{"tool":{"slug":"marginal-rate","name":"Marginal tax rate calculator","version":"2026-08-22","canonicalUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/marginal-rate","jsonUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/marginal-rate.json","pageUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/marginal-rate","parameters":[{"key":"income","label":"Wages","unit":"usd-per-year","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":210000,"sourceId":null,"help":"Box 1 of your W-2, which is your salary after anything you put into a traditional 401(k), HSA, or pre-tax health premiums. On a joint return, the couple's combined wages."},{"key":"dependents","label":"Children under 17","unit":"count","min":0,"max":2,"default":2,"sourceId":null,"integer":true,"help":"Qualifying children under 17 with a Social Security number. They matter here more than anywhere: the child tax credit shrinks as income rises, and that shrinkage is charged to your next dollar. Capped at 2 because at three the refundable formula changes to one this engine does not compute."},{"key":"increment","label":"The next slice of income","unit":"usd","min":100,"max":1000000,"default":1000,"sourceId":null,"integer":true,"help":"The step the rate is measured over. Leave it at $1,000 for a marginal rate. Raise it to price an actual bonus or raise, which averages the rate across every bracket and phase-out the money crosses."}],"options":[{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","options":[{"value":"single","label":"Single"},{"value":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly"},{"value":"married-separate","label":"Married filing separately"},{"value":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household"},{"value":"qualifying-surviving-spouse","label":"Qualifying surviving spouse"}],"default":"head-of-household","sourceId":null,"help":"Your status on the last day of the year. It sets where each rate starts and where the credits begin to disappear, so it moves the marginal rate twice over."}]},"taxYear":2025,"inputs":{"income":210000,"dependents":2,"increment":1000,"status":"head-of-household"},"result":{"increment":1000,"bracketRate":24,"marginalRate":29.9,"gapPoints":5.9,"effectiveRate":15.25,"keep":701,"raise":{"ordinary":240,"creditPhaseOut":50,"otherTaxes":9,"refundablePhaseOut":0,"total":299,"rate":29.9},"otherIncome":{"ordinary":240,"creditPhaseOut":50,"otherTaxes":0,"refundablePhaseOut":0,"total":290,"rate":29},"engineOrdinaryRate":29,"engineLimitations":["This is an incremental ordinary-income calculation, not a standalone tax or a reconciled source allocation.","State rates assume the increment is taxable to the represented full-year resident state; NYC and Yonkers local tax are not included."],"totalTax":32028,"agi":210000,"standardDeduction":23625,"taxableIncome":186375,"taxBeforeCredits":35838,"credits":3900,"creditsBeforeLimit":3900,"unusedCredits":0,"earnedIncomeCredit":0,"form1040":[{"line":"1z","label":"Wages","now":210000,"after":211000,"change":1000},{"line":"11","label":"Adjusted gross income","now":210000,"after":211000,"change":1000},{"line":"12","label":"Standard deduction","now":23625,"after":23625,"change":0},{"line":"15","label":"Taxable income","now":186375,"after":187375,"change":1000},{"line":"16","label":"Tax on that income","now":35838,"after":36078,"change":240,"emphasis":true},{"line":"19","label":"Child and dependent credits","now":3900,"after":3850,"change":-50},{"line":"22","label":"Tax after credits","now":31938,"after":32228,"change":290},{"line":"23","label":"Other taxes","now":90,"after":99,"change":9},{"line":"24","label":"Total tax","now":32028,"after":32327,"change":299,"emphasis":true},{"line":"27a","label":"Earned income credit","now":0,"after":0,"change":0},{"line":"28","label":"Additional child tax credit","now":0,"after":0,"change":0},{"line":"33","label":"Total payments","now":0,"after":0,"change":0,"emphasis":true}],"computability":{"status":"final","changedStatus":"final","fileReady":true,"blocking":[]}},"drivers":[{"key":"income","label":"Wages","step":10000,"rateDelta":0.6,"sentence":"Earning $10,000 more moves the rate on your next $1,000 from 29.9% to 30.5%."},{"key":"dependents","label":"Children under 17","step":-1,"rateDelta":0,"sentence":"One fewer child under 17 changes what you owe for the year but not the rate on your next $1,000, which stays 29.9%."}],"sensitivity":{"byIncome":[{"income":105000,"bracketRate":22,"marginalRate":22,"effectiveRate":6.36},{"income":158000,"bracketRate":24,"marginalRate":24,"effectiveRate":12},{"income":210000,"bracketRate":24,"marginalRate":29.9,"effectiveRate":15.25},{"income":263000,"bracketRate":32,"marginalRate":37.9,"effectiveRate":19.48},{"income":315000,"bracketRate":35,"marginalRate":35.9,"effectiveRate":22.48},{"income":420000,"bracketRate":35,"marginalRate":35.9,"effectiveRate":25.84}],"byStatus":[{"status":"single","label":"Single","bracketRate":24,"marginalRate":29.9},{"status":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly","bracketRate":22,"marginalRate":22},{"status":"married-separate","label":"Married filing separately","bracketRate":24,"marginalRate":29.9},{"status":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household","bracketRate":24,"marginalRate":29.9},{"status":"qualifying-surviving-spouse","label":"Qualifying surviving spouse","bracketRate":22,"marginalRate":22.9}]},"assumptions":[{"key":"income","label":"Wages","value":210000,"unit":"usd-per-year","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"dependents","label":"Children under 17","value":2,"unit":"count","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"increment","label":"The next slice of income","value":1000,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","value":"head-of-household","unit":"choice","provided":false,"source":null}],"sources":[{"id":"rev-proc-2024-40","name":"IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 (2025 inflation-adjusted items)","url":"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-24-40.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The rate tables, standard deduction, and credit amounts for tax year 2025, as published by the IRS."},{"id":"pl-119-21-obbba","name":"One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21)","url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ21","asOf":"2025-07-04","note":"The statute that sets the current standard deduction and the $2,200 child tax credit used for 2025."},{"id":"usc-title-26","name":"26 U.S.C. (Internal Revenue Code)","url":"https://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title26","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The code sections this rate is built out of: § 1 rates, § 63 deduction, § 24 child credit and its phase-out, § 32 earned income credit and its phase-out, § 3101(b)(2) additional Medicare tax."}],"warnings":[{"code":"bracket-understates","message":"Your bracket is 24.0%, but the next $1,000 of wages costs $299, a real rate of 29.9%. The extra 5.9 points are $50 of child tax credit disappearing and $9 of additional Medicare tax, none of which appears in a bracket chart."}],"disclaimer":"This measures the federal income tax on your next slice of income for tax year 2025, on wage income with the standard deduction. It leaves out state and local tax, the Social Security and Medicare taken out of your check, self-employment, investment, and business income, and itemized deductions, so it is not your return and not tax advice. Check anything that matters against your own filing."}