IRS announces new federal income tax brackets for 2026
Income brackets and standard deduction will increase slightly for tax year 2026, Internal Revenue Service announced on thursday.
Based on the IRS’s annual inflation adjustments, tax brackets will increase by about 4 percent for low-income earners and about 2 percent for high-income earners.
While tax rates remain unchanged, higher income thresholds mean taxpayers can earn more before moving into a higher bracket when they file in 2027.
You can see the tax rates that singles will pay on their taxable income below. Remember that these are marginal rates; This means that income will be taxed at lower rates until it moves to a new bracket where only the amount above this threshold is taxed more.
Here is 2026 Federal income tax brackets for married couples filing jointly, according to the IRS.
In addition to adjusting tax brackets, the IRS also increased the standard deduction, which is a fixed amount withheld from your income before your tax rate is applied.
Starting in 2026, the deduction for single filers will increase from $15,750 to $16,100. For married couples filing jointly, the standard deduction increases from $31,500 to $32,200.
Taxpayers can take the standard deduction or itemize by itemizing expenses such as mortgage interest or state and local taxes, but not both. Most taxpayers take the automatic standard deduction because the amount generally exceeds the amount that can be itemized.
The IRS also raised income thresholds for long-term capital gains taxes and made inflation adjustments to estate and gift tax exemptions and the earned income tax credit.
The IRS typically increases income thresholds by a few percentage points each year to keep up with inflation.
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