Americans' tax refunds — and, for that matter, tax bills — this filing season are based on seven tax brackets that determine where their top tax rate falls.
Tax brackets dictate how much you'll pay on each part of your taxable income for the year. They're not set in stone: The IRS adjusts the thresholds for its brackets annually based on an inflation index. These adjustments mean Americans don't end up having to pay higher tax rates simply because their wages have grown along with rising prices.
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The IRS also makes inflation adjustments to the standard deduction, which is a set amount of income that you don’t need to pay federal taxes on. Most taxpayers take the standard deduction, though there's a fairly small camp of people who itemize.
Here's what you need to know for this year and next.
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Tax brackets for 2025
It's important to remember that because the U.S. has a graduated-rate structure, your top rate isn't the percentage you pay for all your income. You only pay that top rate for the amount of taxable income you make above the bracket threshold.
For 2025, the lowest tax rate, 10%, applies to your first $11,925 of taxable income if you're a single filer. At the top end of the brackets, single filers owe the max rate of 37% for taxable income over $626,350 in 2025.
The standard deduction is $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly after the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act lifted the standard deduction by $750 for single filers and $1,500 for couples.
TAX RATE | SINGLE FILERS | MARRIED FILING JOINTLY |
|---|---|---|
10% | $0 to $11,925 | $0 to $23,850 |
12% | $11,925 to $48,475 | $23,850 to $96,950 |
22% | $48,475 to $103,350 | $96,950 to $206,700 |
24% | $103,350 to $197,300 | $206,700 to $394,600 |
32% | $197,300 to $250,525 | $394,600 to $501,050 |
35% | $250,525 to $626,350 | $501,050 to $751,600 |
37% | $626,350 and up | $751,600 and up |
Tax brackets for 2026
At the start of this year, you may have noticed that your paycheck got a bit larger as a result of the IRS's inflation adjustments for 2026 (those are the taxes you'll file next spring). While the tax rates themselves are identical for 2025 and 2026, the IRS raised the income thresholds that determine your bracket by about 2.8% for 2026. The increase came in at 4% for the bottom two bracket thresholds and around 2.3% for the rest.
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The IRS also raised the standard deduction for 2026, bumping it to $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly.
Basically: If your income doesn't change between 2025 and 2026 — and assuming all else stays the same — your 2026 tax bill should come out lower due to the changes, or your refund should be larger. It's also possible you'll move into a lower bracket if you were just above a cutoff.
TAX RATE | SINGLE FILERS | MARRIED FILING JOINTLY |
|---|---|---|
10% | $0 to $12,400 | $0 to $24,800 |
12% | $12,400 to $50,400 | $24,800 to $100,800 |
22% | $50,400 to $105,700 | $100,800 to $211,400 |
24% | $105,700 to $201,775 | $211,400 to $403,550 |
32% | $201,775 to $256,225 | $403,550 to $512,450 |
35% | $256,225 to $640,600 | $512,450 to $768,700 |
37% | $640,600 and up | $768,700 and up |
More details regarding the tax bracket adjustments are available on the IRS website.
