
| 22% | $48,475 – $103,350 | $50,400 – $105,700 |
| 24% | $103,350 – $197,300 | $105,700 – $201,775 |
| 32% | $197,300 – $250,525 | $201,775 – $256,225 |
| 35% | $250,525 – $626,350 | $256,225 – $640,600 |
| 37% | Over $626,350 | Over $640,600 |
The standard deduction rises with them: $15,750 single and $31,500 joint for 2025, $16,100 and $32,200 for 2026, with an extra amount at 65.
What the temporary deductions do
The July 2025 law added four deductions that run through 2028 and sit above the line, so you get them whether or not you itemize:
- Tips — up to $25,000 of qualified tip income.
- Overtime — up to $12,500, or $25,000 on a joint return.
- Car loan interest — up to $10,000 on a qualifying vehicle, fading out above $100,000 of income ($200,000 joint).
- Age 65 and over — an extra $6,000 per qualifying person, fading out above $75,000 ($150,000 joint).
Tips and overtime are already inside your W-2 wages, which is why they belong in the deductions section rather than the income one — entering them twice would overstate what you earned.
Ordinary income and capital gains are taxed differently
Qualified dividends and gains on assets held more than a year use their own 0%, 15% and 20% ladder. The important detail is that they stack on top of your ordinary income: it is your wages and interest that decide where the gains slice begins, so the same $40,000 of gains can be untaxed for one filer and taxed at 15% for another.
Marginal versus effective
A raise into the 24% bracket does not tax your whole income at 24% — only the dollars above the threshold. That is why the effective rate in the example is 11.3% while the marginal rate is 22%. When people say a raise "pushed them into a higher bracket and cost them money", it is nearly always this that has been misunderstood.
What this does not do
- No state return. The state and local rate field only estimates your deduction; it does not compute state tax owed.
- No earned income credit, and no refundable portion of the child credit, so a low-income return will understate a refund.
- No qualified business income deduction, itemized medical expenses, or AMT preferences beyond the state and local addback.
This is an estimate for planning, not a filing. To see what a salary is worth before tax, try the salary calculator; to model saving what you keep, the investment calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How is federal income tax calculated?
Progressively. Your income is first reduced by adjustments and then by the standard or itemized deduction, and each bracket applies only to the slice of taxable income that falls inside it. For a single filer in 2025 with $64,250 of taxable income that is 10% on the first $11,925, 12% up to $48,475 and 22% on the rest — $9,049 in total, not 22% of everything.
What is the difference between the marginal and effective rate?
Your marginal rate is the rate on your next dollar of income — your top bracket. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total income, and it is always lower, because your first dollars are taxed in the cheaper brackets. Someone "in the 22% bracket" usually pays an effective rate closer to 11–14%.
Which tax year should I choose?
Choose 2025 for the return you file in 2026, and 2026 for planning ahead or estimating quarterly payments. Both sets of figures come from the IRS inflation adjustments, including the changes made by the July 2025 reconciliation law — the higher standard deduction, the raised state and local cap, and the temporary deductions for tips, overtime, car loan interest and seniors.
Why does entering tips or overtime lower my tax without lowering my income?
Because those amounts are already inside your W-2 wages. The 2025 law lets you deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips and up to $12,500 of overtime ($25,000 on a joint return) from taxable income, so you enter them as deductions rather than as extra income. The same is true of up to $10,000 of interest on a qualifying car loan.
Should I itemize or take the standard deduction?
Whichever is larger — the calculator takes the better of the two for you. Itemizing only wins once your state and local taxes (capped), mortgage interest, charitable gifts and other deductibles together beat the standard deduction, which is $15,750 for a single filer in 2025 and $16,100 in 2026.
Are long-term capital gains taxed differently?
Yes. Qualified dividends and gains on assets held more than a year are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% rather than at the ordinary rates, and they stack on top of your ordinary income — so it is your other income that decides which of the three rates the gains start at.
Does this include state tax and payroll tax?
It estimates federal income tax, plus self-employment tax and the net investment income tax where they apply. It does not compute a state return; the state and local rate field is only used to estimate your deduction. Ordinary FICA withholding on wages is separate and is not shown.
How accurate is this?
It is an estimate, and takes the mainstream path through each rule. It does not model the earned income credit, the refundable part of the child credit, the qualified business income deduction, itemized medical expenses, or AMT preferences beyond the state and local addback. For anything consequential, check with a preparer.
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About this calculator
Method reviewed for accuracy on August 9, 2026
Built on transparent, unit-tested formulas that run entirely in your browser — see how we build our calculators.
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