How big will my tax refund be?

How it works

The calculator fills in a federal Form 1040 for tax year 2026 with the amounts in IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32. It follows the IRS worksheets line by line. Every amount is in dollars for the whole year. Empty fields count as 0.

“Jointly” amounts below also apply to a qualifying surviving spouse, except where a rule says otherwise: the child tax credit phase-out, the Additional Medicare Tax, the earned income credit phase-out, and Schedule 1-A use the single amounts for a surviving spouse.

1. Total income and AGI. Total income = wages + self-employment profit + taxable interest + ordinary dividends + capital gain or loss + other income. The capital gain or loss is short-term plus long-term gains; a net loss counts only down to −$3,000 (−$1,500 married filing separately). Adjusted gross income (AGI) = total income − half of the self-employment tax − adjustments to income.

2. Self-employment tax (Schedule SE). Net earnings = 92.35% × profit. Below $400 of net earnings there is no tax. Otherwise tax = 12.4% × the lesser of net earnings and ($184,500 − your W-2 wages, not below 0) + 2.9% × net earnings. Half of it is an adjustment to income.

3. Deduction. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 (single, married filing separately), $32,200 (married filing jointly, qualifying surviving spouse), or $24,150 (head of household). Add $2,050 (single, head of household) or $1,650 (married) for each person who is 65 or older and for each who is blind. If someone can claim you as a dependent, the basic amount is the larger of $1,350 and earned income + $450, but not more than the normal amount. The calculator takes the larger of the standard deduction and your itemized deductions. In the 37% bracket, itemized deductions fall by 2/37 of the lesser of them and the taxable income above the 37% floor (IRC 68 from 2026).

4. Senior deduction (Schedule 1-A, 2025 to 2028). A $6,000 deduction for each person 65 or older, cut by 6% of AGI over $75,000 ($150,000 jointly); separate filers get none. The other Schedule 1-A deductions (qualified tips, qualified overtime, and car loan interest) are not asked on this page; the overtime and tip tax calculator covers the first two.

5. QBI deduction (Form 8995). Qualified business income (QBI) = self-employment profit − half of the self-employment tax. The deduction is the lesser of 20% × QBI and 20% × (taxable income before this deduction − qualified dividends − net long-term gain). When QBI is $1,000 or more, the deduction is at least $400. Above $201,750 of taxable income before the deduction ($403,500 jointly, $201,775 separately), Form 8995-A applies; this page then takes only the $400 minimum and says so.

6. Taxable income = AGI − deduction − Schedule 1-A deductions − QBI deduction, not below 0.

7. Tax on taxable income (line 16). The 2026 brackets are 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. The 12% bracket starts at $12,400 (single, separate), $24,800 (joint), or $17,700 (head of household); the 22% at $50,400, $100,800, or $67,450; the 24% at $105,700, $211,400, or $105,700; the 32% at $201,775, $403,550, or $201,750; the 35% at $256,225, $512,450, or $256,200; the 37% at $640,600, $768,700 ($384,350 separately), or $640,600. Below $100,000 of taxable income, the tax is that of the Tax Table: the rate schedule applied to the middle of the $50 row that holds the income (rows of $5, $10, and $25 below $3,000), rounded to whole dollars, half up. At $100,000 and above, the exact rate schedule. Qualified dividends and net long-term gain (the lesser of the long-term gain and the total gain, not below 0) are taxed by the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet: 0% up to $49,450 of taxable income ($98,900 jointly, $66,200 head of household), 15% up to $545,500 ($613,700 jointly, $579,600 head of household, $306,850 separately), then 20%, with the ordinary part taxed first.

8. Credits and other taxes. Child tax credit: $2,200 for each child under 17, plus $500 for each other dependent, less $50 for each $1,000 or part of AGI over $200,000 ($400,000 jointly). It is used up to the line 16 tax. The rest is refundable as the additional child tax credit, up to $1,700 a child and 15% of earned income over $2,500. Earned income credit: from the EIC Table method with the 2026 amounts (for example, 2 children: up to $7,316, phasing out at 21.06% above $23,890 of income, $31,160 jointly), looked up on earned income and, if higher, on AGI; none if investment income is over $12,200 or you file separately. Additional Medicare Tax: 0.9% of wages and self-employment earnings over $200,000 ($250,000 jointly, $125,000 separately). Net investment income tax: 3.8% of the lesser of investment income and AGI over $200,000 ($250,000 jointly, $125,000 separately).

9. Result. Total tax (line 24) = line 16 tax − child tax credit used + self-employment tax + Additional Medicare Tax + net investment income tax. Tax after refundable credits = total tax − earned income credit − additional child tax credit. Refund (or amount owed, when negative) = tax withheld + estimated payments − tax after refundable credits. Effective rate = tax after refundable credits ÷ total income. Marginal rate = the tax on one more dollar of ordinary income (the change in worksheet line 25): the bracket rate at the top of the ordinary part of taxable income, plus the capital gains bump when that dollar lifts a dollar of gains from the 0% to the 15% rate or from 15% to 20%. When qualified dividends and net long-term gain are more than taxable income, the ordinary part stays 0 and the extra dollar is taxed at the gains rate at the top of taxable income alone (0%, 15%, or 20%). It is 0 when taxable income is 0.

The chart splits taxable income into the part taxed at capital gains rates and the ordinary part in each bracket.

What this page leaves out

It is an estimate, not tax advice. It does not model the alternative minimum tax, the premium tax credit, education credits and other credits (child and dependent care, saver's, energy, foreign tax), the QBI deduction above the Form 8995 threshold, the earned income credit for a separated spouse filing separately, the taxable part of Social Security (type it as other income), the 25% and 28% capital gains rates, or state and local income tax. It assumes everyone 65 or older has a Social Security number, that someone on the return is 25 to 64 for the earned income credit with no child, and that every child under 17 is also a qualifying child for the earned income credit.

Worked examples by hand

Single, $45,000 of wages, $4,000 withheld. Taxable income = 45,000 − 16,100 = $28,900. Tax Table row $28,900 to $28,950, middle $28,925: 1,240 + 12% × (28,925 − 12,400) = 1,240 + 1,983 = $3,223. Refund = 4,000 − 3,223 = $777.

Head of household, $30,000 of wages, 2 children, $1,200 withheld. Taxable income = 30,000 − 24,150 = $5,850; Tax Table row middle $5,875 gives $587.50, rounded to $588. The child tax credit is $4,400, of which $588 wipes out the tax. The additional child tax credit is the lesser of 4,400 − 588 = $3,812, 2 × $1,700 = $3,400, and 15% × (30,000 − 2,500) = $4,125: $3,400. Earned income credit, 2 children, row $30,000 to $30,050 (middle $30,025): 7,316 − 21.06% × (30,025 − 23,890) = 7,316 − 1,292.03 = $6,023.97, rounded to $6,024. Tax after credits = 0 − 3,400 − 6,024 = −$9,424. Refund = 1,200 + 9,424 = $10,624.

Married filing jointly, $100,000 of wages and $20,000 of self-employment profit, $8,000 withheld and $3,000 of estimated tax. Net earnings = 92.35% × 20,000 = $18,470. Self-employment tax = 12.4% × 18,470 + 2.9% × 18,470 = 2,290.28 + 535.63 = $2,825.91 (the wages leave $84,500 of the wage base). AGI = 120,000 − 1,412.955 = $118,587.045. Before QBI: 118,587.045 − 32,200 = $86,387.045. QBI = 20,000 − 1,412.955 = $18,587.045; deduction 20% = $3,717.409. Taxable income = $82,669.636; Tax Table row $82,650 to $82,700 (middle $82,675): 2,480 + 12% × 57,875 = $9,425. Total tax = 9,425 + 2,825.91 = $12,250.91. Payments $11,000, so you owe $1,250.91.