Every year the IRS adjusts federal tax brackets and the standard deduction for inflation, and 2026 also carries a bigger structural change: the OBBBA made the 2017 tax cuts permanent instead of letting them expire. Here's what that actually means for your return, without the jargon.
The 2026 brackets
For single filers, the seven federal brackets run 10% (up to $12,400), 12% (up to $50,400), 22% (up to $105,700), 24% (up to $201,775), 32% (up to $256,225), 35% (up to $640,600), and 37% above that. For married filing jointly, most thresholds are roughly double: 10% up to $24,800, 12% up to $100,800, 22% up to $211,400, 24% up to $403,550, 32% up to $512,450, 35% up to $768,700, and 37% above that.
Brackets are marginal — the part everyone gets wrong
A huge number of people believe that if they earn enough to enter the 24% bracket, ALL of their income suddenly gets taxed at 24%. That is not how it works. Each bracket only taxes the portion of your income that actually falls within that bracket's range. A single filer with $150,000 in taxable income doesn't pay 24% on all $150,000 — they pay 10% on the first $12,400, 12% on the next chunk up to $50,400, 22% on the next chunk up to $105,700, and 24% only on the remaining amount from $105,700 to $150,000. Their overall ("effective") tax rate ends up well below 24%, even though their top ("marginal") rate is 24%.
The standard deduction: $16,100 / $32,200
Before any bracket applies, most filers subtract the standard deduction from their income: $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married filing jointly, and $24,150 for head of household. A single filer earning $60,000 doesn't pay tax on $60,000 — they pay tax on $60,000 minus $16,100, or $43,900 of taxable income. The OBBBA both raised these amounts and locked them in permanently, rather than letting them shrink back toward pre-2017 levels as originally scheduled.
What OBBBA actually changed vs. what stayed the same
The core bracket structure — seven brackets, same percentages — didn't change; what changed is that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act rates, originally set to expire after 2025 and revert to higher pre-2017 rates, were instead made permanent. The standard deduction increase was made permanent too. On top of that permanence, the IRS still applies its usual annual inflation adjustment to the dollar thresholds each year, which is why the 2026 numbers are slightly higher than 2025's.
Common mistakes
The marginal-vs-average-rate confusion above is the big one, but a close second is forgetting that credits (like the Child Tax Credit) apply AFTER the bracket math, directly reducing your tax bill dollar-for-dollar — very different from a deduction, which only reduces taxable income before the brackets apply. A third mistake is assuming a raise that pushes you into a higher bracket is a bad thing: because brackets are marginal, more income after tax always beats less income, even at a higher marginal rate.