Effective Tax Rate Calculator

How your effective tax rate is calculated

Take the calculator's starting figures: a single filer with $75,000 of gross income and $5,000 of pre-tax deductions, such as a traditional 401(k) and health premiums taken out through payroll. Subtract the pre-tax amount and the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100, and $53,900 is left as taxable income. That figure runs through the brackets one slice at a time:

• 10% on $12,400 of taxable income: $1,240
• 12% on $38,000 of taxable income: $4,560
• 22% on $3,500 of taxable income: $770

Add the slices and federal income tax comes to $6,570. Divide that by gross income and you get 8.76%. Divide it by taxable income and you get 12.19%. The tax is the same both times. Only the denominator changes, and both numbers are fair answers to "what is my effective tax rate?"

The calculator leads with the gross figure because it answers the question a pay stub raises: how much of what I earn goes to federal income tax? The taxable-income figure is the textbook version (Form 1040 line 16 divided by line 15) and the one many other calculators show, so it sits right under the headline with its own label. That split is usually why two calculators give two different rates for the same income. The bracket table under the results shows every slice for whatever you enter, including the bands your income never reaches.

Effective rate vs marginal rate: which one to use

Your marginal rate is the one to use for decisions. It is what the next dollar of income costs you in tax, or what the next dollar of pre-tax saving is worth: a raise, an extra shift, a bigger 401(k) contribution. In the example above, the $5,000 of pre-tax deductions brings the tax down from $7,670 to $6,570, a saving of $1,100. That is 22% of $5,000, the marginal rate, not 8.76%. The pre-tax vs post-tax deduction calculator shows that trade on a single paycheck, and the 401(k) max-out per paycheck calculator works out the deferral per check that reaches the annual limit.

Your effective rate is for budgeting and for comparing one year with the next. It tells you what share of the year's income went to federal income tax, which is the number to plan around when you work out how much of your pay you keep.

Keeping the two apart also settles a stubborn myth: that a raise into a higher bracket can leave you with less. It cannot. A single filer whose taxable income rises from $50,000 to $51,000 crosses the 22% floor at $50,400. The first $400 of the raise is taxed at 12% and the last $600 at 22%, which adds $180 of tax. The other $820 is theirs to keep, and nothing below the floor is taxed any differently than before.

Estimating your rate from a pay stub

If you do not know your annual figures offhand, your latest pay stub has what you need. The YTD column gives you year-to-date gross from the earnings section and year-to-date pre-tax deductions from the pre-tax lines (401(k), HSA, Section 125 health premiums). Divide each one by the pay periods so far and multiply by the periods in a full year. The "Start from a pay stub" panel above does that arithmetic: $30,000 of YTD gross after 10 biweekly paychecks works out to $78,000 for the year ($30,000 / 10 x 26), and $1,800 of YTD pre-tax becomes $4,680. The YTD earnings calculator and the annual income from pay stub calculator run the same projection from other starting points, and what YTD means on a pay stub explains where each figure sits.

The federal income tax line on that same stub is not your effective rate. It is withholding: a per-period estimate your employer works out from your W-4 and the IRS Publication 15-T tables, treating each check as if the whole year will look like it. Divide YTD federal withholding by YTD gross and you get your withholding rate, which lands close to your effective rate only when your W-4 is current and your pay is steady. Bonuses are the usual reason it drifts, since many employers withhold a flat 22% on them whatever your bracket. The bonus tax withholding calculator shows how far apart the two can get. Whatever is left over settles as a refund or a balance due when you file.

On a stub built in Payslip44, those figures sit on separate lines. Deductions are filed under Tax, Pre-tax, and After-tax categories, and every earning and deduction line has its own YTD amount, so pre-tax savings never get mixed in with the tax lines. If you make stubs for yourself or for staff, Payslip44 lays them out that way.

What this calculator leaves out

This is a federal income tax calculator and nothing else. Everything it skips pushes your real number one way or the other, so here is which way:

• Social Security and Medicare. 6.2% and 1.45% of wages come out on top of income tax, so your total tax take is higher. The FICA tax calculator covers them.
• State and local income tax. Most states tax wages too, and some cities and counties do as well, so the total goes higher again.
• Tax credits. The child tax credit and the earned income credit come off the tax itself, so your real federal bill and effective rate are lower.
• The new deductions for tips, overtime, and seniors. They cut taxable income for people who qualify, which lowers the real figure.
• The higher standard deduction at 65 or older, or blind. Each qualifying item (being 65 or older is one, being blind is another) adds $2,050 if you are unmarried, or $1,650 if you are married, counted separately for each spouse who qualifies. Add it to your standard deduction and enter the total as a custom deduction; otherwise the result here runs high.
• Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends. They have their own lower rates, so counting them as ordinary income here overstates the tax.
• The alternative minimum tax. It can add to the bill for some higher earners with large deductions, so the real figure can be higher.

Treat the result as the federal income tax piece of your bill, not all of it. Gross pay to net pay, step by step shows how every piece comes off a paycheck.