Federal Income Tax Calculator

This calculator estimates federal income tax for a single filer or a married couple filing jointly. It subtracts the standard deduction, applies the 2024 tax brackets slice by slice, and reports your tax, marginal bracket, effective (average) rate and income left after federal income tax.

It is a quick estimate, not a tax return. It covers federal income tax only — not Social Security and Medicare (FICA), state or local income tax — and it does not apply tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit, which reduce tax dollar for dollar. Brackets and the standard deduction are adjusted for inflation each year, so later years produce slightly lower tax for the same income. For exact figures for a given year, use the IRS tables or tax software, and talk to a tax professional for anything complicated.

To see how federal tax fits with payroll taxes and withholding per paycheck, use the paycheck calculator. Freelancers should add the self-employment tax calculator.

Bracket thresholds and standard deductions are from IRS Revenue Procedure 2023-34 for tax year 2024 (returns filed in 2025). The married brackets here are double the single ones, which matches IRS figures up to the 32% bracket; the real 35% bracket for joint filers ends at $731,200, so estimates for joint incomes above that level will be too low. Head of household and married-filing-separately statuses are not included.

Each rate applies only to the slice of taxable income inside its band. Moving into a higher bracket never reduces your take-home pay — only the dollars above the threshold are taxed at the higher rate.

Your marginal rate is the rate on your next dollar of taxable income — use it to judge the tax on a raise, bonus or extra freelance job, or the saving from a deduction. Your effective rate is total tax divided by total income — use it to compare your overall tax burden across years or with other people.

The effective rate is always lower than the marginal rate because the first dollars are taxed at 0% (covered by the standard deduction), then 10% and 12%. In the default example, $85,000 of income sits in the 22% bracket but only 12.4% of it goes to federal income tax.

To estimate a refund, compare this tax figure with the federal income tax withheld for the year (box 2 of your W-2, or the year-to-date line on your last pay stub), then subtract any tax credits you qualify for:

• Withheld more than the tax (after credits): the difference is roughly your refund.
• Withheld less: you will likely owe the difference when you file.

If you expect to owe a large amount, adjust your Form W-4 with your employer, or make payments with the quarterly estimated tax calculator if you are self-employed.