2027 Tax Bracket Compare — TCJA Sunset Calculator

What Is the TCJA Sunset?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law in December 2017, lowered individual income tax rates across every bracket and nearly doubled the standard deduction. However, most of those individual provisions were written with a built-in expiration date: December 31, 2026. Unless Congress passes new legislation, 2027 will revert to pre-TCJA brackets adjusted for inflation — meaning higher marginal rates and a much smaller standard deduction for nearly every American taxpayer.

This TCJA sunset calculator lets you compare your 2026 federal tax bill (under current TCJA rates) against a projected 2027 bill (under reverted rates). Enter your taxable income and filing status to see the exact dollar change and how your marginal and effective rates shift.

How 2027 Brackets Differ from 2026

Under the TCJA, the seven federal tax brackets are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. If the TCJA sunsets, the pre-TCJA bracket structure returns: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, and 39.6%. Most middle-income taxpayers currently in the 12% or 22% bracket would jump to 15% or 25% — a meaningful increase on every dollar earned above the lower threshold.

Bracket widths also change. For married filing jointly, the 2026 12% bracket ends at $96,950; the 2027 15% bracket is projected to end at $98,500. While the width is similar, the rate jumps 3 percentage points. At the top, the 39.6% rate returns for income above roughly $645,000 MFJ, compared to 37% today.

Standard Deduction Reversion Impact

Perhaps the biggest single-line change is the standard deduction. For 2026, married filing jointly claims a $30,000 standard deduction ($15,000 single). If TCJA sunsets, those amounts roughly cut in half to approximately $16,500 MFJ and $8,250 single — the pre-TCJA structure plus inflation. That means $13,500 more taxable income for a MFJ household that took the standard deduction, potentially adding $2,000–$3,000 to federal tax on top of the bracket rate increase.

Personal exemptions also return in the pre-TCJA world (roughly $4,700 per person inflation-adjusted), which partially offsets the smaller standard deduction for larger families — but the net effect for most households is still significantly higher taxable income.

Tax Planning Before December 31, 2026

If current rates are likely to be your lifetime low, consider strategies that pull income into 2026: Roth IRA conversions, exercising non-qualified stock options, harvesting long-term capital gains, and accelerating year-end bonuses where possible. Conversely, defer deductions like charitable contributions into 2027 when they'll offset income at a higher marginal rate.

Small business owners should model income timing carefully — the 20% Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction also sunsets at the end of 2026. For many pass-through owners, that's another 7%+ effective tax increase on top of bracket changes. Work with a CPA or tax advisor to run scenarios specific to your situation before year-end 2026.

Last updated: April 2026. Source: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments); pre-TCJA bracket projections inflation-adjusted from IRS historical tables.