The IRS has released its inflation-adjusted figures for tax year 2026 — the first full year affected by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law in July 2025. The seven federal tax rates aren't changing. What moved is the income each rate applies to, the standard deduction, and — new for 2026 — an additional deduction for taxpayers 65 and older.
The tax brackets themselves
The seven federal rates for 2026 remain 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% — unchanged from 2025. What changed are the income thresholds each bracket covers, adjusted upward for inflation as they are every year. A single filer's income is taxed at 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. Married couples filing jointly see roughly double those thresholds at each step.
The standard deduction increased
For 2026, the standard deduction rises to $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household. Because OBBBA made most of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's individual provisions permanent rather than letting them expire at the end of 2025, these figures continue the same trajectory rather than reverting to pre-2018 levels, which had been a possibility before the law passed.
A new deduction for taxpayers 65 and older
OBBBA also introduced an additional, temporary deduction specifically for seniors: up to $6,000 per qualifying taxpayer aged 65 or older, on top of the existing additional standard deduction for seniors ($2,050 for single filers, $1,650 per spouse for joint filers). The new $6,000 deduction phases out at a 6% rate for individual filers earning above $75,000 and joint filers above $150,000.
What this means when you calculate your own numbers
These changes apply to income earned in 2026 — the return most people file in early 2027, not the one filed this past spring. Our income tax calculator and take-home paycheck calculator already use the 2026 brackets and standard deduction figures above, so estimates reflect this year's rules rather than last year's.
Sources: IRS Newsroom, "IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill"; Tax Foundation, "2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates"; standard deduction figures; senior deduction details via U.S. Bank.
