Income Tax Calculator

How to read your result

The band-by-band table is the core of the result: it shows exactly how much of your income falls in each bracket and how much tax that slice contributes, so the total is never a mystery multiplication. Two rates sit above it — the marginal rate (what your next dollar of income would be taxed at) and the effective rate (total tax divided by gross income, the honest average). The effective rate is always at or below the marginal rate, and the gap between them is usually the most surprising number on the page. Below that, after-tax income, deductions and credits applied, and — if you entered withholding or payments — an estimated refund or amount owed. Switch to Compare mode to see how a raise, a deduction, or a different filing status moves every one of those numbers side by side.

Income tax formulas

Worked example

Income $60,000, no deductions, with bands of 0% to $10,000, 10% to $40,000, 20% to $85,000, and 30% above. Band by band: $10,000 × 0% = $0; $30,000 × 10% = $3,000; $20,000 × 20% = $4,000; nothing reaches the 30% band. Total tax is $7,000, leaving after-tax income of $53,000. The marginal rate is 20% — the rate on the last dollar earned — but the effective rate is only 7,000 ÷ 60,000 = 11.67%, because the first $10,000 was tax-free and the next $30,000 was taxed at just 10%. Multiplying the whole $60,000 by the 20% bracket, a common mistake, would wrongly produce $12,000.

Assumptions

• Band-system modes apply exactly the bands, deductions, credits, surcharges, and social contributions you enter — nothing else.
• Credits are treated as non-refundable (they floor the tax at zero) except where explicitly labelled refundable.
• Surcharges apply to tax after credits (% of tax), to gross income (% of income), or as a fixed amount, per your selection.
• US mode uses sourced IRS figures for the selected year and simplified IRS worksheets for Social Security taxability, SE tax, capital-loss netting, preferential-rate stacking, and the CTC/ACTC.
• The US effective rate is measured against gross income as entered; MAGI is approximated by AGI for phase-outs.

Limitations

• Not a filing tool: no AMT, EITC, QBI, NIIT, state returns, or every credit phase-in — manual overrides cover what the model omits.
• OBBBA’s temporary “no tax on tips” and overtime deductions (2025–2028) are not auto-applied — the calculator warns when tips are entered, and you can approximate an eligible deduction under “Other adjustments”.
• Manual and global modes cannot validate that your entered bands match your country’s law — verify against official sources.
• Special-rate income outside the US mode (e.g. separate capital-gains regimes) must be handled with your own bands or excluded.
• Tax law changes; figures for future years are planning estimates until official values are final.

This is an estimate, not a filed computation. For net pay across pay periods use the salary & take-home pay calculator; for consumption taxes see the VAT/GST calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Related calculators

Tools that build on the same income and tax math:

• Salary & Take-Home Pay CalculatorEstimate take-home pay with sourced payroll models for the US, India, UK, Canada, and Australia, plus a net-to-gross solver.
• VAT/GST CalculatorAdd or remove VAT, GST, or HST from a price, solve tax-inclusive and tax-exclusive values, and build mixed-rate invoices.
• Budget CalculatorBuild a monthly and annual budget in simple or 65-line advanced mode, with savings rate, ratios, and a health score.
• Loan CalculatorWork out the monthly payment, total interest, and payoff date for any fixed-rate loan from the amount, rate, and term.
• Net Worth CalculatorBuild a personal balance sheet — quick or 78-line detailed — with liquid and tangible net worth and debt analysis.

Read the guides

For what a tax estimate captures, what it leaves out, and when to check official sources, see Why Tax Calculators Are Estimates and When to Check Official Sources.

To turn this estimate into a take-home figure after deductions, see How to Estimate Take-Home Pay Without Confusing Gross and Net Income.

For how sales tax and VAT/GST are calculated differently from income tax, see VAT, GST, and Sales Tax Calculations Explained With Examples.