The IRS announced its annual inflation adjustments and highlighted other changes for the 2026 tax year in an Oct. 9 news release, including updates to tax bracket ranges, estate tax exclusions, and dozens of other provisions.

While the average adjustment sat around 2.7%, not all brackets or credits rose at the same rate. Full details are available in the IRS release and the accompanying Revenue Procedure document (PDF). Some inflation-related numbers to know:

• Brackets: The seven income tax bracket rates will remain the same as the 2025 tax year – 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37% – but the income range will increase. Single filers making more than $640,000 will enter the highest bracket, for example, up from $626,350. (Reminder: Tax brackets are tied to “marginal” tax rates, meaning they only apply to the amount that falls within that particular tax bracket, not to all of a taxpayer’s income.)

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• Standard Deductions: The 2026 amounts – $16,100 for individual filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly or surviving spouses, and $24,150 for heads of households – represent inflation adjustments from the 2025 deduction increases included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Taxpayers 65 and over can continue to claim an additional $6,000 deduction in 2026 under a section of the bill that expires with the 2028 tax year.
  
  
• Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Exemption: This exemption, designed to ensure low- and middle-income earners avoid paying AMT, sits at $90,100 for individual filers ($140,200 for those married filing jointly), up from $88,100 and $137,000, respectively.
  
  
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): The maximum EITC for 2026 is $8,231 for taxpayers with three or more qualifying children, up from $8,046.
  
  
• Estate Tax Credits: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act sets the 2026 estate tax exclusion at $15 million, up from $13.9 million for estates of those who died in 2025. That credit will be indexed to inflation moving forward.

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Personal exemptions remain at zero for the 2026 tax year, and itemized deductions remain unlimited, although there is a limitation on the tax benefit from deductions for those in the highest tax bracket (37%).

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