2023 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates: What to Know

It's good to know how federal tax brackets work. Depending on your 2023 income, your can end up in one of seven tax brackets, each with its own marginal tax rate.

tax bracket written on notebook next to calculator for 2023 tax brackets
(Image credit: Getty Images)

With federal tax brackets and rates, the tax rates themselves aren't changing. The same seven tax rates in effect for the 2022 tax year – 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% – still apply for 2023. However, the income tax brackets for each year are different (i.e., new beginning and ending dollar amounts are established for each bracket). 

That's because tax brackets are adjusted each year to account for inflation. As a result, you could end up in different tax brackets from year to year. That also means that you could pay a different tax rate on some of your income from 2023 than you did last year.

Tax Brackets Based on Filing Status

Tax bracket ranges also differ depending on your filing status. For example, for 2023, the 22% tax bracket range for singles is from $44,726 to $95,375, while the same rate applies to head-of-household filers with taxable income from $59,851 to $95,350. Last year, for single filers, the 22% tax bracket started at $41,776 and ended at $89,075. However, for head-of-household filers, last year's bracket went from $55,901 to $89,050.

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So, filing status is something to keep in mind when you are filing a return or planning to reduce a future tax bill.

2023 Tax Brackets and Rates

Here are the 2023 federal income tax brackets and rates for the four most common filing statuses.

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2023 Tax Brackets: Single Filers and Married Couples Filing Jointly
Tax RateTaxable Income
(Single)
Taxable Income
(Married Filing Jointly)
10%Up to $11,000Up to $22,000
12%$11,001 to $44,725$22,001 to $89,450
22%$44,726 to $95,375$89,451 to $190,750
24%$95,376 to $82,100$190,751 to $364,200
32%$182,101 to $231,250$364,201 to $462,500
35%$231,251 to $578,125$462,501 to $693,750
37%Over $578,125Over $693,750

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2023 Tax Brackets: Married Couples Filing Separately and Head-of-Household Filers
Tax RateTaxable Income
(Married Filing Separately)
Taxable Income
(Head of Household)
10%Up to $11,000Up to $15,700
12%$11,001 to $44,725$15,701 to $59,850
22%$41,726 to $95,375$59, 851 to $95,350
24%$95,376 to $182,100$95,351 to $182,100
32%$182,101 to $231,250$182,201 to $231,250
35%$231,251 to $346,875$231,251 to 4578,100
37%Over $346,875Over $578,100

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2022 Income Tax Brackets and Rates

If you haven't yet filed your 2022 tax return or just want to compare for 2023 tax planning, here are the former tax brackets and rates based on your filing status:

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Single Filers and Married Couples Filing Jointly: 2022 Income Tax Brackets
Tax RateTaxable Income
(Single)
Taxable Income
(Married Filing Jointly)
10%Up to $10, 275Up to $20,550
12%$10,276 to $41,775$20,551 to $83,550
22%$41,776 to $89,075$83,551 to $178,150
24%$89,076 to $170,050$340,101 to $431,900
32%$170,051 to $215,950$340,101 to $431,900
35%$215,951 to $539,900$431,901 to $647,850
37%Over $539,900Over $647,850

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Swipe to scroll horizontally
Married Couples Filing Separately and Head-of-Household Filers: 2022 Income Tax Brackets
Tax RateTaxable Income
(Married Filing Separately)
Taxable Income
(Head of Household)
10%Up to $10.275Up to $14,650
12%$10,276 to $41,775$14,651 to $55,900
22%$41,776 to $89,075$55,901 to $89,050
24%$89,076 to $170,050$89,051 to $170,050
32%$170,051 to $215,950 $170,051 to $215,950
35%$215,951 to $323,925 $215,951 to $539,900
37%Over $332,925Over $539,900

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2023 Tax Brackets and Inflation

Since inflation has been high over the past year or so, the impact of inflation adjustment on tax brackets was greater this year than what most of us are used to. 

This shows up when we look at the "width" of the 2023 brackets and see that they got comparatively wider than before. (Width is the amount of income taxed at the applicable rate – or in other words, the difference between the bracket's lowest dollar amount, and its highest dollar amount.)

An example of this is the 22% bracket for single taxpayers.  For 2023, the width of the 22% singles bracket grew. The 2023 bracket covers $50,649 of taxable income ($95,375 – $44,726 = $50,649), which is $3,350 wider than for 2022. 

For last year, the 22% bracket for singles went from $41,776 to $89,075 and covered $47,299 of taxable income ($89,075 – $41,776 = $47,299). So, for the 2022 tax year, the 22% bracket for single filers got $1,450 wider (i.e., $47,299 – $45,849 = $1,450).

But that's okay. Wider tax brackets are a good thing because they help to prevent "bracket creep."  According to the Tax Foundation, "Bracket creep occurs when people are pushed into higher income tax brackets or have reduced value from credits and deductions due to inflation, instead of any increase in real income."

So, when a tax bracket gets wider, there's less of a chance that you will end up in a higher tax bracket if your income stays the same. Or if your income doesn't grow at the rate of inflation from one year to the next.

How Income Tax Brackets Work

Here are a couple of examples of how federal income tax brackets work. Suppose you are single, and end up with $100,000 of taxable income in 2023. Since $100,000 is in the 24% bracket for single filers, will your 2023 tax bill simply be a flat 24% of $100,000, i.e., $24,000? 

The answer is No. Your tax will actually be less than that amount. That's because using marginal tax rates, only a portion of your income is taxed at the 24% rate. The rest of your income is taxed at the 10%, 12%, and 22% rates.

Here's how it works. Again, assuming you're single with $100,000 taxable income in 2023, the first $11,000 of your income is taxed at the 10% rate for $1,100 of tax. The next $33,724 of income (the amount from $11,001 to $44,725) is taxed at the 12% rate for an approximate $4,047 of additional tax. 

After that, the next $50,649 of your income (from $44,726 to $95,375) is taxed at the 22% rate for an approximate $11,143 of tax. That leaves only $4,627 of your taxable income (the amount over $95,373) that is taxed at the 24% rate, which comes to an approximate $1,110 of additional tax. 

When you add it all up based on this example, your estimated total 2023 tax is only about $17,400. (That's $6,600 less than if a flat 24% rate was applied to the entire $100,000.)

Now, suppose you're a millionaire. (We can all dream, right?) If you're single, only your 2023 income over $578,125 is taxed at the top rate (37%). The rest is taxed at lower rates as described above. 

So, for example, the tax on $1 million for a single person in 2023 is an estimated $328,163. That's a lot of money, but it's still almost $42,000 less than if the 37% rate were applied as a flat rate on the entire $1 million (which would result in a $370,000 tax bill).

Rocky Mengle

Rocky Mengle was a Senior Tax Editor for Kiplinger from October 2018 to January 2023 with more than 20 years of experience covering federal and state tax developments. Before coming to Kiplinger, Rocky worked for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, and Kleinrock Publishing, where he provided breaking news and guidance for CPAs, tax attorneys, and other tax professionals. He has also been quoted as an expert by USA Today, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Reuters, Accounting Today, and other media outlets. Rocky holds a law degree from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. in History from Salisbury University.