2026 Tax Brackets
For 2026, the Tax Brackets is 37% (Top rate), $640,600 (37% rate, single taxpayers), $768,700 (37% rate, married couples) and 16 more figures below.
| Item | Rate | Single taxpayers | Married couples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 37% rate | 37% | $640,600 | $768,700 |
| 35% rate | 35% | $256,225 | $512,450 |
| 32% rate | 32% | $201,775 | $403,550 |
| 24% rate | 24% | $105,700 | $211,400 |
| 22% rate | 22% | $50,400 | $100,800 |
| 12% rate | 12% | $12,400 | $24,800 |
| 10% rate | 10% | - | - |
A dash is a figure this site has not published for that row, not an amount of zero.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: IR-2025-103 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2025
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top rate | 37% | 37% | +0% (+0.0%) |
| 37% rate, single taxpayers | $626,350 | $640,600 | +$14,250 (+2.3%) |
| 37% rate, married couples | $751,600 | $768,700 | +$17,100 (+2.3%) |
| 35% rate | 35% | 35% | +0% (+0.0%) |
| 35% rate, single taxpayers | $250,525 | $256,225 | +$5,700 (+2.3%) |
| 35% rate, married couples | $501,050 | $512,450 | +$11,400 (+2.3%) |
| 32% rate | 32% | 32% | +0% (+0.0%) |
| 32% rate, single taxpayers | $197,300 | $201,775 | +$4,475 (+2.3%) |
| 32% rate, married couples | $394,600 | $403,550 | +$8,950 (+2.3%) |
| 24% rate | 24% | 24% | +0% (+0.0%) |
| 24% rate, single taxpayers | $103,350 | $105,700 | +$2,350 (+2.3%) |
| 24% rate, married couples | $206,700 | $211,400 | +$4,700 (+2.3%) |
| 22% rate | 22% | 22% | +0% (+0.0%) |
| 22% rate, single taxpayers | $48,475 | $50,400 | +$1,925 (+4.0%) |
| 22% rate, married couples | $96,950 | $100,800 | +$3,850 (+4.0%) |
| 12% rate | 12% | 12% | +0% (+0.0%) |
| 12% rate, single taxpayers | $11,925 | $12,400 | +$475 (+4.0%) |
| 12% rate, married couples | $23,850 | $24,800 | +$950 (+4.0%) |
| 10% rate | 10% | 10% | +0% (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
These rates and thresholds apply to individual federal income tax returns for tax year 2026, which are generally filed in 2027. Which figure is yours depends on filing status: the release states the schedule for individual single taxpayers and, in parentheses beside each rate, for married couples filing jointly. The schedules for heads of households and for married individuals filing separately are not in the release; they are in Revenue Procedure 2025-32. A rate reaches only the income above its own threshold and not the whole return, so a single taxpayer whose income passes $50,400 pays 22% on the part above $50,400 and the lower rates on everything beneath it. One further point attaches to the top bracket: the release states that the One, Big, Beautiful Bill imposes a limitation on the tax benefit from itemized deductions for taxpayers in the highest tax bracket.
What changed this year, and why
For tax year 2026 the top federal income tax rate remains 37%, and the whole schedule beneath it moves up with inflation. The IRS release states seven rates and the income at which each one begins. For an individual single taxpayer the 37% rate starts above $640,600, the 35% rate above $256,225, the 32% rate above $201,775, the 24% rate above $105,700, the 22% rate above $50,400 and the 12% rate above $12,400; income of $12,400 or less is taxed at 10%. For married couples filing jointly the same rates start above $768,700, $512,450, $403,550, $211,400, $100,800 and $24,800. The two top thresholds rose from $626,350 and $751,600 for tax year 2025. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 carries the full schedules.
Common questions
- What are the 2026 federal income tax brackets?
- For tax year 2026 the IRS release states seven rates. For an individual single taxpayer: 10% on income of $12,400 or less, 12% above $12,400, 22% above $50,400, 24% above $105,700, 32% above $201,775, 35% above $256,225 and 37% above $640,600. Each rate applies only to the income above its own threshold.
- What are the 2026 tax brackets for married couples filing jointly?
- On a joint return for tax year 2026 the 12% rate starts above $24,800, the 22% rate above $100,800, the 24% rate above $211,400, the 32% rate above $403,550, the 35% rate above $512,450 and the 37% rate above $768,700. The release states each of those in parentheses beside the rate, alongside the figure for an individual single taxpayer.
- Where does the 22% tax bracket start in 2026?
- The 22% rate applies to income over $50,400 for an individual single taxpayer, and over $100,800 for married couples filing jointly, in tax year 2026. Both are annual amounts for the whole tax year rather than monthly or per-paycheck figures.
- Do the 2026 tax brackets apply to the return I file in 2026?
- No. The tax year 2026 adjustments generally apply to tax returns filed in 2027. A return filed during 2026 is for an earlier tax year and uses that year's thresholds. The IRS announced the 2026 figures in October 2025, more than a year before most people file a return that uses them.
- If I earn more than $640,600, is all of my income taxed at 37%?
- No. The schedule is graduated. The 37% rate reaches only the income above $640,600 for an individual single taxpayer, or above $768,700 on a joint return; the income beneath that is taxed at the lower rates the release lists, down to 10% on the first $12,400.
- Are the joint thresholds simply double the single ones for 2026?
- Not throughout. The IRS publishes each figure separately and adjusts each for inflation on its own, and the top pair for tax year 2026 is $640,600 and $768,700. Use the figure that matches how you file rather than scaling the single amount.
- How did the 2026 brackets change from 2025?
- The rates themselves did not move: the top rate remains 37% for tax year 2026. What moved is the income at which each rate begins. At the top of the schedule the threshold went from $626,350 to $640,600 for an individual single taxpayer, and from $751,600 to $768,700 for married couples filing jointly.
- Where do these 2026 bracket figures come from?
- From the IRS news release announcing the tax year 2026 annual inflation adjustments, issued in October 2025, and from Revenue Procedure 2025-32, which the release names as the source of the detail. The release states the schedule for individual single taxpayers and for married couples filing jointly; the revenue procedure adds heads of households, married individuals filing separately, and estates and trusts.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Federal income tax for a single filer takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
The bracket rate is not the rate on all your income
The IRS warns that the Tax Rate Schedules exist only to show the rate that applies at each income level. You are not supposed to use them to compute your actual tax, because the bracket rate applies only to income within that bracket, not to all your taxable income. For 2026 the brackets for single filers run from 10% up to 37%, with the 37% rate applying only to income over $640,600. For married couples filing jointly the same 37% rate begins at $768,700. A single taxpayer in the 37% bracket still pays 10% on the first dollars, 12% on the next slice, 22%, 24%, and 32% on the slices in between, and 35% on the slice just below the top. So being pushed into a higher bracket raises the rate on the additional income only; it does not retroactively raise the rate on income that fell in lower brackets. When you actually figure your tax, you use either the Tax Table, the Tax Computation Worksheet, or one of the special worksheets rather than applying the top rate to your whole income.
The Tax Rate Schedules are shown so you can see the tax rate that applies to all levels of taxable income. Don’t use them to figure your tax. Instead, see chapter 13.
Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax (IRS)
Below $100,000 you look the tax up, above it you compute it
Most individual taxpayers figure their federal income tax using one of two published methods. If your taxable income is less than $100,000, you find the tax in the Tax Table, which lists a specific dollar amount for each income range and filing status. If your taxable income is $100,000 or more, the Tax Table no longer applies; you must instead use the Tax Computation Worksheet, which gives you a percentage to apply to income over a threshold plus a base figure from the rate schedules. The $100,000 line is therefore the switch point: below it you look the tax up, at or above it you compute it from the bracket rates. Taxpayers whose income crosses that level still fall within the same seven federal rate brackets (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%), but the worksheet, rather than the table, is what translates their income into a final tax figure. The choice between the two methods is determined entirely by whether taxable income reaches the $100,000 threshold.
Your taxable income is $100,000 or more.
Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax (IRS)
Filing as head of household while still married
A married person may still qualify to file as head of household if they are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year. To be considered unmarried, all of the following tests must be met: you file a separate return (which includes claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household filing status); you paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year; your spouse did not live in your home during the last half of the tax year; your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year; and you must be able to claim the child as a dependent. These tests allow a married person to use head of household filing status even though they are still legally married at year end, provided they meet all five conditions. If any one of the tests is not met, the taxpayer cannot claim head of household status and must use either married filing separately or married filing jointly instead.
Considered Unmarried To qualify for head of household status, you must be either unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year.
Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax (IRS)
What a joint return makes each spouse liable for
When a married couple files a joint return, both spouses must include all of their income and all of their deductions on that one return, and they also share responsibility for what the return produces. The IRS describes this as joint responsibility: both spouses may be held responsible, jointly and individually, for the tax and for any interest or penalty due on the joint return. In plain terms, if one spouse does not pay the tax that is due, the other spouse may have to. If one spouse did not report the correct tax, both spouses may be responsible for any additional taxes the IRS later assesses. One spouse can be held responsible for the full amount of tax due even if all of the income on the return was earned by the other spouse. A taxpayer who is concerned that a spouse is not reporting all of their income, or who does not want to be responsible for taxes due because the spouse has not had enough withheld, may want to consider filing separately. The same joint responsibility also applies to a joint return filed before a divorce, even if the divorce decree says otherwise.
Joint responsibility. Both of you may be held responsible, jointly and individually, for the tax and any interest or penalty due on your joint re- turn. This means that if one spouse doesn't pay the tax due, the other may have to. Or, if one spouse doesn't report the correct tax, both spouses may be responsible for any additional taxes assessed by the IRS. One spouse may be held responsible for all the tax due even if all the income was earned by the other spouse.
Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax (IRS)
The income these brackets do not tax
The ordinary income tax brackets described in this publication do not apply to all types of investment income. Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are generally taxed at separate, lower rates under their own set of rules, and taxpayers who have this kind of income figure that part of their tax on a different worksheet instead of the regular Tax Table or Tax Computation Worksheet. The IRS worksheet used for this is the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet; when you have net capital gains or qualified dividends, you compute the preferential-rate tax on that worksheet and then carry the result into the Tax Computation Worksheet in column (a) of the row that applies to your total taxable income. The Schedule D Tax Worksheet is used in other capital-gain situations, such as when you must use Schedule D itself. So the 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% brackets you see for ordinary income do not directly set the rate on your long-term capital gains or qualified dividends.
Note: If you’re required to use this worksheet to figure the tax on an amount from another form or worksheet, such as the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet, the Schedule D Tax Worksheet, Schedule J, Form 8615, or the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet, enter the amount from that form or worksheet in column (a) of the row that applies to the amount you’re looking up.
Publication 17 (2025), Your Federal Income Tax (IRS)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
IR-2025-103 (IRS)
- Top rate
For tax year 2026, the top tax rate remains 37%
- 37% rate, single taxpayers
for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $640,600
- 37% rate, married couples
($768,700 for married couples filing jointly)
- 35% rate
35% for incomes over $256,225
- 35% rate, single taxpayers
35% for incomes over $256,225
- 35% rate, married couples
35% for incomes over $256,225 ($512,450 for married couples filing jointly)
- 32% rate
32% for incomes over $201,775
- 32% rate, single taxpayers
32% for incomes over $201,775
- 32% rate, married couples
32% for incomes over $201,775 ($403,550 for married couples filing jointly)
- 24% rate
24% for incomes over $105,700
- 24% rate, single taxpayers
24% for incomes over $105,700
- 24% rate, married couples
24% for incomes over $105,700 ($211,400 for married couples filing jointly)
- 22% rate
22% for incomes over $50,400
- 22% rate, single taxpayers
22% for incomes over $50,400
- 22% rate, married couples
22% for incomes over $50,400 ($100,800 for married couples filing jointly)
- 12% rate
12% for incomes over $12,400
- 12% rate, single taxpayers
12% for incomes over $12,400
- 12% rate, married couples
12% for incomes over $12,400 ($24,800 for married couples filing jointly)
- 10% rate
The lowest rate is 10% for incomes of single individuals with incomes of $12,400 or less