2026 income · typically filed in 2027

Federal Tax Refund and Amount Owed Estimator

Will you get a refund or owe federal taxes? Bring your income, deductions and payments together in one clear estimate.

Calculated in your browser5 filing statusesPrintable tax summary

Your tax picture

Enter your annual estimates

Use full-year 2026 amounts, including expected income and payments for the rest of the year. This estimates federal tax only.

01 Filing details

Tax year Filing status

I will be 65 or older at year end I qualify as legally blind

For U.S. resident filers who cannot be claimed as another person's dependent. Senior deductions assume eligible Social Security numbers; do not enter any identification numbers here.

02 Income

Your taxable W-2 wages

All jobs; use Box 1 or projected taxable wages.

Interest, dividends, investments & retirement

Taxable interest

Exclude tax-exempt municipal interest. Nonqualified dividends

Ordinary dividends minus their qualified portion. Qualified dividends

Enter separately; do not include them above. Net short-term capital gains

Positive net gains after permitted loss netting. Net long-term capital gains

Regular 0%, 15% or 20% gains; no collectibles or recapture. Taxable pensions, IRA & Social Security

Only the taxable portion, not total distributions or benefits. Other taxable ordinary income

For example, unemployment or taxable rental income; no duplicate entries.

Self-employment & payroll details

Your net self-employment profit

Business receipts minus expenses; positive Schedule C/F profit. Your Social Security wages

W-2 Box 3 total. Blank uses taxable wages as an approximation. Your Medicare wages

W-2 Box 5 total. Blank uses taxable wages as an approximation. Net investment income for NIIT

Optional Form 8960 amount. Blank uses entered interest, dividends and gains; include applicable passive rental income here.

Self-employment tax and its deductible half are calculated automatically. Regular employee Social Security/Medicare taxes are not added to federal income tax. Additional Medicare tax and NIIT are included when the entered amounts exceed their thresholds.

03 Deductions

Eligible adjustments to income

Deductible IRA/HSA contributions and other allowed adjustments. Exclude the half-SE-tax deduction calculated here. Deduction method2026 base standard deduction: $16,100. Allowed itemized deduction total

Enter your allowable Schedule A total after SALT, medical, charitable and high-income limits; not raw expenses. Other eligible deductions

Allowed QBI, tips, overtime, car-loan or other additional deductions after limits. Exclude the enhanced senior deduction calculated here.

Age/blindness additions and the eligible $6,000-per-senior deduction with income phaseout are included. Other deduction eligibility and phaseouts must already be reflected in the amounts you enter.

04 Credits & other taxes

Eligible nonrefundable credits

Allowed nonrefundable child/dependent, education or other personal credits after eligibility and income limits. Eligible refundable credits

For example, EITC, additional child tax credit or refundable education credit; enter only the eligible refundable portion. Other federal taxes

If applicable: AMT, early-distribution taxes or credit repayments. Exclude SE tax, Additional Medicare and NIIT calculated here.

Credits are entered amounts, not calculated from dependents. Nonrefundable credits reduce regular income tax to zero but cannot pay SE tax. Refundable credits can increase a refund. Do not enter the same credit in both fields.

05 Withholding & payments

Federal income tax withheld

All W-2 Box 2 and 1099 federal withholding, including projected withholding. Exclude state and regular FICA withholding. Federal estimated tax payments

Total quarterly payments already made or planned for this tax year. Additional Medicare tax withheld

Only the additional 0.9% tax withheld, not all W-2 Box 6 Medicare tax. Other eligible federal payments

For example, a prior-year refund applied to 2026. Exclude refundable credits already entered.

Your next step

Turn an estimate into a filing plan

Review your documents, compare filing options or find a credentialed tax professional.

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Will I owe federal taxes for 2026?

A refund means your federal payments and eligible refundable credits exceed your estimated tax. A balance due means they fall short. This federal tax calculator combines income, deductions, credits and payments so you can plan before filing.

This page estimates tax year 2026 income, generally reported on a return filed in 2027. It does not estimate a 2025 return filed during 2026. Enter full-year expected amounts, rather than only year-to-date totals.

How the refund estimate works

Add taxable wages, investment income, taxable retirement income, other ordinary income and positive self-employment profits.
Subtract allowed adjustments and the deductible half of self-employment tax to estimate adjusted gross income.
Use your selected standard or allowed itemized deduction, eligible senior deductions and other entered deductions.
Apply the 2026 federal brackets. Eligible qualified dividends and long-term gains use separate 0%, 15% and 20% bands, stacked above ordinary taxable income.
Apply entered nonrefundable credits against regular income tax, then include self-employment tax, Additional Medicare tax, NIIT and entered other federal taxes.
Compare tax with federal withholding, estimated payments, other eligible payments and refundable credits.

Projected refund or balance = withholding + estimated payments + other payments + refundable credits âˆ’ estimated federal tax

Worked example

A single filer under 65 with $75,000 of taxable wages, the $16,100 standard deduction, no other deductions or credits and $10,000 withheld has $58,900 of taxable income. The rate-schedule estimate is $7,670 tax and a $2,330 refund. With $5,000 withheld instead, the same inputs produce a $2,670 balance due.

Standard versus itemized deductions

The 2026 base standard deduction is $16,100 for single or married filing separately, $32,200 for married filing jointly or a qualifying surviving spouse, and $24,150 for head of household. Eligible age and blindness additions are calculated separately. If a separately filing spouse itemizes, select the spouse-itemizes option so the standard deduction is unavailable.

The itemized field expects your allowed Schedule A amount after applicable limits, not total expenses. SALT limits, medical thresholds, charitable floors and high-income restrictions are not calculated from receipts here. QBI and other special deductions must also be entered after eligibility and phaseouts. The enhanced senior deduction is calculated automatically under the stated domestic-income assumptions.

Tax credits and payments are different

Nonrefundable credits can reduce regular income tax to zero; unused amounts do not become a refund in this model. Eligible refundable credits are added to payments. Enter only the eligible nonrefundable and refundable portions, without counting the same credit twice. Child-credit and EITC eligibility are not inferred from household details.

Federal income tax withheld usually comes from W-2 Box 2 and federal withholding on 1099 forms. Do not include state withholding or ordinary Social Security/Medicare deductions. Additional Medicare withholding has its own field. Estimated payments are payments toward this tax year, not a new tax charge.

Scope and assumptions

For U.S. resident filers who cannot be claimed as another person's dependent; assumes domestic modified AGI equals AGI.
Self-employment profits must be positive net profits. Each jointly filing spouse has a separate Social Security wage cap. Enter W-2 boxes 3 and 5 when they differ from taxable wages.
Enter only taxable retirement benefits and already-netted positive capital gains. Business losses, capital-loss carryovers, collectibles and depreciation recapture are not modeled.
AMT, credit eligibility, foreign-income exclusions, investment deductions and other special rules are not automatically determined. Use the applicable overrides or a full tax return calculation.
No state/local tax, underpayment penalty, filing eligibility determination or refund guarantee. IRS tax-table rounding may differ from this rate-schedule estimate.

Frequently asked questions

Why can I owe tax when my employer already withholds?

Multiple jobs, a spouse's income, self-employment, investment income or changed deductions can make withholding fall short of annual tax. Compare total expected federal payments with your full-year liability.

Are tax credits calculated automatically?

No. Enter eligible amounts from the relevant IRS worksheets or your tax software. A child tax credit can have nonrefundable and refundable portions with different limits; enter each portion once.

Can I estimate a joint return?

Yes. Select married filing jointly to enter each spouse's wages, self-employment profit and payroll wage bases. Other income and payment fields are combined household totals.

Does this send my income to a server?

The calculation runs in your browser and entries are not saved by this tool. You can copy, download or print the summary on your device. Closing or resetting the page clears the entered values.

Is this a tax return or a promise of an IRS refund?

No. It is a projection using the inputs and assumptions shown. Review your documents and complete a return using appropriate tax software or professional help.

Official sources and maintenance

Tax year: 2026. Rules reviewed: September 9, 2026. Check annual limits and legislative changes before relying on a new year's estimate.