Tax Bracket Calculator
Calculate your federal income tax using the 2024 U.S. tax brackets. Enter your taxable income and filing status to see your total tax, effective rate, marginal rate, and after-tax income. Understand how the progressive tax system works for your specific situation.
The U.S. federal income tax system is progressive, meaning higher portions of income are taxed at higher rates. Your marginal tax rate is the rate on your last dollar of income, while your effective rate is the average rate across all your income. For a single filer with $85,000 in taxable income in 2024, the marginal rate is 22%, but the effective rate is approximately 15.8%.
A common misconception is that moving into a higher tax bracket means all your income is taxed at the higher rate. In reality, only the income within each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate. On $85,000 as a single filer: the first $11,600 is taxed at 10%, the next $35,550 at 12%, and the remaining $37,850 at 22%. Your total tax is approximately $13,432.
Taxable income is your gross income minus deductions (standard or itemized). For 2024, the standard deduction is $14,600 for single filers and $29,200 for married filing jointly. This means a single person earning $100,000 gross has a taxable income of $85,400 after the standard deduction. Contributing to pre-tax retirement accounts further reduces taxable income.