About this calculator
US federal income tax is progressive: your income is sliced into brackets, and each slice is taxed at its own rate. Only the dollars that reach a bracket are taxed at that bracket's rate — which is why a raise never reduces your take-home pay, a persistent myth this calculator's bracket table disproves at a glance.
This estimate uses the 2025 federal brackets and standard deductions ($15,750 single, $31,500 married filing jointly, $23,625 head of household) and assumes your income is wages. It leaves out FICA taxes, state taxes, credits such as the child tax credit, and pre-tax deductions like 401(k) contributions — all of which move a real tax bill, usually downward.
How to use it
- Enter your gross annual income before any taxes.
- Choose your filing status.
- If you itemize, enter how much your itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction as extra deductions (leave 0 otherwise).
- Read your tax, then check the bracket table to see where your top dollar lands.
The formula
First subtract the standard deduction (plus any extra deductions) from gross income to get taxable income. Then walk up the brackets: the first $11,925 of a single filer's taxable income is taxed at 10%, the next slice at 12%, and so on. Your marginal rate is the rate on your highest slice; your effective rate is total tax divided by gross income — always lower.
Worked example
A single filer earning $100,000 in 2025 takes the $15,750 standard deduction, leaving $84,250 taxable. The tax is $1,192.50 at 10%, $4,386 at 12% and $7,870.50 at 22% — $13,449 in total. The marginal rate is 22%, but the effective rate is just 13.45% of gross income, because most dollars were taxed at the lower rates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between marginal and effective tax rate?
Your marginal rate is the rate on your last (highest) dollar of income — the bracket you top out in. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by your total income, blending all the lower brackets beneath it. Effective rate is the honest measure of your overall federal burden; marginal rate is what an extra dollar of income or deduction is worth.
What are the 2025 standard deductions?
$15,750 for single filers, $31,500 for married couples filing jointly, and $23,625 for heads of household. Taxpayers 65 or older, or who are blind, get additional amounts. Most filers (roughly 9 in 10) take the standard deduction rather than itemizing.
Why is my actual tax bill different from this estimate?
Common reasons: pre-tax 401(k) or HSA contributions reduce taxable wages; tax credits (child tax credit, education credits) reduce the tax itself; and capital gains are taxed at special lower rates. This calculator covers the wage-income core that applies to most filers.
Does this include Social Security and Medicare (FICA)?
No. FICA adds 7.65% on wages up to the Social Security wage base ($176,100 in 2025) and 1.45% beyond it. It is a separate tax from federal income tax, which is why your paycheck withholding is larger than the income tax alone.