Tax Estimator
US 2024 federal income tax
This estimator applies the seven-rate federal schedule to a single number: gross wage income, less pre-tax contributions, less a deduction. The bracket tables and standard deductions wired into it are the 2024 tax-year figures.
That matters more than usual right now. For tax year 2026 the IRS set the standard deduction at $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married filing jointly (Revenue Procedure 2025-32), with the top 37% rate beginning at $640,600 single and $768,700 joint, and every bracket edge below that moved as well. Use this page to understand how the arithmetic works; use the IRS tables linked at the bottom for the numbers you will actually file against.
Nothing here is tax advice, and no figure you type leaves your browser.
Read this before you trust the number
- The tables are 2024. Bracket edges and standard deductions are indexed every year. The 2026 single standard deduction alone is $1,500 higher than the $14,600 this tool subtracts, so it will overstate a 2026 liability before the bracket shifts are even counted.
- Wage income only. No long-term capital gains (taxed on a separate 0/15/20 schedule), no qualified dividends, no self-employment income or the 15.3% SE tax, no qualified business income deduction, no alternative minimum tax, no net investment income tax.
- No credits at all. Credits subtract from tax rather than from income, and they are frequently larger than anything the bracket arithmetic does. This tool will hand a single parent a four-figure liability that the Child Tax Credit substantially erases.
- No FICA. Social Security at 6.2% up to the annual wage base plus Medicare at 1.45% (2.35% on wages above $200,000 for a single filer) comes out of gross wages and is not reduced by the standard deduction or by 401(k) deferrals. For most earners under $100,000 it is a larger line than they expect relative to federal income tax.
- No state or local income tax, which in some states is a double-digit share of the total.
- The itemized box replaces the standard deduction when it is larger. It does not stack on top of it.
Before changing a Form W-4, use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator rather than this page — it accounts for withholding already taken, multiple jobs and credits.
How a progressive schedule is actually computed
AGI = gross income - pre-tax contributions(traditional 401(k), HSA).Taxable income = AGI - max(standard deduction, itemized deductions), floored at zero.- Walk the brackets: each slice of taxable income between two edges is multiplied by that slice's rate, and the products are summed.
Your marginal rate is the rate on the last slice. Your effective rate is total tax divided by gross income in this tool — not by taxable income. That choice of denominator always produces a lower-looking percentage, so check which one any figure you are comparing against uses before concluding anything from the gap.
A single filer at $75,000, and what a 401(k) deferral is worth
Using the tool's default inputs against the 2024 tables:
- AGI $75,000 (no pre-tax contributions), standard deduction $14,600, taxable income $60,400.
- 10% on the first $11,600 =
$1,160.00 - 12% on $35,550 (from $11,600 to $47,150) =
$4,266.00 - 22% on $13,250 (from $47,150 to $60,400) =
$2,915.00 - Total federal income tax: $8,341.00. Marginal rate 22%. Effective rate 11.1%. After-tax income $66,659.
Now put $10,000 into a traditional 401(k). AGI drops to $65,000, taxable income to $50,400, and tax to $6,141. The deferral cut federal tax by exactly $2,200 — 22% of it — because the whole $10,000 came out of the 22% slice. That is what a marginal rate means in practice, and it is why the first dollar deferred is worth more than the last: keep deferring and eventually you are pulling income out of the 12% slice instead, at half the benefit.
The 2024 tables this tool uses, and what changed since
| Rate | 2024 taxable income, single filer |
|---|---|
| 10% | $0 - $11,600 |
| 12% | $11,600 - $47,150 |
| 22% | $47,150 - $100,525 |
| 24% | $100,525 - $191,950 |
| 32% | $191,950 - $243,725 |
| 35% | $243,725 - $609,350 |
| 37% | $609,350 and above |
2024 standard deductions used here: $14,600 single and married filing separately, $29,200 married filing jointly, $21,900 head of household.
For tax year 2026 the IRS published a standard deduction of $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly and $24,150 head of household, with the 37% bracket starting at $640,600 single and $768,700 joint. Do not read a 2026 number off this page. Read it off the IRS bracket table linked below.
The five outputs
- Federal Income Tax — the bracket sum, before any credit.
- Effective Tax Rate — tax divided by gross income.
- Marginal Rate — the bracket your last taxable dollar falls in.
- After-Tax Income — gross minus tax minus your 401(k) entry. This is not your paycheck: FICA, state tax, health premiums and any post-tax deductions are all still to come, so the real number is meaningfully lower.
- AGI — gross minus pre-tax contributions only. The AGI on an actual Form 1040 also reflects several above-the-line adjustments this tool has no field for.
Good uses and bad uses
Good: pricing a retirement deferral at your marginal rate before open enrollment; comparing two salary offers in the same state; settling the perennial argument about whether a raise into a higher bracket can reduce take-home pay (it cannot — see the FAQ for the arithmetic).
Bad: filing, computing quarterly estimated payments, or anything involving equity compensation, rental income, a side business, or a spouse with self-employment income. For the percentage arithmetic underneath the brackets, see the Percentage Calculator; for what a deferral does to a long-run balance, Retirement.
Frequently asked questions
Which tax year are these brackets?
2024. Bracket edges and standard deductions are indexed for inflation every year, so check the current IRS table before relying on any figure here for filing.
Can a raise into a higher bracket lower my take-home pay?
No, never. The higher rate applies only to the income above the bracket edge, not to the income underneath it. Take a single filer whose taxable income goes from $47,000 to $48,000, crossing the $47,150 edge between the 12% and 22% brackets. Of that extra $1,000, the first $150 is still taxed at 12% ($18) and only the remaining $850 is taxed at 22% ($187). Tax on the raise: $205, leaving $795 of it in your pocket. Had the whole $1,000 stayed inside the 12% bracket the tax would have been $120, so crossing the edge cost $85 more than that - and nothing at all happened to the tax on the $47,000 below it.
What is the difference between the effective and marginal rate?
Marginal is the rate on your next dollar. Effective is total tax divided by gross income - always lower, because the earlier slices of income were taxed at 10% and 12% and part of your income was not taxed at all.
Why is my actual paycheck smaller than the After-Tax Income figure?
That figure subtracts only federal income tax and your 401(k) entry. FICA at 7.65% of gross wages, state and local income tax, and any insurance premiums or post-tax deductions are all still withheld on top.
Deduction or credit - which is worth more?
A credit, almost always. A $1,000 deduction saves $220 at a 22% marginal rate. A $1,000 credit saves $1,000.
Should I fill in the itemized deductions box?
Only if your itemized total exceeds the standard deduction, because the larger of the two is used, not the sum. Against the 2024 single figure that means beating $14,600.
Sources and further reading
Figures and definitions on this page are drawn from the following primary sources. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will correct it.