- Federal Income Tax Rates:
- **TAXTABLE_2015_DEFINITION**
- Filing status
- Choose your filing status. The ‘Filing Status’ table summarizes the five possible filing status choices. Your filing status determines the income levels for your Federal tax bracket. It is also important for calculating your standard deduction, personal exemptions, and deduction phase-out incomes. Your marital status as of the last day of the year determines your filing status.
| Married Filing Jointly | If you are married, you are able to file a joint return with your spouse. If your spouse died during the tax year and you did not remarry, you are still able to file a joint return for that year. You may also choose to file separately under the status "Married Filing Separately". |
| Qualified Surviving Spouse | Generally, you qualify for this status if your spouse died during the previous tax year (not the current tax year) and you and your spouse filed a joint tax return in the year immediately prior to their death. You are also required to have at least one dependent child or stepchild for whom you are the primary provider. |
| Single | Use this filing status if you don't qualify for any other filing status. Generally, If you are divorced, legally separated or unmarried as of the last day of the year (and you are not using another filing status) you should use this status. |
| Head of Household | This is the status for unmarried individuals (or individuals considered unmarried) that pay for more than half of the cost to keep up a home for qualifying individuals who live with the taxpayer for more than one-half of the year. (The taxpayer�s dependent parent does not have to live with the taxpayer but can still qualify provided you pay over half of the cost of keeping up the parent�s home.). This home needs to be the main home for the income tax filer and at least one qualifying relative. You can also choose this status if you are married, but didn't live with your spouse at anytime during the last six months of the year. You also need to provide more than half of the cost to keep up your home and have at least one dependent child living with you. |
| Married Filing Separately | If you are married, you have the choice to file separate returns. The filing status for this option is "Married Filing Separately". |
For 2015, the standard deductions are $12,600 for married couples filing jointly, $6,300 for married couples filing separately and singles, and $9,250 for heads of household.
- Dependents
- A dependent is someone you support and for whom you can claim a dependency exemption. In 2015, each dependent you claim entitles you to receive a $4,000 reduction in your taxable income (see exemptions below). You may also receive a tax credit of up to $1,000 for each dependent child under the age of 17. The credit is, however, phased out for at higher incomes.
- Exemptions claimed
- Each exemption you claim reduces your taxable income by $4,000 for 2015. You receive an exemption for yourself, your spouse and one for each of your dependents.
- Short-term capital gain or loss
- This is the total capital gain you realized from the sale of assets held less than one year. Any amount you enter as a short-term capital gain is taxed as normal income.
- Long-term capital gain or loss
- This is the total capital gain you realized from the sale of assets held one year or longer. Any amount you enter as a long-term gain is taxed using the following rules:
- 0% if your ordinary income marginal tax rate is 10% or 15%
- 15% if your ordinary income marginal tax rate is greater than 15% and less than 39.6%
- 20% if your ordinary income marginal tax rate is 39.6%
- This calculator assumes that none of your long-term capital gains come from collectibles, section 1202 gains or un-recaptured 1250 gains. These types of capital gains are taxed at 28%, 28% and 25% respectively (unless your ordinary income tax bracket is a lower rate).
- Business income or loss (Schedule C & E subject to self-employment taxes)
- Any income or loss as reported on Schedule C. If you have any income reported on Schedule E that is subject to self-employment taxes, that income should be entered here as well.
- Spouse business income or loss (Schedule C & E subject to self-employment taxes)
- Any income or loss as reported on a spouse's Schedule C. If your spouse has any income reported on Schedule E that is subject to self-employment taxes, that income should be entered here as well.
- Income from rentals, royalties, non-qualified annuities, S Corporations and Schedule E (not already included and subject to NIIT)
- This type of investment income is subject to the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT). Generally speaking this is income from any businesses that are passive activities to the taxpayer, and not reported elsewhere (for example, do not include income subject to self-employment taxes). This could include income from rental real estate, royalties, non-qualified annuities, partnerships, S corporations, trusts, etc. There are exceptions and additional rules that can impact whether a particular business or investment income is subject to the NIIT. Please contact your tax professional for additional information.
- Income from rentals, royalties, S Corporations and Schedule E (not already included and not subject to NIIT)
- This is all income from any businesses that are NOT passive activities to the taxpayer, where the taxpayer materially participates, and not reported else where (for example, do not include income subject to self-employment taxes). This amount is not subject to the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT). This could include income from rental real estate, partnerships or S corporations where as long as the income is considered non-passive. There are exceptions and additional rules that can impact whether a particular business or other investment income is subject to the NIIT. Please contact your tax professional for additional information.
- Total income
- Total income calculated by adding lines 7 through 21 on your form 1040. For most taxpayers this includes wages, salaries, tips, interest, dividends and gains and losses from a variety of activities.
- Adjusted gross income
- Adjusted gross income (AGI) is calculated by subtracting all deductions from lines 23 through 33 from your total income. AGI is used to calculate many of the qualifying amounts if you itemized your deductions.
- Taxable income
- Your total taxable income is your AGI minus your itemized or standard deduction, and your deduction for exemptions.
- Tax
- This is the total federal income tax you owe for 2015 before any tax credits.
- Total credits
- Your total tax credits. This amount is subtracted from the total tax amount.
- Total tax after credits
- This is the total federal income tax you will need to pay in 2015.
- Total other taxes
- Any other taxes that you owe for 2015. This includes self-employment tax, alternative minimum tax, and household employment taxes.
- Total tax
- Grand total of your 2015 federal tax bill.
- Total payments
- Total of all tax payments made in 2015. This includes tax withheld from Forms W-2 and 1099, and estimated taxes paid, earned income credit and excess Social Security tax withheld.
