What do the 2027 tax brackets and standard deduction mean for you?

The 2027 federal income tax brackets by filing status

These are the 2027 tax brackets for ordinary federal income tax. The IRS revenue procedure calls the measure in the tables taxable income, which is generally income after deductions, not your full pay or every dollar that reaches your bank account. Long-term capital gains use separate rate thresholds.

The tables give the top of each layer. If your taxable income is in a row, only the dollars in that row are taxed at that row's rate. A tax lawyer can help with a question that involves more than selecting a filing-status row, such as business income, a large transaction or a dispute with the IRS.

The 2027 standard deduction is $16,600 for single filers

For 2027, the standard deduction is $16,600 for single filers and married people filing separately, $33,200 for married couples filing jointly and surviving spouses, and $24,925 for heads of household. Those are the official amounts in Revenue Procedure 2026-35. They are higher than the 2026 amounts of $16,100, $32,200 and $24,150, respectively, which the prior IRS release lists.

A person who can be claimed as someone else's dependent has a separate limit: the greater of $1,400 or earned income plus $500. The additional standard deduction for a person who is aged or blind is $1,700, or $2,100 if the person is unmarried and not a surviving spouse. Those rules can change the taxable-income number that goes into the bracket table.

When do you do taxes in 2027? These brackets are for the return filed in 2028

You will generally file a tax return in 2027 for income you earned in 2026. The new 2027 tax brackets apply to income earned from January through December 2027, which the IRS says is generally reported on a return filed in 2028. The IRS announcement makes that timing explicit.

That distinction matters if you are comparing a current paycheck, a 2026 withholding form or a 2026 tax estimate with these tables. Your employer's later withholding guidance and your own facts determine how much is withheld from each check; the rate table alone does not predict a refund or tax bill.

1. October 9, 2025

   The IRS published the 2026 bracket and deduction adjustments.

2. November 5, 2026

   The IRS published Revenue Procedure 2026-35 with the 2027 figures.

3. January 1, 2027

   The 2027 tax year begins; the new brackets apply to 2027 taxable income.

4. January 1, 2028

   Taxpayers generally file returns reporting 2027 income.

A higher bracket does not tax all of your income at that rate

Federal income tax brackets are marginal. For a single filer with $60,000 of taxable income in 2027, the first $12,800 is in the 10% layer, the next $39,225 is in the 12% layer, and only the remaining $7,975 reaches the 22% layer. Moving from $52,025 to $52,026 of taxable income does not turn the first $52,025 into 22% income.

This example isolates the rate schedule in the IRS table. It does not include credits, self-employment tax, payroll taxes, capital-gains rates, state income taxes, or the many facts that can change a person's actual return.

What changed from 2026, and why the thresholds moved

The 2027 rate percentages are the same seven ordinary-income rates used in 2026. The income thresholds rose. For example, the 22% bracket begins above $52,025 for a single filer in 2027, compared with above $50,400 in 2026; for married couples filing jointly it begins above $104,050, compared with above $100,800. The top 37% threshold rises to above $661,375 for single filers and above $793,650 for joint filers.

The IRS makes these annual adjustments under the tax code's inflation-indexing rules. Its revenue procedure says the listed amounts are generally determined by section 1(f), while also noting that legislation enacted after the release can affect whether an adjustment remains applicable. That is why an official table is more useful than a projection, but it is not a promise about every part of a future return.

$1,000

increase in the 2027 joint standard deduction

$1,625

increase in the single 22% threshold from 2026

7

ordinary-income marginal rates that remain in place

Other 2027 tax adjustments are separate from the brackets

The same IRS release sets other inflation-adjusted figures. The maximum child tax credit is $2,300, including up to $1,800 refundable; the maximum earned income tax credit for a taxpayer with three or more qualifying children is $8,496. Neither number is a tax bracket, and eligibility turns on rules beyond income alone.

For estate and gift planning, the 2027 basic estate-tax exclusion is $15.48 million and the annual gift-tax exclusion is $20,000. Those are not a federal inheritance-tax threshold. If an inheritance, a large gift, a trust or a state tax is part of the question, estate planning and probate lawyers can address the facts the ordinary-income table does not cover. Independent coverage also summarized the announced increases.

What to verify before using the 2027 tax brackets

The tables are a starting point, not a completed tax calculation. Before you rely on one for a budget or a major decision, confirm the facts that decide which table and which taxable-income figure applies.

1. Your filing status for 2027, including whether a marriage, divorce, death or dependent changes it.
2. Whether you expect to use the standard deduction or itemized deductions.
3. Whether business income, investment income, a sale of property, a large gift or income from more than one state is involved.
4. Whether a credit, such as the child tax credit or earned income tax credit, has separate eligibility rules.
5. Your withholding or estimated-tax position once the IRS publishes the related 2027 guidance.