Tax Bracket
Tax Glossary Term
Definition
A tax bracket is a range of taxable income that is taxed at a specific rate. The US federal income tax uses seven brackets, with rates of 10.0%, 12.0%, 22.0%, 24.0%, 32.0%, 35.0%, and 37.0% for 2026. Your income fills each bracket from the bottom up, so the first dollars go into the 10.0% bracket, and only the income that spills into higher brackets is taxed at those higher rates. This is the foundation of the progressive tax system. The bracket thresholds depend on your filing status. For single filers in 2026, the 10.0% bracket covers the first $12,400 of taxable income, the 12.0% bracket covers $12,401 to $50,400, the 22.0% bracket covers $50,401 to $105,700, and so on up to the 37.0% bracket for income over $640,600. Married filing jointly brackets are roughly double the single brackets. The bracket boundaries are adjusted annually for inflation using the chained CPI. A widespread misconception is that earning one more dollar that pushes you into a higher bracket means all your income is taxed at the new rate. That is false — only the income within that new bracket faces the higher rate. Understanding brackets helps you evaluate the real value of deductions (a deduction saves you tax at your marginal bracket rate) and time income strategically (for instance, deferring a bonus to a year when you expect to be in a lower bracket).
Example
Single filer, $60,000 taxable income (2026):
10.0% on first $12,400 = $1,240
12.0% on $12,401–$50,400 = $4,560
22.0% on $50,401–$60,000 = $2,112
Total tax: $7,912