https://taxmath.org/articles/ Practical articles about US income taxes, brackets, state comparison, and capital gains. en-us Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://taxmath.org/articles/states-where-inflation-raised-your-taxes/ https://taxmath.org/articles/states-where-inflation-raised-your-taxes/ Virginia, Delaware, Alabama, Kansas and New Jersey write their 2026 brackets and deductions as fixed dollar amounts, so a raise that only matched 3.7% inflation is taxed at more than 3.7%. Minnesota, Maine, Oregon, Nebraska, Missouri and North Dakota index theirs by statute. Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/year-end-tax-moves-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/year-end-tax-moves-2026/ Before December 31, 2026, an extra $5,000 of 401(k) deferral cuts the $65,000 single filer's federal tax by $600 and the $185,000 filer's by $1,200; harvesting $18,000 of losses saves the second filer $2,970. Pennsylvania taxes the deferral anyway; Illinois does not. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/tax-measures-on-the-2026-ballot/ https://taxmath.org/articles/tax-measures-on-the-2026-ballot/ Twenty statewide measures in eleven states would change an income, property or sales tax on November 3, 2026. Only one of them changes the 2027 state income tax bill of a $65,000 single filer: Colorado's Amendment 87, which would cut it by about $223. Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/what-changed-2026-state-income-tax/ https://taxmath.org/articles/what-changed-2026-state-income-tax/ Thirteen states cut their top personal income tax rate for 2026 and one raised it — Maine, by two points, through a surcharge that reaches nobody under a million dollars. The median bill for a $65,000 single filer fell about $110. Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/state-income-tax-rate-changes-2022-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/state-income-tax-rate-changes-2022-2026/ Twenty states lowered their top personal income tax rate over five years, three raised theirs, and four abandoned graduated brackets entirely. Every figure here is computed from TaxMath's own rate tables. Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/irs-phasing-out-paper-checks/ https://taxmath.org/articles/irs-phasing-out-paper-checks/ The first filing season under Executive Order 14247's paper-check cutoff is on the record: over 98% of the 57 million refunds the IRS issued through March 20, 2026 went out by direct deposit, and the check now survives only as a six-week fallback behind a CP53E notice. Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/capital-gains-tax-state-patchwork/ https://taxmath.org/articles/capital-gains-tax-state-patchwork/ Missouri now subtracts 100% of federally reported capital gains, the first full exemption in a state that still taxes wages. Nine states give a gain a defined discount, eight tax nothing at all, Washington taxes only gains above its deduction, and California stacks up to 13.3% on top of the federal 23.8% ceiling. Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/nine-no-income-tax-states-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/nine-no-income-tax-states-2026/ Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming charge no broad-based personal income tax for 2026, but only four of the nine zeros sit behind a constitutional ban. Washington's is scheduled to end: a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million takes effect January 1, 2028. Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/bonus-depreciation-2026-small-business/ https://taxmath.org/articles/bonus-depreciation-2026-small-business/ Public Law 119-21 repealed the TCJA phase-down before the 20% year arrived: property acquired after January 19, 2025 gets a permanent 100% first-year write-off. The 2026 Section 179 cap is $2,560,000, and the 20% QBI deduction no longer expires. Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/when-does-itemizing-beat-standard-deduction-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/when-does-itemizing-beat-standard-deduction-2026/ Itemizing pays for tax year 2026 once Schedule A clears $16,100 single or $32,200 joint. Under the $40,400 SALT cap, a single homeowner's state and local taxes clear that line by themselves in New Jersey and Illinois; in Texas and Florida the standard deduction usually still wins. Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/schedule-1a-new-tax-form/ https://taxmath.org/articles/schedule-1a-new-tax-form/ The 2025 Schedule 1-A computes one modified AGI, runs the tip, overtime, car-loan-interest, and senior deductions through four separate phase-outs, and sends a single total to Form 1040 line 13b. The total stacks on the standard deduction or itemized deductions, and adjusted gross income never moves. Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/senior-bonus-deduction-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/senior-bonus-deduction-2026/ Taxpayers 65 and older deduct an extra $6,000 each through 2028, stacked on the standard deduction and the age-65 addition: for 2026 the layers total $24,150 for a single filer and $47,500 for a couple who are both 65. Each $6,000 shrinks by six cents per dollar of modified AGI over $75,000 ($150,000 joint) and is gone at $175,000 ($250,000 joint). Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/car-loan-interest-deduction-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/car-loan-interest-deduction-2026/ For tax years 2025 through 2028, up to $10,000 a year of interest on the loan behind a new, US-assembled, personal-use vehicle comes off taxable income on Schedule 1-A, stacked on the standard deduction. The assembly test is settled per VIN, and past $100,000 of MAGI the deduction shrinks by $200 for each $1,000. Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/trump-accounts-tax-free-savings/ https://taxmath.org/articles/trump-accounts-tax-free-savings/ Section 530A builds the Trump Account as a traditional IRA for children: a one-time $1,000 Treasury deposit for children born 2025 through 2028, after-tax contributions capped at $5,000 a year, and ordinary income tax on the earnings at withdrawal. Growth is tax-deferred, and the widely reported 'tax-free' label is wrong. Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/washington-luxury-taxes-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/washington-luxury-taxes-2026/ Since July 1, 2026, the luxury surcharge on a $150,000 car in Washington is $3,840: 8% of the price above a $102,000 exempt amount that steps up every July. A boat at the same price owes a flat 0.5%, and the 10% aircraft tax was repealed before its first day. Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/illinois-tax-overhaul-2026/ https://taxmath.org/articles/illinois-tax-overhaul-2026/ Illinois's overhaul of apportionment and foreign-income deductions lives on corporate schedules; the IL-1040 still charges a flat 4.95%, unchanged since July 2017 and constitutionally required to stay non-graduated. What moves an Illinois bill is the exemption allowance ($2,925 for 2026, gone in one step above $250,000 of AGI), the retirement subtraction, and the 5% property tax credit. Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/new-york-estate-tax-cliff/ https://taxmath.org/articles/new-york-estate-tax-cliff/ New York's 2026 basic exclusion is $7,350,000, and Tax Law §952 claws it back at $20 per dollar of overshoot: a $7,360,000 estate owes $28,560, a $7,500,000 estate owes $386,400, and past $7,717,500 the whole estate is taxed from its first dollar. Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/georgia-eliminate-income-tax/ https://taxmath.org/articles/georgia-eliminate-income-tax/ A Senate committee recommended eliminating Georgia's income tax by 2032. HB 463, the law Georgia enacted instead, cuts the 2026 rate to 4.99% and steps it down 0.125 points a year toward a 3.99% floor, with every step past 2026 conditioned on revenue tests that had just blocked prior law's scheduled cut. Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/washington-state-millionaire-income-tax/ https://taxmath.org/articles/washington-state-millionaire-income-tax/ SB 6346, signed March 30, 2026, taxes individual income above a $1 million household deduction at 9.9% beginning January 1, 2028, with the first returns due in 2029. Initiative 645, certified to the November 3, 2026 ballot, asks voters to repeal it before the first dollar is collected. Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/no-tax-on-tips-overtime/ https://taxmath.org/articles/no-tax-on-tips-overtime/ For tax years 2025 through 2028, workers in listed tipped occupations can deduct up to $25,000 of reported tips, and hourly workers up to $12,500 of FLSA overtime premium. Only the half-time slice of overtime counts, the deductions come off after AGI, and a married worker must file jointly to claim either. Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/estate-tax-exemption-2026-permanent/ https://taxmath.org/articles/estate-tax-exemption-2026-permanent/ OBBBA §70106 set the federal estate and gift exclusion at $15 million for 2026 and struck the sunset. Twelve states and DC still levy their own estate taxes, and a $10 million estate that owes the IRS nothing owes Washington State $1,100,000. Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/salt-cap-2026-state-by-state/ https://taxmath.org/articles/salt-cap-2026-state-by-state/ For tax year 2026 the SALT deduction cap is $40,400. It shrinks by 30 cents per dollar of modified AGI above $505,000, reaching its $10,000 floor at $606,334, and which states' filers see any of it depends on whose tax bills cleared the old cap. Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/2026-federal-tax-brackets/ https://taxmath.org/articles/2026-federal-tax-brackets/ The 2026 brackets are the TCJA's, inflation-adjusted and made permanent by OBBBA §70101. A single filer's 22% bracket starts at $50,400 of taxable income, the standard deduction is $16,100, and the top rate stays 37%. Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath) https://taxmath.org/articles/one-big-beautiful-bill-2026-tax-changes/ https://taxmath.org/articles/one-big-beautiful-bill-2026-tax-changes/ The OBBBA added four temporary federal deductions, all claimed on new Schedule 1-A with or without itemizing: up to $25,000 of reported tips, $12,500 of overtime premium, $10,000 of car-loan interest, and $6,000 per filer 65 or older. None of them reduces AGI, and all four expire after 2028. The same law set the 2026 SALT cap at $40,400, the child tax credit at $2,200, and the estate exclusion at $15 million. Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT feedback@taxmath.org (TaxMath)