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Tax bracket calculator 2021-2022: What are the federal income taxes and rates?

We're in the middle of tax filing season, and understanding how much tax you pay depending on your filing status is important.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig testifies before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee on March 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. The subcommittee held a hearing on the 2022 tax filing season.
Kevin DietschAFP

For 2022, the IRS announced new tax brackets for those filing their taxes this year. This was announced at the back end of 2021, and there is much change compared to last year. This is due to the high inflation in the US, meaning the Treasury needs to keep tax as fair as possible.

For example, if the tax bands didn't change then the wage increase, no matter how slow, would push those who, due to inflation, weren't actually earning any more in real terms, in to higher tax bands. Effectively, it would penalise Americans through no fault of their own.

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How do tax brackets work?

Taxes can be confusing, as well as the idea of tax brackets. If you fall into the third bracket of 22% as a single filer, for example, you won't pay the 22% level of tax on all your earnings, just those over the $40,525. For your money under this, you would be taxed 12% of your money over $9,950.

Still confused? Check out this video from Vox which explains it with some graphs. Keep in mind that the video is from 2019, so the values will be different. In principle though, it has an easy-to-follow guide for how tax brackets work.

Income tax brackets for 2021, split by filing type

Single Filers Tax Brackets

If taxable income is:The tax due is:

Married Filing Separately Tax Brackets

If taxable income is:The tax due is:

Married Filing Jointly Tax Brackets

If taxable income is:The tax due is:

Head of household tax brackets

If taxable income is:The tax due is: