Eleven tools built on 2026 IRS brackets and current state rates.
Tax calculations depend heavily on how you're paid. W-2 employees have withholding handled for them and mainly want to know their take-home figure. Self-employed and 1099 workers owe both halves of FICA, have to make quarterly payments, and face a genuine choice about business structure that can change their bill substantially.
All figures use 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction amounts, with state rates applied separately. These are estimates for planning — they don't account for every credit, deduction, or local tax that might apply to your return.
Federal, state, and FICA withholding applied to salaried or hourly income. State makes a large difference — the same salary nets thousands more in a no-income-tax state.
Your marginal rate applies only to the last dollar earned, not your whole income. The effective rate — total tax divided by total income — is almost always considerably lower and is the more useful planning number.
Self-employment tax is 15.3% covering both employer and employee FICA, on top of income tax. Quarterly estimated payments avoid an underpayment penalty; the safe harbour rules let you base them on last year's liability.
Electing S-Corp status splits income into salary (subject to FICA) and distribution (not), but requires a defensible salary and adds payroll and filing costs. There's a profit threshold below which it costs more than it saves.
Compare SE tax vs S-Corp salary + distribution split — see your annual FICA savings.
Crossover chart — the exact profit threshold where S-Corp saves more than it costs.
IRS-defensible W-2 salary estimate using market rate, revenue, and profit-split methods.
Final price including state and local sales tax, or backing tax out of a total.
Additional tools covering the same ground.
New salary, extra take-home pay, and the real value of a raise after inflation.
Estimate a severance package and its after-tax value.
Estimate your 2026 Child Tax Credit, including phase-out and refundable ACTC.
Compare your federal tax filing jointly vs. as two single filers.
Annual exclusion, Form 709 reporting, and a lifetime exemption tracker.
Federal estate tax on the taxable estate above the 2026 exemption, with portability and prior-gift tracking.
Net shares value after federal, FICA, and state withholding at vest — plus a capital gain preview if you hold.
Shares purchased at your plan discount, split into ordinary income and capital gain by qualifying vs. disqualifying disposition.
Exercise spread as ordinary income, full withholding breakdown, and net cash from a cashless exercise-and-sell.
Alternative Minimum Tax exposure from exercising and holding incentive stock options past year-end.
What's actually withheld on a bonus vs. what it really costs at your marginal tax rate.
See where your pay ranks against real BLS wage data for your profession.
Short answers to what people ask most before picking a tool.
