Brackets, FICA and the standard deduction — explained once, properly, so the rest of the site makes sense. Every example is computed by the same engine that generates the pages.
Understand how AfterTaxLab calculates wage income and why capital gains are treated separately from your regular payroll earnings.
topicUnderstand how pre-tax 401(k) contributions reduce your annual federal income tax liability and impact your total take-home pay.
topicUnderstand how 2026 federal income tax brackets function and why your take-home pay is affected by progressive tax rates.
topicLearn how your 2026 tax withholding functions as a series of installments toward your total annual federal tax obligation.
topicUnderstand the difference between marginal and effective tax rates to better interpret your US paycheck and income tax obligations.
topicExplore how states without wage income taxes impact your take-home pay and which federal obligations remain regardless of your location.
topicUnderstand how pre-tax contributions affect your federal tax bill and net take-home pay compared to post-tax deductions.
topicUnderstand how payroll tax calculations differ for employees and freelancers regarding the Social Security wage base and total tax obligations.
topicLearn how the 2026 standard deduction lowers your taxable income and impacts your annual federal tax liability on your paycheck.
topicUnderstand how different states structure income tax and how these variations directly impact your final take-home pay on every paycheck.
topicLearn how tax deductions and credits impact your take-home pay differently. Understand why a dollar of deduction is not a dollar of tax savings.
topicLearn how FICA payroll taxes fund Social Security and Medicare programs from your gross pay, regardless of your personal deductions.
Where a reference salary goes, and which page explains each step.
Federal and FICA figures recomputed live by the shipped engine (/assets/js/tax-2026.js) at build time; they match veri/matris.json.
No. The standard deduction ($16,100 for a single filer in 2026) comes off first, and then each bracket applies only to the dollars inside it.
FICA is a flat payroll contribution for Social Security and Medicare. Income tax is progressive and depends on filing status and state. They are collected together but they are not the same tax.
Yes — 6.2% applies up to the annual wage cap ($184,500 in 2026); Medicare’s 1.45% has no cap, plus 0.9% extra income above the high earners threshold.
They are computed from the published 2026 federal brackets, the 2026 standard deduction and each state’s own model, and are estimates for planning — not tax advice.
Figures on this page are planning estimates built from published IRS tables and state agency rates; they are not tax advice. How we build and check these estimates · Edited by: Nuh Taspinar · Last updated: 2026-11-09
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