Tax bracket.

In plain English

U.S. federal income tax uses a progressive system: different chunks of your income are taxed at different rates. As of 2026, the seven brackets are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. Your first dollars are taxed at 10%; only the dollars above the next threshold are taxed at 12%; and so on. The bracket boundaries are different for single, married filing jointly, head of household, etc. Bracket thresholds are indexed to inflation: each year the IRS shifts every boundary upward using a CPI-based formula, which is why bracket creep (inflation pushing unchanged real income into higher brackets) is largely neutralized for federal income tax. The thresholds in any example are year-specific; check the IRS annual inflation adjustment notice for current figures.

01Why it matters

Understanding brackets prevents the most common tax mistake: thinking that a raise will 'push you into a higher bracket' and somehow leave you with less money. That's never how it works. Only the dollars in the new bracket are taxed at the new rate. Your existing income still gets the old rates. You always come out ahead from earning more.

02The math, step by step

A single filer with $65,000 in taxable income (after the standard deduction) in 2026 pays: 10% on the first $12,400 ($1,240), 12% on the next slice up to $50,400 ($4,560), and 22% on the slice from there to $65,000 ($3,212). Total federal tax: about $9,012. Average rate: about 13.9%. Marginal rate: 22%, the rate on the next dollar earned.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

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