2028 Federal Tax Brackets

This 2028 tax bracket calculator is a free tool that estimates your federal income tax using projected 2028 brackets — the 10/12/22/24/32/35/37% rates the One Big Beautiful Bill made permanent, indexed forward for inflation. Enter income and filing status to see your marginal rate, effective rate and tax owed.

2028 federal tax brackets (projected): 10/12/22/24/32/35/37% — same rates as OBBB-permanent. Brackets adjust ~2.4% CPI from 2027 levels. Marginal rate = top bracket your last dollar hits. Effective rate = total tax / total income (always lower than marginal).

OBBB Made Rates Permanent

TCJA-era rates (10/12/22/24/32/35/37) were set to sunset Dec 31, 2025 and revert to 10/15/25/28/33/35/39.6. OBBB (July 2025) made them permanent. CPI-adjusted brackets continue annually.

Why 2028 Brackets Are a Projection, Not a Published Table

The IRS does not publish a tax year's bracket thresholds until roughly the autumn before that year, so 2028 figures will not be official until late 2027. What is known now is the method: bracket edges, the standard deduction and most other thresholds are indexed to chained CPI (C-CPI-U), which rises more slowly than the older CPI-U measure, so thresholds creep up a little less each year than headline inflation.

That means the rates on this page are firm — they are set in statute — while the dollar thresholds carry an inflation assumption. If actual inflation runs hotter than the projection, real 2028 thresholds land higher and your tax comes in slightly lower than shown; if it runs cooler, the reverse. For planning, treat the marginal rate as reliable and the exact break points as within a percent or two. The IRS publishes the official figures in its annual cost-of-living adjustments release.

The 2028 Cliff: OBBB Deductions That Expire After This Year

The rate structure is permanent, but several of the law's headline deductions are not — as enacted they run through tax year 2028 and then lapse, which makes 2028 the last year they affect your return:

• Deduction for qualified tips — available to tipped workers, capped annually and phased out at higher incomes.
• Deduction for qualified overtime pay — covers the premium portion of overtime, again capped and income-phased.
• Additional senior deduction — an extra amount for filers aged 65 and over, on top of the regular additional standard deduction.

Two planning consequences. First, this calculator models brackets rather than those temporary deductions, so a tipped or overtime-heavy worker's real 2028 liability may be lower than the figure shown. Second, if the deductions are not extended, 2029 income of the same size is taxed more heavily than 2028 income — worth knowing before you decide which year to take a bonus, sell an asset, or retire. Confirm the current caps and phase-outs on IRS.gov, since amounts are indexed and Congress may extend them.

Marginal vs Effective

Marginal: rate on next dollar earned. Effective: tax ÷ income. Bracket creep over time as income rises faster than CPI. Common confusion — entering a higher bracket only taxes income within that bracket, not all income.

Capital Gains Separate

Long-term capital gains use 0/15/20% brackets, not ordinary brackets. 2028 LTCG: 0% up to ~$50k single / $100k MFJ. 15% middle range. 20% above ~$553k single / $623k MFJ. Plus 3.8% NIIT for high earners.

State Tax Layered

Federal brackets above + state income tax (0-13.3% depending on state). Effective combined can hit 50%+ in CA/NY/HI. State residency planning is a major topic for high earners.

Last updated 22 August 2026. Sources: IRS Brackets.

Using Projected 2028 Brackets for Roth Conversion and Income Timing

The practical reason to run a 2028 bracket projection now is multi-year income placement, not filing. Because the rate schedule is known and only the inflation-indexed thresholds move, you can see roughly how much additional ordinary income fits inside your current bracket before it spills into the next one — the number that decides how much of a traditional IRA you convert to Roth this year versus next. The same arithmetic drives deferred-compensation elections, exercising non-qualified stock options, realising a business sale over two tax years, and whether a bonus is better taken in December or January. Two cautions apply to any projection. Bracket thresholds are indexed to a chained measure of inflation that rises more slowly than the headline CPI most people watch, so real-world thresholds creep up less than intuition suggests and more income falls into higher brackets over time. And ordinary-income brackets are only one of several cliffs: a conversion that stays inside your bracket can still push you over thresholds for the net investment income tax, Medicare IRMAA surcharges two years later, or a phased-out credit. Official rate and bracket publications are posted at IRS — Federal income tax rates and brackets. Model the conversion against the bracket, then check the cliffs separately. Updated 2026-09-13.