The Internal Revenue Service Thursday released the updated tax brackets for the 2026 tax year. Changes to the standard deduction, earned income tax credit, estate tax credit, and more were also unveiled by the agency.
The changes will be in place when taxpayers file their return in 2027.
What are the new tax brackets?
For the 2026 tax year, the rates are as follows:
37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $640,600 ($768,700 for married couples filing jointly).
35% for incomes over $256,225 ($512,450 for married couples filing jointly).
32% for incomes over $201,775 ($403,550 for married couples filing jointly).
24% for incomes over $105,700 ($211,400 for married couples filing jointly).
22% for incomes over $50,400 ($100,800 for married couples filing jointly).
12% for incomes over $12,400 ($24,800 for married couples filing jointly).
The threshold for each tax bracket was increased slightly due to inflation.
What about the standard deduction?
For tax year 2026, the standard deduction will be $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $16,100 for tax year 2026, and for heads of households, the standard deduction will be $24,150, according to the IRS.
That represents an increase of $350, $700, and $525 respectively, depending on how you file.
Did credits and other provisions change too?
Other significant changes to the tax schedule include:
Alternative Minimum Tax Exemption Amounts. For tax year 2026, the exemption amount for unmarried individuals is $90,100 and begins to phase out at $500,000 ($140,200 for married couples filing jointly for whom the exemption begins to phase out at $1,000,000).
Estate Tax Credits. Estates of decedents who die during 2026 have a basic exclusion amount of $15,000,000, up from a total of $13,990,000 for estates of decedents who died in 2025.
Adoption Credits. The maximum credit allowed for adoptions for tax year 2026 is the amount of qualified adoption expenses up to $17,670, up from $17,280 for 2025. For tax year 2026, the amount of credit that may be refundable is $5,120.
Employer-Provided Childcare Tax Credit. For tax year 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill act significantly enhances an important credit for employers; it increases the maximum amount of employer-provided childcare tax credit from $150,000 to $500,000 ($600,000 if the employer is an eligible small business).
Earned Income Tax Credits. The tax year 2026 maximum Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) amount is $8,231 for qualifying taxpayers who have three or more qualifying children, up from $8,046 for tax year 2025.
For more information or to see the changes made for more than 60 tax provisions, click here, or you can visit the IRS website.