The 2026 Income Thresholds That Change What You Owe
Every 2026 income level where something changes — a surtax starts, a credit phases out, a cap binds, a rate steps up — in one table, with which of them are frozen in statute and which move with inflation.
Tax rules are full of income levels where something changes — a surtax switches on, a credit starts disappearing, a cap binds, a rate steps up. Individually each one is documented. Collected in one place they show something the individual pages do not: which of them move with inflation and which are frozen.
8 of the thresholds below have never been indexed. They were written into statute at a fixed dollar amount and have stayed there — 2013 for the Medicare and investment surtaxes, decades for the home sale exclusion. Every year of wage growth and inflation pulls more households across them without a single vote being taken.
That is the practical reason to keep this list. Crossing an indexed threshold usually means you earned more. Crossing a frozen one can mean nothing changed except the year.
Thresholds: where something switches on
| What changes | Single | Married jointly | Inflation-indexed? | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long-term capital gains leave the 0% band | $49,450 | $98,900 | Yes | Gains taxed at 15% instead of 0% above this taxable income. |
| Long-term capital gains reach 20% | $545,500 | $613,700 | Yes | Top capital gains rate applies above this taxable income. |
| Net investment income tax begins | $200,000 | $250,000 | No — frozen | An extra 3.8% on investment income above this modified AGI. |
| Additional Medicare Tax begins | $200,000 | $250,000 | No — frozen | An extra 0.9% on wages above this, with no employer match. |
| Social Security tax stops | $184,500 | $184,500 each | Yes | The 6.2% deduction ends for the rest of the year once wages pass the base. |
| Child Tax Credit begins phasing out | $200,000 | $400,000 | No — frozen | The $2,200 per-child credit shrinks above this modified AGI. |
| SALT deduction cap begins shrinking | $500,000 | $500,000 | No — frozen | The $40,400 cap falls toward the $10,000 floor. |
| SALT cap reaches its floor | $600,000 | $600,000 | No — frozen | Deduction capped at $10,000 regardless of what you paid. |
| Bonus withholding jumps to 37% | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | No — frozen | Flat supplemental withholding rises from 22% on the portion above this. |
Fixed amounts worth knowing
| Amount | 2026 | Inflation-indexed? | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard deduction (single) | $16,100 | Yes | Income below this is untaxed federally before any credit. |
| Standard deduction (married filing jointly) | $32,200 | Yes | Itemizing is only worth it above this total. |
| Home sale gain exclusion (single) | $250,000 | No — frozen | Unchanged in statute for decades while home prices rose. |
| Home sale gain exclusion (married filing jointly) | $500,000 | No — frozen | Requires two of the last five years of ownership and use. |
| Refundable Child Tax Credit cap, per child | $1,700 | Yes | The most that can come back as refund rather than reducing tax to zero. |
| Child's unearned income taxed at $0 | $1,350 | Yes | Covered by the child's own standard deduction. |
| Child's unearned income above which parents' rate applies | $2,700 | Yes | The kiddie tax — why large custodial accounts can backfire. |
What to do with this
Find the threshold nearest your income. If you sit just above one, a deductible contribution — traditional 401(k), traditional IRA, HSA — that pulls the relevant income measure back below it is worth far more than its face value, because it buys back the benefit as well as the deduction.
Check which income measure applies. They are not interchangeable. The capital gains bands are measured on taxable income, after deductions. The surtaxes and phase-outs use modified adjusted gross income, before the standard deduction. Social Security uses gross wages. A deduction that helps with one may not touch another.
Watch for stacking. Income near $200,000 for a single filer can cross the Additional Medicare Tax, the net investment income tax, and the start of the Child Tax Credit phase-out at nearly the same point. The effective marginal rate in that band is meaningfully higher than the bracket alone suggests.
A one-off event can push you over. A large capital gain, a Roth conversion, a bonus, or a home sale above the exclusion all raise the income measures above for that year only. Where the timing is yours to choose, splitting an event across two tax years can keep you under a threshold in both.
Calculators that use this data
Sources
Found a figure that looks wrong or has been superseded? Tell us on the contact page — corrections are handled the way the editorial standards describe.