What are the 2026 federal tax brackets?

For a single filer: 10% up to $12,400, 12% to $50,400, 22% to $105,700, 24% to $201,775, 32% to $256,225, 35% to $640,600, and 37% above that. The married-filing-jointly thresholds are roughly double: $24,800, $100,800, $211,400, $403,550, $512,450 and $768,700.

What is the 2026 standard deduction?

$16,100 for single filers and married filing separately, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.

What tax bracket am I in if I make $80,000 self-employed?

Probably the 12% bracket, not 22%. After half of self-employment tax, the $16,100 standard deduction and the QBI deduction, a single freelancer with $80,000 of profit has about $46,600 of taxable income in 2026, which sits inside the 12% band.

Do tax brackets include self-employment tax?

No. The brackets set income tax only. Self-employment tax is a separate 15.3% charge on 92.35% of your profit, and for most freelancers it is larger than their income tax.

2026 Tax Brackets & Standard Deduction

The 2026 brackets are the most searched tax numbers of the year. For a freelancer they answer only half the question, because the brackets ignore self-employment tax, which is often the bigger bill.

Here are the numbers first, then what they actually mean when you work for yourself.

The short answer

For 2026 a single filer pays 10% on taxable income up to $12,400, 12% up to $50,400 and 22% up to $105,700, and the standard deduction is $16,100. A single freelancer with $80,000 of profit usually lands in the 12% bracket, but still owes $11,304 of self-employment tax on top.

The 2026 federal tax brackets

These apply to income earned in 2026, on the return you file in 2027. The figures come from the IRS 2026 inflation adjustments.

Rate	Single	Married filing jointly	Head of household
10%	$0 – $12,400	$0 – $24,800	$0 – $17,700
12%	$12,400 – $50,400	$24,800 – $100,800	$17,700 – $67,450
22%	$50,400 – $105,700	$100,800 – $211,400	$67,450 – $105,700
24%	$105,700 – $201,775	$211,400 – $403,550	$105,700 – $201,775
32%	$201,775 – $256,225	$403,550 – $512,450	$201,775 – $256,200
35%	$256,225 – $640,600	$512,450 – $768,700	$256,200 – $640,600
37%	Over $640,600	Over $768,700	Over $640,600

Each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its band. Moving into the 22% bracket does not make your whole income taxed at 22%; only the dollars above $50,400 are.

The 2026 standard deduction

$16,100Standard deduction for a single filerTax year 2026

Filing status	Standard deduction
Single	$16,100
Married filing jointly	$32,200
Head of household	$24,150
Married filing separately	$16,100

Self-employed people get the standard deduction exactly like employees do. Your business expenses are separate: they come off your profit on Schedule C before any of this starts.

Your profit is not your taxable income

This is where most freelancers misread their bracket. Before the brackets apply, three things come off your profit:

Half of your self-employment tax. It is deductible automatically.
The standard deduction, $16,100 if you are single.
The QBI deduction, up to 20% of your business income, which most freelancers under $201,750 of taxable income get in full.

For a single freelancer with $80,000 of profit:

Step	Amount
Profit	$80,000
Less half of self-employment tax	−$5,652
Less standard deduction	−$16,100
Less QBI deduction	−$11,650
Taxable income	$46,599

That person is in the 12% bracket, not the 22% bracket that $80,000 seems to suggest. Their federal income tax is about $5,344.

Then self-employment tax lands on top

The same $80,000 of profit carries $11,304 of self-employment tax: 15.3% on 92.35% of profit. That is more than double the income tax. The brackets describe the smaller of the two bills.

What freelancers actually pay in 2026

Single filer, standard deduction, no other income:

Profit	Self-employment tax	Income tax	Total federal	Share of profit	Bracket
$50,000	$7,065	$2,667	$9,732	19.5%	12%
$80,000	$11,304	$5,344	$16,647	20.8%	12%
$120,000	$16,955	$11,506	$28,462	23.7%	22%

Figures are rounded individually, so totals can differ by a dollar. State income tax comes on top in most states.

Your real rate on the next dollar

The rate that matters for pricing a new project is the combined one: income tax plus self-employment tax on each extra dollar.

At $80,000 of profit, the next $1,000 costs about $231 in federal tax.
At $120,000, the next $1,000 costs about $305.

That 23–31% is why "I'm only in the 12% bracket" is not a reason to undercharge. For most freelancers the self-employment tax part is the larger share of it.

What to do with these numbers

Set aside a percentage of profit, not of revenue. Federal tax alone is around 20% at these incomes; with state income tax, most freelancers need 25% to 30% of profit.
Use the 2026 numbers for your 15 January 2027 payment. The last quarterly estimate for this year is due then, and it is the one most people underpay.
Run your own figures. Filing status, a spouse's wages or a W-2 job all move you between bands.

Use the quarterly tax calculator to see your own taxable income, bracket and payment, worked line by line.