2027 tax brackets: the IRS lifts them 3.2%, ahead of pay but behind prices

The Internal Revenue Service has published the 2027 tax brackets, and every bracket is about 3.2% wider than in 2026. The seven rates stay at 10% to 37%, but each starts at a higher income: the 22% rate, for example, starts at $52,025 for a single filer, up from $50,400, the IRS said on 5 November. The new figures apply to income earned in 2027, on returns filed in 2028.

The rise is set by law to follow inflation. This year it lands between two other numbers that matter to most households: it is a little faster than pay has grown, and slower than prices have risen since last autumn.

The 2027 tax brackets

The thresholds below are taxable income: what is left after the standard deduction or itemised deductions. Each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its bracket.

Rate	Single, income over	Married filing jointly, income over	Single in 2026, over
10%	$0	$0	$0
12%	$12,800	$25,600	$12,400
22%	$52,025	$104,050	$50,400
24%	$109,125	$218,250	$105,700
32%	$208,325	$416,650	$201,775
35%	$264,550	$529,100	$256,225
37%	$661,375	$793,650	$640,600

The full tables, including heads of household and married people filing separately, are in Revenue Procedure 2026-35. The 2026 figures come from the IRS release of October 2025.

How much did the tax brackets go up for 2027?

Every threshold rose by between 3.22% and 3.25%, our sums from the two IRS releases show. The start of the 24% bracket for a single filer moved up $3,425; the start of the top rate moved up $20,775.

The standard deduction rose a little less, by 3.1%: to $16,600 for a single filer, from $16,100, and to $33,200 for a married couple filing jointly, from $32,200. Heads of household get $24,925, up from $24,150. Some other figures moved too:

• The child tax credit rises $100 to $2,300 a child, and the part that can be paid out as a refund rises to $1,800.
• The estate tax exclusion rises to $15.48m, from $15m, and the yearly gift exclusion to $20,000, from $19,000. The estate tax falls on what people leave at death, unlike the yearly wealth taxes a few countries keep.
• The earned income tax credit for a family with three or more children tops out at $8,496, up from $8,231.

Why the brackets rise every year

The tax code ties the brackets to inflation, so a pay rise that only keeps up with prices does not push people into a higher rate. The measure is the chained consumer price index (C-CPI-U), averaged over the 12 months to 31 August, section 1(f) of the tax code says. The chained index allows for people switching to cheaper goods when prices rise, so it usually rises a little more slowly than the better-known CPI.

That is why the 2027 rise looks backwards. It reflects prices from September 2025 to August 2026. The chained index was 3.3% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show, close to the 3.2% rise in the brackets.

Faster than pay, slower than prices

The comparison with pay favours taxpayers. Average hourly earnings rose 3.0% in the year to September 2026, to $37.81, BLS figures show. When pay grows more slowly than the brackets, a worker on an average rise pays a slightly smaller share of income in tax, the reverse of “bracket creep”.

Prices tell a harder story. Consumer prices were 3.7% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, the CPI shows, and the rate has been rising. Because the brackets look back to August, they will catch up with that only in the adjustment for 2028. Meanwhile pay that rises 3.0% buys less, whatever the tax tables do.

What it means for a $60,000 earner

A worked example, our sums from the IRS tables, for a single filer who takes the standard deduction and has no credits:

• Same income, $60,000 in both years: federal income tax falls from $5,020 for 2026 to $4,952 for 2027, a saving of $68. A married couple on $120,000 saves $136.
• A 3.0% raise, to $61,800: tax rises to $5,168, or $148 more. That is 8.2% of the $1,800 raise, and the share of income paid in tax stays at 8.4%.

So the 2027 tax brackets keep the tax bite steady for a typical worker. They do not make up for prices rising faster than pay. That gap is about wages and inflation, not the tax code. The October jobs report, due on 6 November, brings the next pay figure, and forecasts call for a weak month.