Federal Income Tax Calculator
2026 federal tax, effective rate and refund estimate.
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Deduction up to $25,000 (2025–2028).
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The extra “half” in time-and-a-half. Up to $12,500, or $25,000 joint.
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Your result
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Enter your numbers to see the result.
This federal income tax calculator estimates your 2026 federal income tax. Enter your filing status, wages and other income, pre-tax contributions and any qualified tips or overtime. It applies the 2026 brackets and standard deduction, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act deductions for tips, overtime and seniors, the child tax credit, and compares the result with tax already withheld to estimate your refund or balance due.
What is a Federal Income Tax Calculator?
Federal income tax in the US is progressive: your income is split into brackets, and each slice is taxed at its own rate, from 10% to 37%. The rate on your last dollar is your marginal rate; your effective rate is total tax divided by income, which is always lower.
For 2026, brackets and the standard deduction rose with inflation ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household). The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also added temporary deductions for qualified tips, overtime premium pay and seniors 65+ for 2025 through 2028, and set the child tax credit at $2,200 per child. This federal income tax calculator applies all of these.
How does the Federal Income Tax Calculator work?
The calculator starts with wages and other income, subtracts pre-tax contributions to get AGI, and subtracts the larger of the standard or itemized deduction. It then subtracts the tips, overtime and senior deductions, each reduced at higher incomes as the law requires.
Tax is calculated bracket by bracket. The child tax credit is subtracted (reduced by $50 per $1,000 above $200,000, or $400,000 joint), and the result is compared with withholding to estimate a refund or balance due.
How to use the Federal Income Tax Calculator step by step
- Choose your filing status.
- Enter wages and other income.
- Enter pre-tax contributions such as 401(k) and HSA.
- Add any qualified tips or overtime premium, and the number of filers 65+.
- Enter children under 17 and itemized deductions if higher than standard.
- Enter tax withheld to see your refund or balance due.
Federal Income Tax Calculator example with real numbers
A married couple filing jointly earns $110,000 in wages and $2,000 of interest, puts $10,000 into a 401(k) and has two children under 17. Their employers withheld $9,000.
| Example input | Value |
|---|---|
| Filing status | Married filing jointly |
| Wages | $110,000 |
| Other income | $2,000 |
| Pre-tax 401(k) | $10,000 |
| Children under 17 | 2 |
| Withheld so far | $9,000 |
| Example output | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated refund | $5,520 |
| Adjusted gross income | $102,000 |
| Standard deduction | $32,200 |
| Tips + overtime deductions | $0 |
| Senior deduction | $0 |
| Taxable income | $69,800 |
| Tax before credits | $7,880 |
| Child tax credit | $4,400 |
| Marginal tax rate | 12% |
| Effective rate on AGI | 3.4% |
The federal income tax calculator works out taxable income of $69,800, tax of $7,880 before credits, and a $4,400 child tax credit. With $9,000 withheld, they can expect a refund of about $5,520.
Key features of this Federal Income Tax Calculator
- 2026 brackets for single, joint and head of household
- Standard deduction with 65+ add-on
- No tax on tips and overtime deductions with phase-outs
- Senior $6,000 deduction
- Child tax credit
- Refund or balance due
Who should use the Federal Income Tax Calculator?
Who is this Federal Income Tax Calculator for?
- W-2 employees estimating their refund
- Tipped workers and hourly workers with overtime
- Retirees 65 and older
- Families with children
Practical use cases
- Estimating your 2026 refund
- Seeing how much the tips deduction saves
- Checking whether to adjust your W-4
- Comparing standard and itemized deductions
Key benefits
- Up to date: 2026 figures and new OBBBA deductions.
- Transparent: every step shown.
- Practical: refund or amount owed.
- Private: nothing is sent anywhere.
Tips for better results
- Use your latest pay stub for year-to-date withholding.
- If you’ll owe, adjust your W-4 with the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator.
- Tips and overtime deductions reduce income tax only, not Social Security and Medicare tax.
- Check your state’s rules; many states don’t follow the federal tips and overtime deductions.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Confusing marginal and effective tax rates.
- Counting all overtime pay instead of just the premium.
- Forgetting interest and side income.
- Ignoring state income tax.
Limitations of this Federal Income Tax Calculator
- Federal income tax only; FICA and state tax are not included.
- Refundable credits like the EITC and additional child tax credit limits are not modeled.
- Self-employment tax, capital gains rates and AMT are not included.
Federal Income Tax Calculator vs other ways to calculate
| 2026 figure | Single | Married filing jointly | Head of household |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard deduction | $16,100 | $32,200 | $24,150 |
| 10% bracket up to | $12,400 | $24,800 | $17,700 |
| 22% bracket starts | $50,400 | $100,800 | $67,450 |
| 37% bracket starts | $640,600 | $768,700 | $640,600 |
The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator helps you set the right W-4. For take-home pay per check, use the paycheck calculator.
Privacy and data handling
This Federal Income Tax Calculator runs entirely in your browser. The numbers you type are not sent to Qorico or stored on any server, and nothing is saved after you close the page. The Copy and Download buttons create the result on your own device. If the page has analytics turned on, it may count that a calculation happened, but it does not record the values you entered.
Federal Income Tax Calculator FAQs
What are the 2026 federal tax brackets?
Seven rates: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. For single filers, the 10% bracket ends at $12,400 and 37% starts above $640,600.
How big will my tax refund be?
It’s the tax withheld minus your actual tax. Enter your withholding above for an estimate.
How does no tax on overtime work?
From 2025 through 2028, you can deduct qualified overtime premium pay (the extra half in time-and-a-half), up to $12,500 or $25,000 joint, reduced above $150,000 of income ($300,000 joint).
Are tips tax-free in 2026?
Up to $25,000 of qualified tips can be deducted from income tax, phasing out above $150,000 ($300,000 joint). Tips are still subject to Social Security and Medicare tax.
What is the senior deduction?
Taxpayers 65 and older can deduct an extra $6,000 each (2025–2028), reduced by 6% of income above $75,000 ($150,000 joint). It’s on top of the regular extra standard deduction.
Which states have no income tax?
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire (wages), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming don’t tax wages.
Related tools
Sources and references
We checked the method and the current figures used in this Federal Income Tax Calculator against these official and primary sources:
- IRS: Internal Revenue Service
- IRS: Working Families Tax Cuts (One Big Beautiful Bill provisions)
- IRS: Tax Withholding Estimator
- IRS: Tax inflation adjustments for 2026
Written and reviewed by the Qorico Team
