Income Tax Calculator 2025-2026 — Estimate Your Federal Tax Refund

It depends on taxable income, filing status, and credits. As a rough illustration, a single filer with about $80,000 of wages who takes the standard deduction often lands near a low double-digit effective rate on total income — but your actual result depends on withholdings, other income, and credits. Use the calculator above with your own numbers.

For planning in this tool we use $15,000 single, $30,000 married filing jointly, $22,500 head of household, and $15,000 married filing separately. Amounts are scaled slightly for the optional 2026 year. Confirm each year’s final IRS figures when you file.

A deduction reduces taxable income; the savings depend on your marginal rate. A credit reduces tax dollar-for-dollar and is usually more powerful per dollar of benefit. Refundable credits can increase your refund even after tax hits zero.

Choose whichever is larger. This calculator compares a simplified itemized total (SALT subject to a cap, mortgage interest, charity, and other itemized-style inputs) against the standard deduction and uses the better of the two.

The tool models up to $2,200 per qualifying child under 17 with a simplified phase-out starting at $200,000 single / $400,000 married filing jointly. Refundable portions and exact IRS worksheets are not fully replicated.

The EITC helps lower- and moderate-income workers. This page uses a rough approximation by filing status and number of children — not the full IRS tables. See IRS Publication 596 for precise rules.

Marginal rate is the rate on your last dollar of ordinary income. Effective rate is total tax divided by a broad income measure (often total income). Progressive brackets mean effective rate is usually lower than marginal.

Many items are excluded or deferred by law — for example certain municipal bond interest, qualified Roth withdrawals, and specific gifts. This calculator only handles the inputs you enter; it does not model every exclusion.

Common levers include pre-tax retirement contributions, HSAs, above-the-line deductions you qualify for, and timing of capital gains. The deduction sections model several simplified adjustments inspired by 2025–2028 rules described in tax reform summaries.

You may owe interest and penalties if you underpay relative to safe-harbor rules. This tool does not compute penalties; it only compares estimated liability (after simplified credits) to withholding plus refundable EITC.