2026 Tax Brackets and Limits for FIRE Planners: How It Works

By Tom, CPA · Updated October 25, 2026

TL;DR: For 2026: the 12% bracket ends at $100,800 of taxable income for joint filers and $50,400 for single filers; the 0% long-term capital gains rate applies up to $98,900 and $49,450; the standard deduction is $32,200 and $16,100; the 401(k) limit is $24,500 and the IRA limit $7,500. All figures below are sourced to the IRS, SSA or CMS.

Educational only, not tax, legal, or investment advice. Examples are illustrations, not predictions. Rules and limits change; verify current figures and talk to a qualified professional about your situation.

One page, all the numbers, sourced to irs.gov. Bookmark it like it's a coupon. Every figure below comes from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (the 2026 inflation adjustments, reflecting the 2025 tax law), IRS IR-2025-111 (retirement plan limits), the IRS fact sheet on the new senior deduction, IRS Topic 559 for the net investment income tax, and CMS for Medicare premiums.

Where a rule depends on law that could still change, it is labeled as of Oct 2026. For what's coming next year, see 2027 IRS limits.

CPA Warning Label: Brackets apply to taxable income, after deductions, not to your gross income. Mixing those up is the most common bracket mistake on the internet.

Ordinary brackets by status

Ordinary income tax brackets for 2026, by taxable income (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32):

Married filing separately uses the single brackets, except that the 35% bracket ends at $384,350. Qualifying surviving spouses use the joint brackets.

Useful landmarks: tax at the top of the joint 12% bracket is $11,600; at the top of the single 12% bracket, $5,800. With the standard deduction, a married couple can have $133,000 of ordinary income and stay in the 12% bracket; a single filer, $66,500.

Capital gains thresholds

These apply to long-term gains and qualified dividends, measured against total taxable income. The 3.8% net investment income tax applies on top above MAGI of $250,000 (joint), $200,000 (single and head of household) or $125,000 (married filing separately); these thresholds are not indexed (IRS Topic 559). Collectibles gains are taxed at up to 28% and unrecaptured section 1250 gain at up to 25% (IRS Topic 409).

Standard deduction

Senior deduction (as of Oct 2026): $6,000 per person age 65 or older, 2025 through 2028, phasing out above MAGI of $75,000 ($150,000 joint), available to itemizers and non-itemizers (IRS FS-2025-03).

Itemizers: state and local tax deduction limit $40,400 ($20,200 married filing separately), reduced for MAGI over $505,000 but not below $10,000 (IRS). Non-itemizers can deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) of cash charitable gifts starting in 2026 (IRS Publication 6196).

Key retirement limits

Source: IRS IR-2025-111.

Medicare and Social Security items

• Medicare Part B standard premium: $202.90 a month; deductible $283 (CMS).
• IRMAA starts above MAGI of $109,000 single or $218,000 joint, based generally on your 2024 return (CMS, SSA).
• Social Security taxation thresholds: provisional income of $25,000 single and $32,000 joint for up to 50% taxable, and $34,000 and $44,000 for up to 85% (IRS Topic 423). Not indexed.
• RMD age: 73 for those born 1951 through 1959 (1959 per proposed regulations, as of Oct 2026), 75 for those born 1960 or later (26 CFR 1.401(a)(9)-2).

Other figures

• Alternative minimum tax exemption: $90,100 single, $140,200 joint; phase-out begins at $500,000 single and $1,000,000 joint (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
• Annual gift exclusion: $19,000 per recipient. Basic estate exclusion: $15,000,000 (IRS).
• Kiddie tax: unearned income above $2,700 taxed at the parents' rate (twice the $1,350 amount in Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
• Capital loss deduction against ordinary income: $3,000 ($1,500 married filing separately); not indexed.
• Estimated tax safe harbor: 100% of prior-year tax, or 110% if prior-year AGI exceeded $150,000 (IRS Topic 306).

What changed from 2025

• Brackets and the standard deduction rose for inflation, with the 2025 law making the lower rate structure and larger standard deduction permanent.
• The 401(k) deferral limit rose from $23,500 to $24,500 and the IRA limit from $7,000 to $7,500; the IRA catch-up, now indexed, rose to $1,100 (IRS IR-2025-111).
• New for 2026: a charitable deduction for non-itemizers, a 0.5% of AGI floor for itemized charitable gifts, and a 35% cap on the value of itemized deductions for top-bracket taxpayers (IRS).
• The SALT limit rose to $40,400 from $40,000.
• Unchanged because they are not indexed: NIIT thresholds, Social Security taxation thresholds and the $3,000 capital loss limit.

Five landmarks to memorize

1. $133,000 / $66,500: total ordinary income that fills the 12% bracket with the standard deduction (joint / single).
2. $131,100 / $65,550: total income, all of it gains above the deduction, that stays in the 0% capital gains band ($98,900 + $32,200 joint; $49,450 + $16,100 single).
3. $32,200 / $16,100: the conversion amount that costs $0 federal tax with no other income.
4. $218,000 / $109,000: MAGI where IRMAA begins, two years later.
5. $250,000 / $200,000: MAGI where NIIT begins.

These five pairs answer most early retirement tax questions before you open a spreadsheet. Lavish Larry has them tattooed nowhere; Frugal Fran has them on a sticky note.

Surviving spouses and separate filers

A qualifying surviving spouse can use the joint brackets and the $32,200 standard deduction for the two years after the year of the spouse's death, but only with a dependent child and without remarrying (IRS Publication 501). Otherwise the survivor files single in the year after death, with brackets roughly half as wide. Married filing separately rarely helps early retirees: it halves most thresholds, disallows several credits and, for those who lived together, makes much of Social Security taxable.

Illustration: reading the tables for one household

Illustration. Assumptions: married couple filing jointly, both 56, 2026. Income: $30,000 of IRA withdrawals, $70,000 Roth conversion, $15,000 of qualified dividends.

• Ordinary income $100,000, minus the $32,200 standard deduction: ordinary taxable income $67,800. Tax: $2,480 + 12% × $43,000 = $7,640.
• Dividends stack from $67,800 to $82,800, below $98,900: taxed at 0%.
• Total federal tax: $7,640. Marginal rate on the next dollar of conversion: 12% (until the dividends start crossing $98,900, after which it would be 27%).
• MAGI of $115,000 is far below NIIT thresholds. They are under 63, so IRMAA does not yet apply, but this level of income is above 400% of the poverty level for a two-person household ($84,600 for 2026 coverage, CMS), so no ACA premium tax credit as of Oct 2026.

Source list

All figures on this page were checked on Oct 25, 2026 against the sources listed at the bottom of the page. If any number here disagrees with the IRS, the IRS wins; please trust the source documents, then tell us so we can fix it.