A real income tax estimate, not just brackets
Most income tax calculators stop at brackets and a standard deduction. Real returns in 2026 involve more moving parts than ever — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act added three brand-new deductions, and side-gig income, stock sales and credits all change the answer. This estimator runs the actual sequence a 1040 follows, line by line.
The new OBBBA deductions, explained
No tax on tips: workers in tipped occupations can deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tip income — even without itemizing. Overtime: the premium half of time-and-a-half pay is deductible up to $12,500 ($25,000 joint). Both shrink by $100 for every $1,000 of income over $150,000 ($300,000 joint). Seniors: anyone 65+ gets a bonus deduction up to $6,000 per person, phasing out 6 cents per dollar above $75,000 ($150,000 joint). All three run 2025–2028 and stack on top of your standard deduction.
Self-employment income is taxed twice — sort of
Schedule C profit pays self-employment tax (12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare on 92.35% of net) and regular income tax. Two built-in breaks soften it: half the SE tax is deductible, and the Social Security portion respects the $184,500 wage base shared with any W-2 wages you also earned.
Capital gains sit in their own bracket stack
Long-term gains don't use the 10–37% ladder. They stack on top of your ordinary income and pay 0% up to $49,450 of taxable income (single; $98,900 joint), 15% in the wide middle, and 20% at the top. A retiree with modest wages can genuinely realize thousands in gains at 0% — the estimator shows exactly where your gains land.
Credits are where refunds are made
The $2,200 child tax credit (up to $1,700 refundable), the $500 other-dependent credit, and the earned income tax credit — worth up to $8,231 with three kids — can push your total below zero, meaning the IRS pays you beyond your withholding. The EITC vanishes if investment income tops $12,200, one of the most common surprise disqualifiers.
Your state's cut, all 50 states
Pick your state and the estimator applies its 2026 structure: nothing in the nine no-income-tax states, exact flat rates in the fifteen flat states, and real bracket schedules elsewhere (simplified — state credits and local taxes vary). Washington's unusual capital-gains-only excise is modeled too.
What isn't modeled
AMT, local/city taxes, education and energy credits, QBI deduction details, and state-specific credits. For a paycheck-by-paycheck take-home view, use the paycheck calculator.