Your marginal rate is the rate applied to your last dollar of taxable income — useful for deciding whether to contribute more to a 401(k). Your effective federal rate is federal income tax after nonrefundable credits, divided by gross income. It is not a complete measure of total payroll and state taxes, and it may not always be lower than the marginal rate in every simplified scenario.

In general, compare your eligible itemized deductions with the standard deduction and use the applicable rules for your filing situation. This simplified tool lets you enter either a standard or itemized amount but does not determine full itemization eligibility. Itemizing usually only wins if you have a large mortgage interest, state and local tax, medical or charitable total.

Yes. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500. Medicare is 1.45% on all wages, plus an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000 (single/HOH), $250,000 (joint) or $125,000 (married filing separately). Note that pre-tax items differ for FICA purposes: HSA contributions through payroll avoid FICA, while traditional 401(k) contributions do not.

States differ enormously: nine have no wage income tax, some are flat-rate, and others have their own brackets, deductions and credits. This tool applies a single representative rate per state to your federal taxable income to give you a ballpark figure, not a filing-ready number.

Traditional 401(k), 403(b), HSA and FSA contributions can reduce federal taxable income when eligible. Traditional 401(k) and 403(b) contributions generally remain subject to FICA, while eligible payroll HSA/FSA contributions may also avoid FICA. A $6,000 contribution for someone in the 22% bracket could reduce federal income tax by about $1,320, depending on eligibility and other details.

The 2026 tax year, using the inflation-adjusted brackets, standard deductions and credit amounts published by the IRS in Revenue Procedure 2025-32. Some newer deductions, special situations, and eligibility rules are not fully modeled. These are the numbers for income earned during 2026 and reported on the return you file in 2027.

For the 2026 tax year the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and married filing separately, $32,200 for married filing jointly and qualifying surviving spouses, and $24,150 for heads of household. These amounts are adjusted each year for inflation by the IRS. If your itemized deductions exceed these amounts it may be worth itemizing instead.

A refund happens when the amount withheld from your paychecks during the year exceeds your actual tax liability. This calculator estimates your total federal tax bill but does not know how much your employer has already withheld. To estimate your refund, subtract the tax shown here from the federal withholding on your most recent pay stub or W-2. If withholding is higher, you will likely get a refund; if it is lower, you may owe at filing.

The Child Tax Credit provides up to $2,200 per qualifying child under age 17. Up to $1,700 of that may be refundable (the Additional Child Tax Credit) if the credit exceeds your tax liability. Each child needs a valid Social Security number, and the credit phases out above $200,000 of income ($400,000 for joint filers). The refundable part is paid when you file your return, not in your paychecks. This calculator applies a simplified credit model, including an estimated refundable ACTC component based on earned income above $2,500, and does not verify all eligibility rules such as age, relationship, residency or filing-specific limits. Families with three or more children may qualify for a larger refundable amount under an alternative formula that is not modeled here.

Form W-4 tells your employer how much federal income tax to withhold from each paycheck. It replaced the old allowances system — now you directly enter dollar amounts for deductions, credits and extra withholding. If too little is withheld you may owe a penalty at tax time; if too much is withheld you get a larger refund but give the IRS an interest-free loan all year. Use the results from this calculator to check whether your current withholding is on track and update your W-4 accordingly.

The 2026 federal income tax rates are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. The rate that applies to you depends on your taxable income and filing status. For example, a single filer pays 10% only on the first $12,400 of taxable income, with higher rates applying only to income above each bracket threshold.

Start with your gross pay, subtract pre-tax deductions like a 401(k) or HSA, then subtract the standard or itemized deduction to find taxable income. Apply the federal brackets to get federal income tax, add Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%), and subtract any state income tax. What's left is your take-home pay. This calculator does all of that automatically as you type.

FICA is the combined Social Security and Medicare payroll tax withheld from wages. Social Security is 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, and Medicare is 1.45% on all wages, plus an extra 0.9% on high earners. For most employees, FICA totals 7.65% of gross pay.

A single filer earning $50,000 in 2026 with no pre-tax deductions has a taxable income of $33,900 after the $16,100 standard deduction. Federal income tax is about $3,820, plus $3,100 in Social Security and $725 in Medicare, for a total of roughly $7,645 — take-home pay of about $42,355 per year, or $3,530 per month before any state tax.

A single filer earning $100,000 in 2026 with no pre-tax deductions has a taxable income of $83,900 after the standard deduction. Federal income tax is about $13,170, plus $6,200 in Social Security and $1,450 in Medicare, for a total of roughly $20,820 — take-home pay of about $79,180 per year, or $6,598 per month before any state tax. Contributing to a 401(k) or HSA would lower these figures.

A single filer earning $75,000 in 2026 with no pre-tax deductions has taxable income of $58,900 after the $16,100 standard deduction. Federal income tax is approximately $8,398, plus $4,650 in Social Security and $1,088 in Medicare, for a total of roughly $14,136 — take-home pay of about $60,864 per year, or $5,072 per month before state tax.

For 2026, married filing jointly brackets are: 10% up to $24,800; 12% from $24,800 to $100,800; 22% from $100,800 to $211,400; 24% from $211,400 to $403,550; 32% from $403,550 to $512,450; 35% from $512,450 to $768,700; and 37% above $768,700.

Subtract your total 2026 federal tax liability (shown by this calculator) from the federal income tax withheld on your W-2 or pay stubs. If withholding exceeds your liability, you get a refund. If it's lower, you owe the difference. Refundable credits like the Additional Child Tax Credit are added on top of any withholding.

Yes, traditional 401(k) contributions reduce your federal taxable income for 2026. The 2026 employee contribution limit is $24,500. Eligible participants age 50 and older can generally contribute an additional $8,000 (usual combined maximum $32,500); participants ages 60–63 may qualify for a higher $11,250 catch-up limit if their plan allows it. Special rules can apply. However, 401(k) contributions remain subject to Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes. This calculator lets you enter your pre-tax 401(k) amount to see the impact.

Gross pay is your total earnings before any deductions — your salary or hourly rate times hours worked. Net pay (take-home pay) is what actually lands in your bank account after federal income tax, FICA, state tax, and benefit or retirement deductions. For example, $60,000 gross might become roughly $50,000 net after taxes.