IRS raises standard deduction, adjusts tax brackets for 2025
IRS raises standard deduction, adjusts tax brackets for 2025
    Posted on 10/22/2024
The IRS on Tuesday announced new inflation-adjusted tax brackets for the coming year, setting the standard deduction for a single filer at $15,000 and for a married couple at $30,000 for the first time.

The new tax brackets, standard deduction and other policies will apply to income earned in the year 2025, which Americans will report on their tax returns in 2026.

The change does not affect the marginal rates of the tax brackets, but it does change the dollar value at which those rates kick in. The top marginal rate of 37 percent next year will apply to income above $626,350 for an individual or $751,600 for a couple, an increase of about 2.8 percent from 2024.

That is significantly smaller than the 5.4 percent adjustment for the 2024 rates and the 7 percent adjustment for 2023. High inflation in recent years resulted in a sharp increase in how much income Americans could shield from taxes; cooling inflation this year means a smaller adjustment.

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The IRS on Tuesday also announced increases in the earned-income tax credit, adoption credit and health savings account limits for 2025. Taxpayers will be allowed to make nontaxable gifts of $19,000 in 2025, an increase of $1,000 from this year.

Tuesday’s announcement covers the last year of the tax brackets set by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If Congress does not act, the 2026 marginal tax rates will revert to the earlier rates, including a top marginal tax rate of 39.6 percent.

Former president Donald Trump has vowed to extend the costly tax cuts — which were a signature achievement of his first presidential term — if he returns to the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris has said she would let some of the tax cuts expire, while vowing not to raise taxes on households with annual income below $400,000.
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