- Federal Income Tax Rates:
- **TAXTABLE_TAXYEAR_DEFINITION**
- Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)
- This is your total income for the year. To keep things simple this calculator assumes this is your net income, after deductions for retirement contributions such as 401(k)s, IRAs, etc.
- 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. 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". |
- Are you someone's dependent?
- Choose 'no' if no one can claim you or your spouse as a dependent. Choose 'yes' if someone can claim you as a dependent. Choose "Both you and your spouse" if you both are dependents. (You are a dependent if someone supports you and can claim a dependency exemption for you.)
- Standard deduction
- Your standard deduction is used to reduce your taxable income if you do not use Schedule A to itemize your deductions, or if your Schedule A itemized deduction is less than your standard deduction. Your standard deduction is based on your filing status. The standard deductions are: **STANDARDDEDUCTION_TAXYEAR_DEFINITION**
- Medical and dental expenses
- Enter your qualified medical and dental expenses for the year. This can include your health insurance premiums if you paid for them yourself (not through an employer sponsored plan) and you have not deducted them elsewhere. Your actual deduction is only for the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Enter your total expenses and the tool will calculate the actual deduction based on your AGI.
- Taxes paid (generally state and local)
- Enter the total of your 1) state and local property taxes and 2) state and local income taxes. If your state does not have an income tax (or you have paid more sales tax than income tax during the year) you can choose to include state local sales taxes instead of state and local income taxes.
- Interest paid
- Taxpayers can deduct the interest paid on qualified residences for up to $750,000 in mortgage debt (the limit is $375,000 if married and filing separately). For mortgages that were originated before December 15, 2017, the limit is $1 million in total mortgage debt. This includes refinancing these mortgages as long as the amount owed is not increased as part of the refinancing.
Any interest paid on first, second or home equity mortgages over the limit is not tax-deductible. Only home equity loans that are used to buy, build or substantially improve the home that secures the loan are included. All other home equity loans do not have an interest deduction. Mortgage interest is reported on form 1098.
You can also include the amount you paid for "points" (which reduces your mortgage interest rate). Mortgage insurance premiums paid are no longer deductible.
- Gifts to charity (cash)
- Enter your total gifts of cash to qualified charitable organizations (check, credit card, actual cash). If you use the standard deduction the calculator will include a charitable contribution deduction (of up to $300, $600 for Married Filing Jointly). This deduction, available when you don't itemize, first appeared in 2020 as part of the CARES act. It was increased in 2021 to $600 for married couples filing jointly.
- Gifts to charity (non-cash)
- Enter your total gifts of non-cash to qualified charitable organizations. Note that non-cash donations do not qualify for a tax deduction unless you itemize your deductions on Schedule A and your total Schedule A deductions are greater than your standard deduction. In addition, most non-cash gifts are limited to 50% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). This calculator will limit your gifts to 50% of your AGI when calculating your taxes. It is beyond the scope of this calculator to calculate the special situations that may have different deductible limitations. You may include amounts in this line that were not allowed on previous year's Schedule A due to the AGI limitation but the total will remain limited to 50% of your AGI.
- Itemized deduction
- Your total itemized deductions from Schedule A.
- Standard or itemized deduction
- This is the higher of your Standard Deduction or your Itemized Deduction.
- Additional charitable donation
- This is your additional proposed donation to charity. This is in addition to the total itemized deductions you have entered. The tool will compare the tax results with and without this charitable donation included to determine the potential tax savings of such a gift. The tool assumes that the entire amount you enter will be made to qualified organizations and the full amount is tax-deductible on Schedule A.
There are limitations on charitable contributions based on the type of organization receiving the contribution and whether the property is cash, capital gain property (such as stock), or other property. If you anticipate contributions will exceed 20% of your Adjusted Gross Income, you should be especially aware of these limitations. In addition, if you are contributing property other than cash or stock, there may be an appraisal of the property required.
Please consult your tax advisor related to the specifics of your charitable giving
