US Tax Calculators 2026 — Income Tax, Refund, Payroll & Self-Employment Tools
30+ free US tax calculators covering federal income tax (2025 and 2026 brackets), payroll deductions, self-employment tax, capital gains, retirement savings, and state and local tax. All calculations use IRS-published rates updated January 2026.
Showing 2026 brackets, deductions, FICA wage base, and contribution limits. 2024 figures are kept for historical reference only.
Quick Tax Numbers for 2026
If you only came here for a number, here is what most people are looking for. Sourced from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and the SSA 2026 OASDI announcement.
2026 federal tax brackets
| Rate | Taxable income |
|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $12,150 |
| 12% | $12,150 – $49,475 |
| 22% | $49,475 – $105,400 |
| 24% | $105,400 – $201,200 |
| 32% | $201,200 – $255,550 |
| 35% | $255,550 – $638,900 |
| 37% | $638,900 and up |
| Rate | Taxable income |
|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $24,300 |
| 12% | $24,300 – $98,950 |
| 22% | $98,950 – $210,800 |
| 24% | $210,800 – $402,400 |
| 32% | $402,400 – $511,100 |
| 35% | $511,100 – $766,650 |
| 37% | $766,650 and up |
| Rate | Taxable income |
|---|---|
| 10% | $0 – $17,350 |
| 12% | $17,350 – $66,150 |
| 22% | $66,150 – $105,400 |
| 24% | $105,400 – $201,200 |
| 32% | $201,200 – $255,500 |
| 35% | $255,500 – $638,900 |
| 37% | $638,900 and up |
Standard deduction (2026)
- Single / MFS: $15,350
- Married filing jointly / QSS: $30,700
- Head of household: $23,100
- Add for 65+ or blind: $2,050 (single, HoH) or $1,650 (MFJ, MFS, QSS) per condition
FICA / payroll (2026)
- Social Security: 6.2% employee + 6.2% employer, up to a $184,500 wage base
- Medicare: 1.45% employee + 1.45% employer, no wage cap
- Additional Medicare: 0.9% on employee wages over $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (MFJ)
- Self-employment tax: 15.3% on 92.35% of net SE earnings (12.4% SS + 2.9% Medicare)
Retirement & HSA limits (2026)
- 401(k) elective deferral: $24,000 (catch-up 50+: $7,500; super catch-up ages 60-63: $11,250)
- IRA contribution: $7,000 (catch-up 50+: $1,000)
- HSA contribution: $4,400 self-only / $8,750 family ($1,000 catch-up at 55+)
- Annual gift exclusion: $19,000 per recipient (2026 figure per IRS Rev Proc 2025-32)
Most-Used Calculators This Week
The five tools that get opened most often. Start here if you are not sure which calculator fits your situation.
All Tax Calculators
Eight categories. Each card lists what the tool does and what year it is updated for. Use the filter box above to narrow the list down.
Federal Income Tax
Annual federal liability, marginal bracket, refund vs balance, and the standard-vs-itemized choice.
- Federal Income Tax Estimator 2026Total federal tax on wages, interest, and dividends.
- Tax Bracket Finder 2026Marginal rate by filing status and income.
- Refund / Amount Owed 2026Withholding minus liability, with W-4 guidance.
- Standard vs Itemized 2026Which deduction wins for your situation.
- Tax Obligation Calculator 2026Total federal tax you owe before withholding.
- Tax Return Calculator 2026Estimate this year's refund or balance due.
- Fast Income Tax Calculator 202630-second federal estimate, two inputs.
Payroll Taxes
Take-home pay, FICA, Medicare, bonuses, and overtime — calculated the way payroll software does it.
- Paycheck Calculator 2026Net pay per paycheck with FICA, federal, and state.
- FICA Tax Calculator 2026Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) split.
- Additional Medicare Tax 2026The 0.9% surtax over $200k single / $250k MFJ.
- Bonus Tax Calculator 202622% flat or aggregate withholding, with end-of-year reconciliation.
- Overtime Pay Calculator 2026Time-and-a-half on hours over 40 per week.
Self-Employed
SE tax, quarterly estimates, and the deductions freelancers and contractors actually use.
- Self-Employment Tax 202615.3% on 92.35% of net SE earnings.
- Quarterly Estimated Tax 2026Q1-Q4 payment schedule with safe-harbor logic.
- 1099 vs W-2 Comparison 2026After-tax pay for the same gross under each.
- Home Office Deduction 2026Simplified ($5/sq ft) and actual-expense methods.
- Mileage Deduction 202672.5¢/mile business rate for 2026.
- Business Expenses 2026Schedule C deduction summary.
Investing
Stocks, crypto, dividends, NIIT, and the tax-saving moves smart investors run every December.
- Capital Gains Tax 20260/15/20% long-term plus short-term as ordinary income.
- Dividend Tax 2026Qualified vs ordinary dividend rates.
- Net Investment Income Tax 20263.8% NIIT over the MAGI threshold.
- Crypto Tax Calculator 2026Realised gains across multiple lots and tokens.
- Tax-Loss Harvesting 2026Offset gains with realised losses, $3,000 carryover.
- Wash Sale Calculator 202630-day rule and disallowed-loss adjustment.
Deductions & Savings
Tax-advantaged accounts, medical, and charitable contributions worth comparing before year-end.
- 401(k) Tax Savings 2026Federal and state savings on traditional deferrals.
- Traditional vs Roth 2026After-tax balance comparison for current vs future tax rates.
- HSA Tax Savings 2026Triple-tax benefit of HSA contributions.
- Medical Expenses 2026Itemize threshold (7.5% of AGI).
- Charitable Donations 2026Cash and non-cash AGI limits.
State & Local
State income tax, property tax, and sales tax — federal is the same everywhere, this is what changes.
- State Income Tax 2026Brackets for CA, NY, TX, FL, IL, PA, OH, WA.
- Sales Tax Calculator 2026Combined state + local sales tax on a purchase.
- Property Tax Calculator 2026Assessed value × millage rate.
Business
Entity choice and equipment depreciation for sole proprietors, LLCs, and S-corp owners.
- Section 179 Deduction 2026$1.28M deduction limit, $3.20M phase-out.
- Depreciation (MACRS) 20265-yr, 7-yr, and 27.5-yr property schedules.
- LLC vs S-Corp Comparison 2026SE tax savings on the S-corp distribution split.
Guides
Plain-language explainers for the most common tax tasks.
- Tax Filing ChecklistDocuments to gather before you e-file.
- How to Fill Out W-4Set withholding to avoid a surprise April bill.
- Quarterly Taxes GuideWhen to pay 1040-ES and how to compute each cheque.
- Year-End PlanningMoves to make before Dec 31 to lower next April's bill.
No calculators match that search. Try a broader term, or browse the categories above.
Three Single-Purpose Calculators
If you want a focused answer to one specific question, jump straight to one of these:
Tax Obligation Calculator
The total federal tax you owe for the year, before subtracting what your employer has already withheld. Use this if you want to know your liability, not your refund.
Open the calculator →Tax Return Calculator
Refund or balance due for the 2026 return you will file in 2027. Inputs are the same fields you copy off your W-2 and Form 1040: wages, withholding, dependents, deductions.
Open the calculator →Fast Income Tax Calculator
Federal tax in 30 seconds. Two inputs: filing status and taxable income. Useful for sanity-checking a number, comparing two job offers, or running what-ifs.
Open the calculator →What's New in 2026
The 2026 tax year keeps the same seven federal rate bands set in 2018 — 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35, and 37 percent — but every income threshold shifts up for inflation. For a single filer the 22 percent bracket now starts at $49,475 (up from $48,475 in 2025), and the top 37 percent rate kicks in at $638,900 instead of $626,350. The standard deduction climbs to $15,350 single / $30,700 MFJ / $23,100 head of household. The Social Security wage base rises from $176,100 to $184,500, lifting the maximum employee FICA hit by $521.
Retirement and health-savings limits also step up. The 401(k) elective deferral limit goes from $23,500 to $24,000, with the 50-plus catch-up holding at $7,500 and the 60-to-63 super catch-up at $11,250. The IRA limit stays at $7,000 for 2026 (still $1,000 catch-up at 50+). HSA contribution caps rise to $4,400 self-only and $8,750 family. The annual gift-tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. The TCJA individual rate cuts remain in effect, the SALT deduction cap is still $10,000, and the OBBBA provisions that took effect mid-2025 are now fully phased in. Capital gains rates remain 0/15/20% on long-term holdings, with 2026 0% upper limits at $49,400 single and $98,750 MFJ.
Which Calculator Do I Need?
The two-step combo: Paycheck Calculator for the per-cheque take-home, then Refund Estimator in November or December to see whether your withholding will match your annual liability. If they're off by more than a couple of thousand dollars, update your W-4 rather than letting it become an April surprise. If your situation is mostly W-2 wages with no investments, you probably don't need a paid product like TurboTax Deluxe.
Run the Self-Employment Tax Calculator first — the 15.3% on net SE income is the single biggest number freelancers underestimate. Then the Quarterly Estimated Tax tool to schedule your four 1040-ES payments. If you're deciding whether to keep contracting or take a salaried offer, the 1099 vs W-2 Comparison shows the after-tax difference on the same gross.
For listed stocks and ETFs, the Capital Gains Tax tool sorts your sales into long-term (0/15/20%) and short-term (ordinary income) buckets. For crypto, the Crypto Tax Calculator handles multiple lots across tokens. Before December 31, run Tax-Loss Harvesting to see which losers you can sell to offset gains, but check the Wash Sale rule before re-buying within 30 days.
Decide entity first: the LLC vs S-Corp Comparison shows when the S-corp salary/distribution split actually saves SE tax (typically once net profit clears $50–60k). Then run Self-Employment Tax for your projected first-year profit, and Section 179 if you're buying equipment in year one — the 2026 limit is $1.28 million.
The 401(k) Tax Savings Calculator shows the current-year deduction value of contributing pre-tax. Pair it with Traditional vs Roth to decide whether to take the deduction now or pay tax now for tax-free withdrawals later. The rough rule: Roth wins if your tax rate in retirement will be higher than today, traditional wins if it will be lower.
The Property Tax Calculator gives the assessed-value × millage estimate for your area. Mortgage interest is deductible on Schedule A, but with the 2026 standard deduction at $30,700 MFJ, most homeowners now take the standard rather than itemizing — run Standard vs Itemized to confirm before paying for a paid filing product.
Popular Tax Scenarios With Numbers
Scenario 1 — Single filer, $75,000 salary
Single W-2 employee, $75,000, no dependents, taking the standard deduction. Taxable income = $75,000 − $15,350 = $59,650. Federal tax under 2026 brackets is about $8,251 (10% on $12,150 + 12% on $37,325 + 22% on $10,175). FICA adds 7.65% × $75,000 = $5,738. Combined federal + FICA: roughly $13,989, or 18.7% of gross. Take-home before state tax: about $61,011. Run the per-paycheck split with the Paycheck Calculator.
Scenario 2 — Freelancer with $100,000 in 1099 income
Self-employed individual, $100,000 net Schedule C profit, single. Self-employment tax: 15.3% × ($100,000 × 0.9235) = about $14,130. Half of that ($7,065) is deductible above the line. Federal income tax on the resulting AGI of $92,935, minus the $15,350 standard deduction, is roughly $11,300. Plan for four quarterly estimated payments of about $6,358 each. Use the SE Tax Calculator and Quarterly Estimated Tax.
Scenario 3 — Married couple with $50,000 in stock gains
MFJ filers, $150,000 wages plus $50,000 in long-term capital gains. After the $30,700 standard deduction, ordinary taxable income is $119,300 and ordinary federal tax is about $17,353. The 2026 MFJ 0% LTCG bracket goes up to $98,750 of total taxable income — all filled by ordinary income — so the entire $50,000 of LTCG is taxed at 15% = $7,500. Total federal: roughly $24,853. Capital Gains Calculator shows the exact bracket split.
Scenario 4 — Two-income married couple at $200,000 combined, MFJ
Both spouses W-2 employees, $100,000 each, MFJ, taking the standard deduction. Taxable income = $200,000 − $30,700 = $169,300. Federal tax under 2026 MFJ brackets: 10% on $24,300 ($2,430) + 12% on $74,650 ($8,958) + 22% on $70,350 ($15,477) = $26,865 total. FICA at 7.65% on each spouse's $100,000 wages = $15,300 combined. No Additional Medicare (combined under $250k MFJ threshold). Combined federal + FICA: roughly $42,165, or 21.1% of gross.
Scenario 5 — Retiree with Social Security, IRA withdrawals, and capital gains
Single retiree age 67. Income: $30,000 Social Security benefits, $40,000 traditional IRA withdrawal, $20,000 long-term capital gains. Up to 85% of Social Security is taxable because provisional income exceeds $34,000, so $25,500 of SS counts as gross. AGI = $40,000 + $20,000 + $25,500 = $85,500. Standard deduction with the 65+ add-on = $15,350 + $2,050 = $17,400. Taxable income = $68,100. Ordinary portion = $48,100 (taxable income minus LTCG), federal ordinary tax ≈ $5,529. The first $1,300 of LTCG falls in the 2026 single 0% bracket (up to $49,400 of total taxable income); the remaining $18,700 is taxed at 15% = $2,805. Total federal: about $8,334. State tax depends on residency — Florida, Texas, and seven others charge nothing on retirement income.
When These Calculators Are Not Enough
These tools are accurate for the 85% of taxpayers whose returns are W-2 wages, simple 1099 income, mainline investments, standard retirement accounts, and standard deductions. If your return includes any of the following, treat the calculator output as a starting estimate and bring in either a paid product or a CPA before filing:
- Foreign earned income (Form 2555 exclusion, foreign tax credit on Form 1116) — both have phase-outs and treaty interactions that no general calculator handles.
- K-1 partnership or S-corp pass-through income — basis tracking, at-risk rules, and the QBI deduction get complicated fast.
- Rental property with depreciation recapture on sale — section 1250 unrecaptured gain is taxed at 25%, not the usual LTCG rate.
- ESPP or RSU stock awards — wages portion vs capital gains portion, with the ESPP qualifying-disposition trap.
- AMT exposure from large ISO exercises or high SALT in pre-2018 years.
- NIIT when MAGI is just over the threshold and you can plan around it.
For any of the above, the right tool is TurboTax Premier or Home & Business, ProConnect, Drake, or a $400–$1,200 CPA engagement — not a free calculator. The honest answer is that complex returns reward professional review, and the tax savings from getting one obscure item right usually beats the prep fee.
Federal Versus State Tax
Federal tax is the same in all 50 states. Wages earned in Florida and wages earned in California pay the same federal brackets. What changes is the state layer on top. Nine states charge no state income tax in 2026: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire (interest and dividends only), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington (capital gains over $250k only), and Wyoming. At the other end, California's top bracket is 12.3% (13.3% with the mental-health surtax on income over $1 million), Hawaii hits 11%, New York runs 10.9% at the top, and New Jersey reaches 10.75%.
Cities can add their own income tax: New York City layers 3.078% to 3.876% on top of state, Philadelphia adds 3.75%, Detroit and several Ohio cities run 1–4% local income tax, and San Francisco has a gross-receipts business tax. Property tax varies even more wildly — New Jersey averages 2.23% of home value annually, while Hawaii averages 0.32%. Most of the calculators on this hub handle federal. For state-specific amounts use the State Income Tax Calculator for income, the Property Tax Calculator for homeowners, and the Sales Tax Calculator for combined state + local sales rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
assets/tax-data.js on this site and can be cross-checked against the source IRS document.Related Calculator Hubs
- India Tax Calculators — income tax, GST, TDS, and HRA calculators for the FY 2025-26 Indian tax year.
- Financial Calculators — mortgage, loan, investment return, and savings tools that pair with the tax estimates here.
- Net-to-Gross Salary Calculator — reverse a target take-home back into the gross salary you need to negotiate.
- Health Calculators — useful when figuring out HSA contributions and medical-expense deductions.
Sources & References
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 — 2026 inflation-adjusted tax brackets, standard deductions, and limits
- IRS Publication 15 (Circular E) — Employer's Tax Guide (withholding tables, FICA rates)
- IRS Publication 505 — Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax
- IRS Publication 334 — Tax Guide for Small Business (self-employment tax)
- SSA — 2026 OASDI contribution and benefit base ($184,500)
- IRS Topic 409 — Capital Gains and Losses
- IRS Publication 590-A / 590-B — IRA contributions and distributions
- IRS Free File — Free federal tax filing for eligible taxpayers
All calculator rates and limits are based on IRS guidance current as of January 2026. Tax laws change; verify the rule that matters to your situation at irs.gov before acting on a calculator result.