Calculator
Income Tax Calculator
Estimate 2026 United States federal income tax from ordinary income, deductions, credits, and withholding. This V1 calculator is federal only and does not model state tax, capital gains, AMT, or tax-return preparation.
Trust and methodology
How this calculator is reviewed
- Calculation type
- 2026 US federal individual income-tax estimate
- Jurisdiction
- United States federal only
- Applicable rule year
- 2026
- Calculation rules
- income-tax-v1
- Engine version
- Income Tax Engine V1
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-01
This is an educational 2026 US federal income-tax estimate from user-entered ordinary-income assumptions, not tax, legal, financial, accounting, payroll, or return-preparation advice.
Primary sources
- IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One Big Beautiful BillInternal Revenue Service - United States federal - 2026Supports 2026 federal standard deductions, ordinary-income bracket thresholds, and tax-year context.
- Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2025-45Internal Revenue Service - United States federal - 2026Supports official 2026 inflation-adjusted federal tax amounts referenced by the locked methodology.
- Federal income tax rates and bracketsInternal Revenue Service - United States federalSupports progressive federal ordinary-income bracket context.
- Credits and deductionsInternal Revenue Service - United States federalSupports the limitation that credit and deduction eligibility depends on specific IRS rules outside this V1 estimator.
Known limitations
- State, local, city, foreign, and Canada income taxes are not included.
- Capital gains, qualified dividends, net investment income tax, alternative minimum tax, and self-employment tax are excluded.
- Payroll withholding calculation, employer payroll taxes, penalties, interest, and estimated-payment safe harbors are outside V1.
- Named credit eligibility, credit phaseouts, filing-status eligibility, dependent rules, age or blindness additions, and detailed itemized deduction rules are not determined.
- This calculator does not prepare, file, or review tax returns.
Found a calculation issue, outdated source, accessibility problem, or unclear assumption? Contact us.
Enter federal tax details
Defaults are examples only, not recommendations. Enter annual amounts in dollars.
Methodology
How This Income Tax Estimate Works
The locked engine treats supported income fields as ordinary taxable income, subtracts user-entered above-the-line deductions, applies the selected deduction method, and uses 2026 federal ordinary-income brackets for the selected filing status.
Nonrefundable credits can reduce estimated tax to zero but not below zero. Refundable credits and federal withholding or estimated payments then affect the estimated balance due or refund. The calculator does not prepare a tax return or determine eligibility for filing statuses, deductions, or credits.
Ordinary income
Rule version
Worked Examples
Single filer, standard deduction
A single filer with $60,000 of wages and the 2026 standard deduction has $43,900 of taxable income in the locked test vector.
- Federal income tax
- $5,020.00
- Marginal rate
- 12%
- Effective rate
- 8.366667%
Withholding comparison
With the same $5,020.00 estimated federal tax, $5,000.00 of federal withholding leaves an estimated $20.00 balance due. $7,000.00 of withholding produces an estimated $1,980.00 refund.
- Balance due example
- $20.00
- Refund example
- $1,980.00
Credits and withholding
In the locked credits vector, $1,000.00 of nonrefundable credits, $2,000.00 of refundable credits, and $3,000.00 of withholding produce an estimated $980.00 refund.
- Estimated tax after credits
- $2,020.00
- Estimated refund
- $980.00
Scope and Limitations
- Only tax year 2026 United States federal ordinary-income calculations are supported.
- State, city, local, foreign, and Canada income taxes are excluded.
- Capital gains, qualified dividends, AMT, NIIT, self-employment tax, payroll withholding, penalties, and interest are excluded.
- Filing-status eligibility, dependent rules, age or blindness additions, detailed itemized deductions, and named credit eligibility are not determined.
- Results are estimates and are not tax, legal, financial, accounting, or return-preparation advice.
Income Tax Calculator FAQ
What does this income tax calculator include?
It estimates 2026 United States federal individual income tax using ordinary income, the selected filing status, the 2026 standard deduction or one user-entered itemized total, user-entered credits, and user-entered federal withholding or payments.
Does it include state or local income tax?
No. State, city, county, and local income taxes are outside V1. The result is federal only.
Does it calculate capital gains or qualified dividends?
No. All supported income fields are treated as ordinary income. Capital gains, qualified dividends, net investment income tax, and special investment rules are excluded.
How do deductions work?
You can use the 2026 standard deduction, enter one itemized deduction total, or let the engine use the larger of those two values. It does not determine whether specific deductions are allowed.
How do credits work?
You can enter total nonrefundable credits and total refundable credits. The calculator applies those totals mathematically, but it does not determine eligibility, phaseouts, or named credit rules.
Is the result my final tax return or refund?
No. The result is an educational estimate. A real return can depend on forms, eligibility, special income, deductions, credits, payments, penalties, and rules outside this calculator.
Why does withholding change balance due or refund?
Federal withholding and estimated payments are compared with the estimated federal tax after credits. More entered payments can move the estimate from balance due to refund.
Does this calculate paycheck withholding?
No. This is an annual federal income tax estimator. Use the Salary / Take-Home Pay Calculator for federal payroll withholding estimates.
What tax year is supported?
V1 supports tax year 2026 using the locked 2026 federal ordinary-income bracket and standard-deduction rules.
Does it support Canada?
No. Canada federal, provincial, CPP, CPP2, EI, and payroll calculations are not included in this US federal V1 calculator.
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