Income Tax Calculator 2026
Estimate your 2026 federal tax return: AGI, taxable income, tax by bracket, Child Tax Credit and your refund or amount owed, with the new 2026 deductions built in.
Income for 2026 (both spouses)
Gross pay before 401(k) (W-2 box 5 is usually closest)
Net profit after business expenses (Schedule C)
Bank interest and non-qualified dividends
Assets held over 1 year; taxed at 0%, 15% or 20%
Held 1 year or less; enter a loss as a negative number
W-2 box 2 withholding + 2026 estimated payments
Pre-tax savings and family
2026 limit $24,500 per person (+ catch-up at 50+)
2026 limit $7,500; may be limited if covered by a workplace plan
Payroll HSA is already out of W-2 wages; limit $4,400 / $8,750 family
$2,200 credit each
$500 credit each
| 2026 return summary (married filing jointly) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Wages after 401(k) (W-2 box 1) | $120,000 |
| Total income | $120,000 |
| Adjusted gross income (AGI) | $120,000 |
| Standard deduction | − $32,200 |
| Taxable income | $87,800 |
| Income tax (brackets + capital gains rates) | $10,040 |
| Child Tax Credit / Credit for Other Dependents | − $4,400 |
| Total federal tax | $5,640 |
| Tax already paid (withholding + estimated) | − $12,000 |
| Estimated refund | $6,360 |
Your tax, bracket by bracket
| Rate | Taxable income slice | Amount | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $24,800 | $24,800 | $2,480.00 |
| 12% | $24,800 – $87,800 | $63,000 | $7,560.00 |
| Income tax before credits | $87,800 | $10,040.00 | |
- AGI = total income $120,000 − IRA, HSA and half-SE-tax adjustments $0 = $120,000 (401(k) deferrals are already left out of wages).
- Taxable income = AGI − standard deduction $32,200 = $87,800.
- Income tax = 2026 married filing jointly brackets on $87,800 of ordinary income ($10,040.00).
- Credits = 2 × $2,200 + 0 × $500. $4,400 offsets tax.
- Refund or owed = payments $12,000 − total tax $5,640 = $6,360.
Standard vs itemized deduction
| Mortgage interest | $0 |
| SALT (capped at $40,400) | $0 |
| Charity above 0.5% of AGI | $0 |
| Medical above 7.5% of AGI | $0 |
| Total itemized | $0 |
| Standard deduction | $32,200 |
The standard deduction is bigger by $32,200 (enter your itemized amounts above to compare).
Married filing jointly vs separately
| Filing status | Total tax | Refund / owed |
|---|---|---|
| Married filing jointly (your choice) | $5,640 | $6,360 |
| Married filing separately (both returns) | $5,640 | $6,360 |
Both give about the same tax for these inputs. Separate returns assume each spouse reports half of every amount and the children are split between you. Filing separately also loses the EITC, education credits and the senior, tips and overtime deductions.
What if I add more to my 401(k)?
Putting $5,000 more into a traditional 401(k) cuts your federal tax by $600, so your refund becomes $6,960. Saving $5,000 for retirement really costs you only $4,400 today. For 2026 contributions it has to come out of paychecks by December 31; a traditional IRA can still be funded until April 15, 2027.
- →Confusing your bracket with your rate: only the dollars above each threshold are taxed at the higher rate.
- →Entering W-2 box 1 wages and then subtracting your 401(k) again. Enter gross pay before 401(k) here.
- →Forgetting estimated taxes on freelance or investment income: there's no withholding, so you can owe a penalty.
- →Itemizing out of habit: with a $32,200 joint standard deduction, most couples are better off not itemizing.
- →Counting a child who turned 17 during 2026 for the $2,200 credit: they qualify only for the $500 other-dependent credit.
2026 brackets, standard and additional deductions, capital gains thresholds, Child Tax Credit ($2,200, $1,700 refundable), QBI thresholds and AMT exemptions: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32. SALT cap ($40,400, phase-down above $505,000), senior, tips, overtime and non-itemizer charity deductions, 0.5% charity floor and 2/37 itemized limit: One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21). Self-employment tax: 15.3% on 92.35% of profit, $184,500 Social Security wage base (SSA). Net Investment Income Tax 3.8% and Additional Medicare Tax 0.9% above $200,000 single, $250,000 joint, $125,000 separate. State estimates: Tax Foundation 2026 state rates plus state updates, as in our paycheck calculator.
This tool is for informational purposes only. Always verify results with a qualified professional.
What is the Income Tax Calculator 2026?
This income tax calculator estimates your 2026 federal tax return: the return you file in early 2027. Enter your filing status, wages, self-employment profit, interest, dividends and capital gains, your 401(k), IRA and HSA contributions, your children and other dependents, any itemized deductions, and the federal tax you've already paid through withholding or estimated payments. It works out your adjusted gross income (AGI), taxable income, tax bracket by bracket, the Child Tax Credit, self-employment tax, the Net Investment Income Tax and the Additional Medicare Tax, and finally whether you should expect a refund or owe money. Unlike a paycheck calculator, which estimates what your employer withholds from each check, this looks at the whole year the way Form 1040 does.
All federal figures are the IRS numbers for tax year 2026 from Revenue Procedure 2025-32, which includes the changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21). The standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and married people filing separately, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $24,150 for heads of household, plus $1,650 for each married taxpayer who is 65 or older or blind ($2,050 if unmarried). The seven brackets run from 10% to 37%. Qualified dividends and long-term gains are taxed at 0% until taxable income reaches $49,450 (single) or $98,900 (joint), then 15%, then 20% above $545,500 (single) or $613,700 (joint). The Child Tax Credit is $2,200 per child under 17, of which up to $1,700 is refundable, and the Credit for Other Dependents is $500.
The 2025 tax law also changed several deductions, and they're all built in. The cap on state and local taxes (SALT) is $40,400 in 2026 ($20,200 if married filing separately), shrinking by 30% of income above $505,000 but never below $10,000. People 65 and older get an extra $6,000 senior deduction that phases out above $75,000 of income ($150,000 joint). Qualified tips (up to $25,000) and overtime premium pay (up to $12,500, or $25,000 joint) are deductible. From 2026, people who take the standard deduction can still deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to charity ($2,000 joint), itemizers can deduct charity only above 0.5% of AGI, and people in the 37% bracket lose 2/37 of their itemized deductions. Self-employed filers pay 15.3% self-employment tax on 92.35% of profit (Social Security stops at the $184,500 wage base), deduct half of it, and get the 20% qualified business income deduction.
Worked example: a married couple filing jointly earns $120,000 in wages, has two children under 17, and had $12,000 of federal tax withheld. Their AGI is $120,000. After the $32,200 standard deduction, taxable income is $87,800. Tax is 10% of the first $24,800 ($2,480) plus 12% of the remaining $63,000 ($7,560), or $10,040. The Child Tax Credit of $2,200 × 2 = $4,400 brings that to $5,640, an effective rate of 4.7% of income. Since $12,000 was withheld, they should get a refund of $6,360. If they had put another $5,000 into a traditional 401(k), their tax would fall by $600 to $5,040 and the refund would rise to $6,960, because each extra dollar of deferral saves 12 cents in their 12% bracket.
The extras answer what people usually ask next. The standard vs itemized table shows which deduction is bigger for you and by how much. The filing status comparison shows whether married filing separately would cost or save money compared with filing jointly (it usually costs more). The 401(k) what-if shows how much tax an extra contribution saves, and the optional state picker adds a rough state income tax estimate using the same 2026 state data as our paycheck calculator. The share button copies a link with your inputs. This is an estimate, not tax advice: it doesn't model the Alternative Minimum Tax, the Earned Income Tax Credit, education credits, the car loan interest deduction, IRA deduction phase-outs or passive-loss rules, so check unusual situations with tax software or a tax professional.
How to Use This Calculator
- 1Choose your filing status: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately or head of household.
- 2Enter your 2026 income: wages before 401(k) deductions, self-employment profit, interest, dividends and capital gains.
- 3Add your pre-tax 401(k), deductible IRA and HSA contributions, then your children under 17 and other dependents.
- 4Open Deductions to enter mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charity, medical costs, tips and overtime. The calculator picks standard or itemized, whichever is bigger.
- 5Enter the federal income tax already withheld (W-2 box 2) plus any estimated payments to see your refund or amount owed.
- 6Check the bracket table and comparisons, then copy the share link or print the result.