Federal Tax Brackets for Singles
As tax season begins, Americans should start to discover the different Federal Tax Brackets, how tax brackets work, and what percentage of their income will be taxed in each.
You can think of Federal tax brackets as “benchmarks” for taxation on each dollar of your income. The first few thousand dollars that you earn are untaxed. The next are taxed, but at the lowest rate. This goes on and on and on until a Federal income taxpayer reaches the highest tax bracket.
Federal Tax Brackets by Income
The Federal income tax brackets are:
- 0% tax bracket equals income between $0 and $8025
- 15% tax bracket equals income between $8,025 and $34,500
- 25% tax bracket equals income between $34,500 and $83,600
- 28% tax bracket equals income between $83,600 and $174,400
- 33% tax bracket equals income between $174,400 and $379,150
- 38% tax bracket equals income between $379,150 and Infinity
The tax brackets above are only fitting for single individuals who are not married, and who are not married and filing separately. Only those who are unmarried have these tax brackets, which are higher than the tax brackets for people who are married. (Single people pay a lower tax rate on the same amount of income due to the Federal government’s belief that married people have lower per-person expenses.)
How Federal Tax Brackets Work
If you were a single person you would align your adjusted income to the above brackets. The first $8,025 you earned would not be taxed. The next amount of money you earn above $8,025 but below $34,500 would be taxed at the 15% rate.
This is a very important thing to consider. Many people believe that when they hit a new tax bracket ALL of their income is taxed at that rate. This is false. Only the income within a specific tax bracket is taxed at the rate listed. Thus, if you were to earn $30,000 this year and your friend were to earn only $8,000, both of you would pay zero taxes on your first $8,025 of earnings. Your friend would pay zero taxes at all. You would pay 15% taxes only on the $21,975 of income not in the first federal tax bracket.
