Estimate income tax and paycheck.
Estimate income tax and paycheck.
Enter your gross annual income, filing status (single, married filing jointly, head of household), and any pre-tax deductions like 401(k) contributions or health insurance premiums. The calculator estimates your federal income tax liability, effective tax rate, and approximate take-home pay. Use it to compare salary scenarios, understand the impact of deductions, or estimate quarterly estimated tax payments if you're self-employed.
This calculator uses current federal tax brackets. State income taxes vary widely and are not included โ add your state's flat rate or bracket to get your complete tax picture.
The US uses a marginal (progressive) tax system โ not all your income is taxed at your top bracket rate. Only the income within each bracket gets taxed at that bracket's rate. A common misconception is that earning a raise could push you into a higher bracket and result in less take-home pay. That cannot happen under a marginal system โ you always take home more when you earn more.
Example: A single filer earning $50,000 in 2026 doesn't pay 22% on the full $50,000. They pay 10% on the first $11,600, 12% on income from $11,600โ$47,150, and 22% only on the remaining $2,850 above that. Their effective (average) tax rate is much lower than 22%.
Married filing jointly rates apply to roughly double these thresholds for most brackets.
In 2026, the standard deduction is $14,600 for single filers and $29,200 for married filing jointly. Most taxpayers take the standard deduction since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 nearly doubled it. You should only itemize if your qualifying deductions (mortgage interest, state/local taxes up to $10,000, charitable donations, medical expenses over 7.5% of AGI) exceed your standard deduction amount.
Pre-tax contributions to a 401(k) or traditional IRA directly reduce your taxable income โ contributing $6,000 to an IRA at a 22% marginal rate saves $1,320 in taxes. HSA contributions are triple-tax-advantaged (deductible, grow tax-free, tax-free for medical use). Business owners have access to additional deductions including home office, vehicle mileage, and equipment depreciation.
This distinction causes more confusion than any other part of income tax, and it is worth being precise about.
Your marginal rate is the rate applied to your next pound or dollar of income — the bracket you are currently in. Your effective rate is total tax divided by total income, which is always lower because earlier income was taxed at lower rates.
Someone in a 32% bracket does not pay 32% of their income. The first slice is taxed at the lowest rate, the next slice at the next rate, and only the portion above the threshold is taxed at 32%. Their effective rate might be 19%.
A persistent and entirely false belief is that earning more can leave you worse off by pushing you into a higher bracket.
Progressive tax systems are marginal: only the income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate. Crossing a bracket boundary never reduces your take-home pay. A raise always leaves you with more after tax — just not all of it.
There are narrow exceptions involving benefit cliffs, where a specific credit or allowance withdraws sharply at a threshold. Those are real and worth checking if you are near one, but they are a feature of particular benefits rather than of the tax brackets themselves.
A deduction reduces your taxable income. Its value depends on your marginal rate — a $1,000 deduction saves $320 at a 32% rate and $120 at 12%.
A credit reduces your tax bill directly. A $1,000 credit saves $1,000 regardless of your rate, which makes credits considerably more valuable for lower earners.
Contributions to a pre-tax retirement account function as a deduction, which is why they are worth more at higher marginal rates. This is a genuine planning consideration rather than a technicality.
This calculator gives estimates only. Real returns involve allowances, credits, and local taxes that vary by jurisdiction and by circumstance — a qualified tax preparer is the right source for anything consequential.
Your marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar of income โ the highest bracket you reach. Your effective rate is the average across all brackets, always lower than your marginal rate. When people say they're "in the 22% bracket," they don't pay 22% on all income โ their effective rate is typically 13โ17%.
If you're self-employed, freelancing, or expect to owe more than $1,000 in federal taxes, the IRS requires quarterly estimated payments (due April, June, September, January). Missing these triggers an underpayment penalty. Use this calculator to estimate your annual liability, then divide by 4 for each quarterly payment.
Adjust your W-4 withholding at work to match your expected liability. If you're consistently getting a large refund, you're giving the government an interest-free loan โ increase allowances to get more money in each paycheck. If you owe a lot each year, decrease allowances.