How income tax brackets work and what’s changing for 2026

With the passage of Trump’s signature tax and spending bill in July, a lot is poised to change tax-wise in the coming year. Among the bill’s provisions was making permanent the tax brackets instituted by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which were previously set to expire at the end of 2025 and would have pushed some taxpayers into higher marginal tax rates.

That does not mean that tax brackets will remain exactly the same, however. Ahead of each new year, the IRS updates the income ranges for each tax bracket to take into account inflation. On the whole, “tax brackets will rise by about 4% for lower-income ranges and roughly 2% for higher earners,” said CNBC Make It. These changes particularly are relevant for taxpayers on the cusp of one bracket or another.

Tax Foundation. Filing statuses include single filers, married couples filing jointly, married couples filing separately, and head of household filers, each of which has their own distinct tax brackets.

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In the U.S., rates go up the higher someone’s income is. So, a person who earns under $10,000 is taxed at a lower rate than someone whose annual taxable income is over $500,000. There are seven different tax brackets in the U.S., starting at 10% and topping out at 37%.

tax returns you file in early 2026), the following tax brackets and rates apply:

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Single filers
Tax rate	Taxable income
10%	Up to $12,400
12%	Over $12,400 to $50,400
22%	Over $50,400 to $105,700
24%	Over $105,700 to $201,775
32%	Over $201,775 to $256,225
35%	Over $256,225 to $640,600
37%	Over $640,600

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Married couples filing jointly
Tax rate	Taxable income
10%	Up to $24,800
12%	Over $24,800 to $100,800
22%	Over $100,800to $211,400
24%	Over $211,400 to $403,550
32%	Over $403,550 to $512,450
35%	Over $512,450to $768,700
37%	Over $768,700

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Married couples filing separately
Tax rate	Taxable income
10%	Up to $12,400
12%	Over $12,400 to $50,400
22%	Over $50,400to $105,700
24%	Over $105,700to $201,775
32%	Over $201,775 to $256,225
35%	Over $256,225 to $384,350
37%	Over $384,350

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Heads of household
Tax rate	Taxable income
10%	Up to $17,700
12%	Over $17,700 to $67,450
22%	Over $67,450 to $103,700
24%	Over $103,700 to $201,775
32%	Over $201,775 to $256,200
35%	Over $256,200 to $640,600
37%	Over $640,600

President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act getting signed into law, the tax brackets introduced in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Act will become permanent going forward rather than expiring at the end of 2025, as they were set to do. “Without the new law, federal income tax rates would have reverted to their pre-2018 levels — when the top marginal rate was 39.6% — potentially increasing taxes for many households,” said SmartAsset, a personal finance blog.

Otherwise, income brackets are “moving up for 2026, with a bigger bump for the lowest brackets because of this year’s new tax law,” said The Wall Street Journal. This “overall adjustment of 2.7% comes in just under the current inflation rate.”