2026 Tax Brackets, Standard Deduction, and Other Changes

The IRS recently published the last of the annual inflation updates for 2026. If you have questions about a particular amount that I do not mention here, you can likely find it in the official IRS announcements:

• Rev. Proc. 2025-32 contains most inflation adjustment figures,
• Notice 2025-67 contains figures relating to retirement accounts, and
• Rev. Proc 2025-19 contains figures relating to health savings accounts (HSAs).

Single 2026 Tax Brackets

Married Filing Jointly 2026 Tax Brackets

Head of Household 2026 Tax Brackets

Married Filing Separately 2026 Tax Brackets

Standard Deduction Amounts

The 2026 standard deduction amounts are as follows:

• Single or married filing separately: $16,100
• Married filing jointly: $32,200
• Head of household: $24,150

The additional standard deduction for people who have reached age 65 (or who are blind) is $1,650 for each married taxpayer or $2,050 for unmarried taxpayers.

IRA Contribution Limits

The contribution limit for Roth IRA and traditional IRA accounts increases to $7,500.

The catch-up contribution limit for people age 50+ increases to $1,100.

401(k), 403(b), 457(b) Contribution Limits

The salary deferral limit for 401(k) and other similar plans is increased to $24,500.

The catch-up contribution limit for 401(k) and other similar plans for people age 50+ increases to $8,000. For people who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 in 2026, the catch-up contribution limit remains at $11,250.

The maximum possible contribution for defined contribution plans (e.g., for a self-employed person with a sufficiently high income contributing to a solo 401(k)) is increased to $72,000.

401(k), 403(b), 457(b) Roth Catch-Up Contribution Requirement

Effective January 1, 2026, the new requirement for high wage earners regarding Roth catch-up contributions to employer plans goes into effect. Specifically, for anybody making a catch-up contribution to a 401(k), 403(b), or governmental 457(b) plan, if your wages from the employer in question in the prior year (so, 2025 in this case) exceeded $150,000, then your catch-up contributions to that employer-sponsored plan in 2026 have to be Roth rather than tax-deferred.

Health Savings Account Contribution Limits

For 2026, the maximum HSA contribution for somebody with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan is $4,400. The limit for somebody with family coverage under such a plan is $8,750.

The HSA catch-up contribution limit for people age 55 and over is not inflation adjusted, so it remains at $1,000.

Qualified Charitable Distributions

For 2026, the limit for qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) for people age 70.5 and up is increased to $111,000 (per spouse, if married).

Capital Gains and Qualified Dividends

For 2026, long-term capital gains and qualified dividends face the following tax rates:

• 0% tax rate if they fall below $49,450 of taxable income if filing as single or married filing separately, $98,900 if married filing jointly, or $66,200 if head of household.
• 15% tax rate if they fall above the 0% threshold but below $545,500 if single, $613,700 if married filing jointly, $579,600 if head of household, or $306,850 if married filing separately.
• 20% tax rate if they fall above the 15% threshold.

Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)

The AMT exemption amount is increased to:

• $90,100 for single people and people filing as head of household,
• $140,200 for married people filing jointly, and
• $70,100 for married people filing separately.

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion

For 2026 the annual exclusion for gifts remains at $19,000.

Estate Tax

The estate tax exclusion is increased to $15 million per decedent.

Pass-Through Business Income

With respect to the 20% deduction for qualified pass-through income, for 2026, the threshold amount at which the “specified service trade or business” phaseout and the wage (or wage+property) limitations begin to kick in will be $403,500 for married taxpayers filing jointly and $201,750 for single taxpayers and people filing as head of household, and $201,775 for married people filing separately.