The tax brackets below apply to income earned during the 2026 calendar year. This is the income you report on the tax return due April 15, 2027 (or Oct. 15 with an extension).
These are the final, official figures. The IRS published them on Oct. 9, 2025, in Revenue Procedure 2025-32, and they are the first set to reflect the July 2025 tax overhaul known as OBBBA (Public Law 119-21, formally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act). Most inflation-indexed amounts rose about 2.3 percent over 2025. The 10 percent and 12 percent brackets rose about 4 percent because OBBBA gave the two lowest brackets one extra year of indexing. The seven rates themselves did not move, and OBBBA wrote them into law for good.

The grid below covers all four filing statuses for 2026. Each cell is the highest amount of taxable income taxed at that row’s rate; anything beyond it spills into the next rate. Your taxable income is whatever remains after you subtract the standard deduction or your itemized deductions from adjusted gross income.

Joint refers to spouses who combine everything on one return; Separate refers to spouses who each file on their own. Separate filers use the single thresholds through the 32 percent bracket, but their 35 percent bracket ends at $384,350, half of the joint figure.

Trusts & Estates Tax Brackets

Trusts and estates get their own, much narrower, rate schedule. The top rate arrives once taxable income passes just $16,000.

Standard Deductions

Here is the 2026 standard deduction for each filing status alongside the prior year. The 2025 column shows the amounts after OBBBA retroactively raised them in July 2025, not the lower figures the IRS had announced in late 2024. OBBBA also locked in the larger deduction going forward.

Taxpayers who are 65 or older, blind or both get an additional amount per condition: $2,050 if unmarried and not a surviving spouse, otherwise $1,650. Separately, OBBBA created a temporary deduction of $6,000 for each taxpayer 65 or older, available for the 2025 through 2028 tax years. It shrinks by 6 cents for every dollar of modified AGI beyond $75,000 for a single filer or $150,000 on a joint return.

AMT Exemptions and Phase-Outs

The table below shows the 2026 AMT exemptions and the income level at which each one starts to shrink.

The phase-out is where OBBBA bites. In 2025 a single filer kept the full exemption until alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI) passed $626,350, and a couple until $1,252,700. OBBBA pulled those starting points back to a flat $500,000 and $1,000,000 (indexing resumes after 2026) and made the exemption disappear twice as fast: each dollar of AMTI beyond the threshold now wipes out half a dollar of exemption instead of a quarter. A single filer has no exemption left at $680,200 of AMTI, and a couple at $1,280,400.

Capital Gains

How a capital gain is taxed depends first on how long you owned the asset. Short-term gains, from assets owned 12 months or less, are added to your other income and taxed at the ordinary rates above.
Long-term gains come from assets owned longer than 12 months. The three rates (0 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent) are unchanged for 2026, but the taxable income levels that separate them have moved up. The table shows the top of the 0 percent band and the top of the 15 percent band for each filing status; anything higher is taxed at 20 percent.

Note that the 20 percent rate does not begin where the 37 percent bracket begins. A single filer reaches 20 percent once taxable income passes $545,500, roughly $95,000 before the 37 percent bracket starts at $640,600. Collectibles are capped at a 28 percent rate, and the 3.8 percent net investment income tax still applies above $200,000 of modified AGI ($250,000 for joint filers).

Conclusion

Use these amounts as a guide in understanding your tax situation for 2026, when you prepare and submit the return in 2027. Because these are official IRS figures rather than projections, you can rely on them now for withholding, estimated payments and year-end planning. They are also a good starting point for a conversation with your tax advisor.

2026 Tax Brackets, Standard Deductions and More

November 1, 2026  ·  Blog, Tax and Financial News, Uncategorized

⏱ 4 min read

The tax brackets below apply to income earned during the 2026 calendar year. This is the income you report on the tax return due April 15, 2027 (or Oct. 15 with an extension).
These are the final, official figures. The IRS published them on Oct. 9, 2025, in Revenue Procedure 2025-32, and they are the first set to reflect the July 2025 tax overhaul known as OBBBA (Public Law 119-21, formally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act). Most inflation-indexed amounts rose about 2.3 percent over 2025. The 10 percent and 12 percent brackets rose about 4 percent because OBBBA gave the two lowest brackets one extra year of indexing. The seven rates themselves did not move, and OBBBA wrote them into law for good.

 

Individual Tax Rates and Brackets

The grid below covers all four filing statuses for 2026. Each cell is the highest amount of taxable income taxed at that row’s rate; anything beyond it spills into the next rate. Your taxable income is whatever remains after you subtract the standard deduction or your itemized deductions from adjusted gross income.

Individual Income Tax Brackets: Tax Year 2026 (Top of Each Bracket, Taxable Income)
Rate	Single	Joint	Separate	Head of Household
10%	$12,400	$24,800	$12,400	$17,700
12%	$50,400	$100,800	$50,400	$67,450
22%	$105,700	$211,400	$105,700	$105,700
24%	$201,775	$403,550	$201,775	$201,750
32%	$256,225	$512,450	$256,225	$256,200
35%	$640,600	$768,700	$384,350	$640,600
37%	Above $640,600	Above $768,700	Above $384,350	Above $640,600

Joint refers to spouses who combine everything on one return; Separate refers to spouses who each file on their own. Separate filers use the single thresholds through the 32 percent bracket, but their 35 percent bracket ends at $384,350, half of the joint figure.

Trusts & Estates Tax Brackets

Trusts and estates get their own, much narrower, rate schedule. The top rate arrives once taxable income passes just $16,000.

Trusts and Estates Tax Brackets: Tax Year 2026
Taxable Income	Rate
Up to $3,300	10%
$3,300 to $11,700	24%
$11,700 to $16,000	35%
Beyond $16,000	37%

Standard Deductions

Here is the 2026 standard deduction for each filing status alongside the prior year. The 2025 column shows the amounts after OBBBA retroactively raised them in July 2025, not the lower figures the IRS had announced in late 2024. OBBBA also locked in the larger deduction going forward.

Standard Deduction Amounts
Filing Status	2026	2025	Increase
Single	$16,100	$15,750	$350
Joint	$32,200	$31,500	$700
Separate	$16,100	$15,750	$350
Head of Household	$24,150	$23,625	$525

Taxpayers who are 65 or older, blind or both get an additional amount per condition: $2,050 if unmarried and not a surviving spouse, otherwise $1,650. Separately, OBBBA created a temporary deduction of $6,000 for each taxpayer 65 or older, available for the 2025 through 2028 tax years. It shrinks by 6 cents for every dollar of modified AGI beyond $75,000 for a single filer or $150,000 on a joint return.

AMT Exemptions and Phase-Outs

The table below shows the 2026 AMT exemptions and the income level at which each one starts to shrink.

AMT Exemption Amounts: Tax Year 2026
Filing Status	Phase-Out Starts At	Exemption
Joint (and surviving spouses)	$1,000,000	$140,200
Single filers and heads of household	$500,000	$90,100
Married, filing separately	$500,000	$70,100
Estates and trusts	$104,800	$31,400

The phase-out is where OBBBA bites. In 2025 a single filer kept the full exemption until alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI) passed $626,350, and a couple until $1,252,700. OBBBA pulled those starting points back to a flat $500,000 and $1,000,000 (indexing resumes after 2026) and made the exemption disappear twice as fast: each dollar of AMTI beyond the threshold now wipes out half a dollar of exemption instead of a quarter. A single filer has no exemption left at $680,200 of AMTI, and a couple at $1,280,400.

Capital Gains

How a capital gain is taxed depends first on how long you owned the asset. Short-term gains, from assets owned 12 months or less, are added to your other income and taxed at the ordinary rates above.
Long-term gains come from assets owned longer than 12 months. The three rates (0 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent) are unchanged for 2026, but the taxable income levels that separate them have moved up. The table shows the top of the 0 percent band and the top of the 15 percent band for each filing status; anything higher is taxed at 20 percent.

Long-Term Capital Gains Thresholds: Tax Year 2026
Filing Status	Top of 0% Band	Top of 15% Band
Single	$49,450	$545,500
Joint	$98,900	$613,700
Separate	$49,450	$306,850
Head of Household	$66,200	$579,600
Estates and trusts	$3,300	$16,250

Note that the 20 percent rate does not begin where the 37 percent bracket begins. A single filer reaches 20 percent once taxable income passes $545,500, roughly $95,000 before the 37 percent bracket starts at $640,600. Collectibles are capped at a 28 percent rate, and the 3.8 percent net investment income tax still applies above $200,000 of modified AGI ($250,000 for joint filers).

Conclusion

Use these amounts as a guide in understanding your tax situation for 2026, when you prepare and submit the return in 2027. Because these are official IRS figures rather than projections, you can rely on them now for withholding, estimated payments and year-end planning. They are also a good starting point for a conversation with your tax advisor.

---

Disclaimer 

These articles provide general information on tax, accounting, and financial topics for small businesses and individuals. They are educational in nature and are not specific legal, accounting, financial, tax, or other professional advice, and should not be relied upon as such. This content was prepared by Service2Client and may have been reviewed or edited by the website owner for accuracy and compliance. Look for a trust mark below for verification details. No representation is made that any approach described will achieve a particular result, and no regulatory or professional body has reviewed or endorsed this content. Because each situation is different, readers should consult a qualified professional about their specific circumstances before acting. Images accompanying these articles are protected by copyright and may not be copied or reused.

Anyone who has moved retirement money out of an old employer’s plan knows how frustrating it can be. Every administrator has their own forms. Timelines are all over the place. Paper checks show up weeks later with vague instructions. The whole thing should have been fixed a long time ago.

The IRS is finally doing something about it. Notice 2026-49 puts out four sample forms and a five-step procedure meant to bring some consistency to direct rollovers. Plans do not have to use them, and there is no safe harbor, but you can see where this is going.

The Problem Worth Solving

When you leave a job, you have to figure out what to do with your 401(k). You can cash it out and take the tax hit. You can leave it sitting there. Or you can roll it into a new employer’s plan or an IRA.

A direct rollover is usually the way to go. The money travels straight from the old plan to the new one without ever hitting your bank account, which keeps things clean and avoids the 60-day deadline you face if you take possession yourself.

The trouble is that every plan does things differently. A 2024 GAO study found that roughly one in three people doing rollovers ended up with a paper check in hand that they were supposed to forward themselves. Checks get lost. They sit on the counter for weeks. And the whole time, that money is not invested anywhere.

How the New System Works

Here is what Treasury is proposing. You fill out Form 1 and give it to the plan or IRA that will be receiving your money. That form lets the receiving plan reach out to your old plan and handle the transfer on your behalf. The two plans swap Forms 2 through 4 to make sure everything is in order. If something goes sideways, the receiving plan has to tell you.

The IRS wants this done electronically whenever possible. When electronic is not an option, the old plan should write a check payable to the receiving plan for your benefit and mail it directly there. No more sending checks to participants and hoping they take it from there.

Tax Rules Stay the Same

None of this changes how rollovers are taxed. Eligible distributions that complete a proper rollover still stay out of income. You still cannot roll over a required minimum distribution. Pre-tax money stays pre-tax. Roth stays Roth. This is about the plumbing, not the tax code.

IRA-to-IRA transfers are not covered here. Those already go through the ACATS electronic system, so Treasury left them alone.

No Safe Harbor Yet

Plans can use these forms, change them, or ignore them completely. Right now, there is no reward for following along.

That could change. Treasury says it is thinking about offering safe harbors down the road. A receiving plan that uses the standard forms might eventually be allowed to assume the rollover is valid unless something looks off. That would give administrators a real incentive to adopt the new process.

Conclusion and What Comes Next

The IRS has hinted at bigger changes. Future guidance might require electronic transfers across the board, kill off the practice of mailing checks to participants, and get rid of some of the procedural friction that slows things down.

For now, the sample forms are sitting in the appendix of Notice 2026-49. They are there if you want them. If you have ever spent weeks tracking down a check that went to the wrong address or trying to explain one plan’s process to another plan’s administrator, you understand what Treasury is trying to fix. They want rollovers to be faster, simpler, and harder to mess up. This is a start.

Rolling Over Your 401(k) Just Got Less Painful – Here’s What the IRS Changed

October 1, 2026  ·  Blog, Tax and Financial News, Uncategorized

⏱ 4 min read

Anyone who has moved retirement money out of an old employer’s plan knows how frustrating it can be. Every administrator has their own forms. Timelines are all over the place. Paper checks show up weeks later with vague instructions. The whole thing should have been fixed a long time ago.

The IRS is finally doing something about it. Notice 2026-49 puts out four sample forms and a five-step procedure meant to bring some consistency to direct rollovers. Plans do not have to use them, and there is no safe harbor, but you can see where this is going.

The Problem Worth Solving

When you leave a job, you have to figure out what to do with your 401(k). You can cash it out and take the tax hit. You can leave it sitting there. Or you can roll it into a new employer’s plan or an IRA.

A direct rollover is usually the way to go. The money travels straight from the old plan to the new one without ever hitting your bank account, which keeps things clean and avoids the 60-day deadline you face if you take possession yourself.

The trouble is that every plan does things differently. A 2024 GAO study found that roughly one in three people doing rollovers ended up with a paper check in hand that they were supposed to forward themselves. Checks get lost. They sit on the counter for weeks. And the whole time, that money is not invested anywhere.

How the New System Works

Here is what Treasury is proposing. You fill out Form 1 and give it to the plan or IRA that will be receiving your money. That form lets the receiving plan reach out to your old plan and handle the transfer on your behalf. The two plans swap Forms 2 through 4 to make sure everything is in order. If something goes sideways, the receiving plan has to tell you.

The IRS wants this done electronically whenever possible. When electronic is not an option, the old plan should write a check payable to the receiving plan for your benefit and mail it directly there. No more sending checks to participants and hoping they take it from there.

Tax Rules Stay the Same

None of this changes how rollovers are taxed. Eligible distributions that complete a proper rollover still stay out of income. You still cannot roll over a required minimum distribution. Pre-tax money stays pre-tax. Roth stays Roth. This is about the plumbing, not the tax code.

IRA-to-IRA transfers are not covered here. Those already go through the ACATS electronic system, so Treasury left them alone.

No Safe Harbor Yet

Plans can use these forms, change them, or ignore them completely. Right now, there is no reward for following along.

That could change. Treasury says it is thinking about offering safe harbors down the road. A receiving plan that uses the standard forms might eventually be allowed to assume the rollover is valid unless something looks off. That would give administrators a real incentive to adopt the new process.

Conclusion and What Comes Next

The IRS has hinted at bigger changes. Future guidance might require electronic transfers across the board, kill off the practice of mailing checks to participants, and get rid of some of the procedural friction that slows things down.

For now, the sample forms are sitting in the appendix of Notice 2026-49. They are there if you want them. If you have ever spent weeks tracking down a check that went to the wrong address or trying to explain one plan’s process to another plan’s administrator, you understand what Treasury is trying to fix. They want rollovers to be faster, simpler, and harder to mess up. This is a start.

---

Disclaimer 

These articles provide general information on tax, accounting, and financial topics for small businesses and individuals. They are educational in nature and are not specific legal, accounting, financial, tax, or other professional advice, and should not be relied upon as such. This content was prepared by Service2Client and may have been reviewed or edited by the website owner for accuracy and compliance. Look for a trust mark below for verification details. No representation is made that any approach described will achieve a particular result, and no regulatory or professional body has reviewed or endorsed this content. Because each situation is different, readers should consult a qualified professional about their specific circumstances before acting. Images accompanying these articles are protected by copyright and may not be copied or reused.