“I’m in the 24% bracket, so I pay 24% of my income in tax.” That is wrong — and the misunderstanding leads people to conclusions like “a raise would leave me worse off”, which is also wrong.
1. What do I actually pay. Being in the 24% bracket does not mean paying 24% of your income. The IRS computation for a single filer reads “Over $50,400 but not over $105,700: $5,800 plus 22% of the excess over $50,400” — the lower bracket is a fixed amount and the higher rate touches only what you go over.
2. So is a raise bad for me. No. Crossing a bracket never reduces take-home pay, because the higher rate applies only to the excess. “A raise would leave me worse off” comes from misreading this structure.
3. What should I look at. Your effective rate, not your marginal one. And taxable income is not gross income — it is what is left after the standard deduction, and in practice Social Security, Medicare and state income tax come out on top of this.
Does the rate apply to all my income
US federal income tax is bracketed and progressive. Move up a bracket and the higher rate applies only to the part above the line.
The formula in the IRS procedure shows this directly. For a single filer: “Over $50,400 but not over $105,700: $5,800 plus 22% of the excess over $50,400.” The $5,800 on the first $50,400 is fixed; 22% applies only to the excess.
2026 rates — Single
| Taxable income | Tax |
|---|---|
| Not over $12,400 | 10% of taxable income |
| Over $12,400 to $50,400 | $1,240 + 12% of the excess |
| Over $50,400 to $105,700 | $5,800 + 22% of the excess |
| Over $105,700 to $201,775 | $17,966 + 24% of the excess |
| Over $201,775 to $256,225 | $41,024 + 32% of the excess |
| Over $256,225 to $640,600 | $58,448 + 35% of the excess |
| Over $640,600 | $192,979.25 + 37% of the excess |
2026 rates — Married Filing Jointly
| Taxable income | Tax |
|---|---|
| Not over $24,800 | 10% of taxable income |
| Over $24,800 to $100,800 | $2,480 + 12% of the excess |
| Over $100,800 to $211,400 | $11,600 + 22% of the excess |
| Over $211,400 to $403,550 | $35,932 + 24% of the excess |
| Over $403,550 to $512,450 | $82,048 + 32% of the excess |
| Over $512,450 to $768,700 | $116,896 + 35% of the excess |
| Over $768,700 | $206,583.50 + 37% of the excess |
Notice that the joint thresholds are exactly double the single ones — except in the top two brackets. Double $640,600 would be $1,281,200, but the joint threshold is $768,700. That gap is where the marriage penalty for high-earning dual-income couples comes from.
What is my taxable income
“Taxable income” in the tables above is what is left after deductions. Most people take the standard deduction rather than itemising.
| Filing status | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Married filing jointly / surviving spouse | $31,500 | $32,200 |
| Head of household | $23,625 | $24,150 |
| Single / married filing separately | $15,750 | $16,100 |
So a single filer earning $60,000 has taxable income of $60,000 − $16,100 = $43,900 — which lands in the 12% bracket, not 22%. Judge “your bracket” from gross pay and you will get it wrong.
Marginal or effective — which matters
Run that $43,900 through the table: 10% on the first $12,400 is $1,240; 12% on the remaining $31,500 is $3,780. Total $5,020.
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Marginal rate | 12% | The rate on the next dollar earned |
| Effective rate on taxable income | about 11.4% | $5,020 ÷ $43,900 |
| Effective rate on gross income | about 8.4% | $5,020 ÷ $60,000 |
The number you use for decisions is the marginal rate. “How much tax does another $1,000 into my 401(k) save me?” is answered by the marginal rate, not the effective one. See also 401(k) contribution limits and IRA deduction ranges.
Will a raise leave me worse off
To take the most common myth head on: “a raise pushed me into a higher bracket, so I lost money” does not happen under the federal rate schedule. Because the formula reads “of the excess”, crossing a threshold by $1 costs you 22 cents.
That is not to say cliffs never exist. They do — but they come from separate programmes whose eligibility ends at an income line (phase-outs, subsidies), not from the rate schedule. The brackets themselves are a ramp, not a cliff.
Is that everything that comes out
The tables above cover federal income tax only. Your pay stub has more on it:
- State income tax — wholly different from state to state. See state tax comparison.
- Social Security and Medicare — withheld separately from wages.
- Local tax — in some cities and counties.
For a line-by-line take-home figure, the US paycheck calculator is faster than doing it by hand, and the US net salary table shows the same figures by salary band.
Questions people ask
When do I file using the 2026 table?
It applies to income earned in 2026, filed in early 2027. A return filed now uses 2025 figures, which differ.
Why is the 2025 standard deduction different from what I remember?
The IRS release states that the 2025 standard deduction was raised — $31,500 joint, $15,750 single. Older guidance may predate that change.
Who qualifies as head of household?
This article covers the amounts only. We could not verify the eligibility rules against an IRS source, so they are not stated here.
How does this compare with Korean income tax?
Both are progressive, but the brackets and deductions are entirely different. For the Korean side see global income tax explained.
Can I calculate my exact tax from this?
Approximately. But credits (such as the child tax credit) and the alternative minimum tax are not covered here. For an actual return, use a tax professional or IRS tools.
Where to check further
- Your state's income tax. This article covers federal tax only — some states levy none, others exceed 10%. See our state taxes article and your state's Department of Revenue.
- Whether itemizing beats the standard deduction. Everything here assumes the standard deduction — large mortgage interest, state taxes or charitable gifts change the answer. IRS Publication 501 and a tax professional can settle it.
- The 2027 inflation adjustments. The IRS publishes them each autumn in a Revenue Procedure — when the new notice appears on irs.gov's inflation adjustments page, these tables need updating.
Sources and where to check
- Internal Revenue Service — Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Primary source for the §4.01 rate tables (all single and joint brackets) and the §4.14 standard deduction ($32,200 / $24,150 / $16,100), with scope stated as “taxable years beginning in 2026”.
- Internal Revenue Service — IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (IR-2025-103, 9 October 2025). Every threshold matches the procedure above; also the source of the 2025 standard deduction figures.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal income tax rates and brackets, for the 2025 brackets used in comparison (the table is labelled “2025 tax rates”).
Written as of July 2026. The brackets and standard deductions were cross-checked between Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and IR-2025-103, which agree on every figure. Three things could not be verified: (1) the eligibility rules for head of household; (2) credits, AMT and other items outside this article’s scope; and (3) the “Page Last Reviewed” dates on IRS pages, which returned different values on repeated reads and were therefore not relied on. Note that the rate tables in Publication 505 were not used — two reads did not agree, so it was excluded. Your actual tax depends on your deductions and credits; this is not tax advice.
