Tax Brackets And Federal Income Tax Rates For 2023-2024 – Newsweek Vault (2024)

Each year, the IRS releases inflation-related tax adjustments in order to account for the current cost of living. For the 2023 tax year—meaning the taxes you’ll file in early 2024—changes affected both the standard deduction and the income brackets applicable to each tax rate, though tax rates remained the same.

Tax rates remain at 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%, depending on your taxable income and filing status for both the 2023 and 2024 tax years. To help understand how much you’ll owe, read on for a breakdown of tax brackets for the 2023 tax year.

Vault’s Viewpoint

• For the 2023 tax year, for which you’ll file in 2024, tax rates are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37% based on taxable income and filing status.
• The top tax rate of 37% applies to individual single filers with a taxable income over $578,125 or married joint filers with a taxable income over $693,750.
• For the 2024 tax year, rates will remain the same, but income brackets will be adjusted.

Tax Brackets for 2023

Tax rates remain the same for both 2023 and 2024, ranging between 10% and 37% based on your taxable income and filing status. For further information about your specific tax situation, consult the following tables:

Single Filer Tax Bracket

For single filers, the tax rates apply to taxable income as follows:

Married Filing Separately Tax Bracket

For married couples filing separately, the tax rates apply to taxable income as follows:

Head of Household Tax Bracket

For those filing as head of household, the tax rates apply to taxable income as follows:

Married Filing Jointly Tax Bracket

For married couples filing jointly, the tax rates apply to taxable income as follows:

What Are the Tax Brackets?

The tax brackets help to estimate how much income tax you will owe. Each year, the IRS adjusts the brackets to account for inflation. The amounts listed here include taxable income, which can be reduced via a standard deduction—$13,850 for single filers and $27,700 for married joint filers for the 2023 tax year—itemized deductions or other tax deductions such as retirement plan contributions.

It’s important to keep in mind that federal taxes are a progressive system. That means that higher tax rates are only applied to the taxable income in excess of the lower amount. For instance, if you are a single filer earning $35,000 in taxable income per year, you are taxed 10% on your first $11,000 and 12% on the remaining $25,000 for the tax year 2023.

Additionally, remember that the taxes you file in 2024 are for the tax year 2023. The tax brackets for tax year 2024—which you’ll file a return for in 2025—will be different.

How To Calculate Your Federal Income Tax Rate

Calculating exactly how much you’ll owe on taxes might seem confusing, but there are simple steps you can follow to estimate your amount.

Determine Your Taxable Income

The first step toward calculating your federal tax rate is to figure out how much taxable income you earn. This means adding up all your sources of income and deducting any amount that is not taxed. For many filers, this is as simple as subtracting the standard deduction, which is $13,850 for single filers and $27,700 for married joint filers in tax year 2023.

If your estimate of your tax deductions—which include things like charitable donations and mortgage interest—will be higher than the standard deduction based on your filing status, you can choose to do an itemized deduction of your taxable income instead.

Whether you opt for the standard or itemized deduction, you can also qualify for additional deductions for payments on student loan interest, retirement plan contributions and more. An accountant or tax preparer can help you identify which deductions might apply to you.

Once you have your taxable income, you can figure out which tax brackets apply to you.

Identify Your Filing Status

Your tax bracket will also vary based on your filing status, which might be single, married filing separately, married filing jointly or head of household. Qualifications for each status include:

• Single filers are unmarried through the last day of the tax year and do not qualify for any other filing status.
• Head of household filers are unmarried through the last day of the tax year, pay for more than half of their household expenses and have at least one qualifying child or dependent.
• Married filers can opt to file jointly or separately. You are considered married for the entire tax year as long as you are married by the last day of that year.

Calculate Your Tax Rate

With your filing status and taxable income in hand, you can identify your tax bracket. Your marginal tax rate is the highest tax rate you owe, based on your taxable income. That rate is only charged on the amount in excess of the lower bracket. For example, a married couple filing jointly who earns $200,000 per year has a marginal tax rate of 24% and will owe:

• 24% on the amount greater than $190,750
• 22% on the amount between $89,450 and $190,750
• 12% on the amount between $22,000 and $89,450
• And 10% on the amount lesser than $22,000

That comes out to an estimated $34,800 in federal income taxes.

How To Get Into a Lower Tax Bracket

If you’re trying to lower your tax rate, there are several ways to reduce your taxable income. Beyond itemizing your tax deduction, above-the-line tax deductions can be applied to any filer and can include:

• Retirement plan contributions: You can contribute additional money to your retirement plan to reduce your taxable income. The contribution limit for IRA accounts in 2023 was $6,500 for those under 50 years old and $7,500 for those 50 and older.
• Student loan interest payments: You can deduct up to $2,500 of interest payments made toward your student loans, assuming you continued to make payments during the pause.
• Health savings account payments: If you contributed to an HSA with after-tax money, you can deduct up to $3,650 for individuals or $7,300 for families for 2023.

There may be additional deductions you might not know you qualify for as well, so if you are hoping to lower your tax rate, consider consulting a tax professional.

How Do Federal Tax Brackets Work?

Federal tax brackets are used to estimate the amount of tax you will owe. They apply a tax rate to a range of taxable income. Each year, these brackets are adjusted to account for inflation. This helps to prevent taxpayers from going up a tax bracket when their pay was only increased according to the cost of living.

For the 2023 and 2024 tax years, there are seven applicable tax rates: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. The income brackets each of these rates are applied to vary based on your filing status.

One of the most important things to know about federal tax brackets is that tax rates are applied progressively—meaning the higher tax rate only applies to taxable income within that bucket. All your taxable income up to the lower tax rate maximum is taxed at the lower rate. A taxpayer’s marginal tax rate refers to the highest tax rate they owe or the amount paid on their last dollar.

So, if your marginal tax rate is 24%, you’ll owe 24% on a portion of your taxable income, 22% on another portion, 12% on another and 10% on another in accordance with the income brackets associated with your filing status.

Note that this may differ from state income tax depending on where you live.

Additionally, not all the income you earn in a given tax year will be considered taxable income. All filers are entitled to a standard deduction of their gross income, plus any further deductions for things like retirement plan contributions or charitable donations.

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