Trust Income Tax Brackets
What does a trust pay on the income it keeps, and what would a beneficiary pay on the same dollars? Every piece below can be linked to, so it opens in a window on your reader's screen, current as of the record. No form, no link back asked.
2026 law · Reviewed September 4, 2026 · The full page, with methodology and sources · All tools
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Taxable income in; the trust's federal tax out, beside what a single beneficiary or a married couple would pay on the same dollars. With the surtax toggle. In a frame it carries no cookies, no tracking, and a visible link back to the methodology. Your site has to allow frames; most do. The link that opens it in a small window is on the professionals page.
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The facts
Six quotable sentences from the 2026 rate tables. Quote them with the year attached.
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- A trust or estate reaches the top 37% federal rate at $16,000 of taxable income in 2026. A single filer reaches it at $640,600; a married couple filing jointly at $768,700.
- The estates-and-trusts table has four brackets: 10% to $3,300, 24% to $11,700, 35% to $16,000, and 37% above that. There is no 12%, 22%, or 32% bracket for a trust.
- On $50,000 of taxable income kept in a trust, the federal income tax is $16,431, 32.9% of the income. The same $50,000 in the hands of a single beneficiary with no other income draws $5,752; a married couple, $5,504.
- The 3.8% net investment income surtax starts at $16,000 for a trust, where its top bracket begins. For individuals the threshold is $200,000 single and $250,000 joint, and it has not been indexed since 2013.
- Long-term capital gains inside a trust are taxed at 0% up to $3,300, 15% up to $16,250, and 20% above that in 2026. A single filer's 15% band runs to $545,500.
- Income a trust distributes to beneficiaries within its distributable net income is deducted by the trust and taxed to them instead. A trustee has until the 65th day of the following year to make a distribution count for the prior year.
The compression chart
Three lines, $0 to $100,000: the trust, a single beneficiary, a married couple. The year and attribution are drawn in.
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The trust brackets
The four-bracket schedule, exactly as the revenue procedure states it.
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| Taxable income | Rate | The tax is |
|---|---|---|
| $0 to $3,300 | 10% | 10% of taxable income |
| $3,300 to $11,700 | 24% | $330 plus 24% of the excess over $3,300 |
| $11,700 to $16,000 | 35% | $2,346 plus 35% of the excess over $11,700 |
| Over $16,000 | 37% | $3,851 plus 37% of the excess over $16,000 |
Trust vs. individual, by income
The compression in one table: the same dollars, three owners. Ordinary tax only; no deductions, no surtax, no state tax.
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| Taxable income | Kept in a trust | Trust effective rate | Single beneficiary | Married couple, joint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $1,938 | 19.4% | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| $16,000 | $3,851 | 24.1% | $1,672 | $1,600 |
| $25,000 | $7,181 | 28.7% | $2,752 | $2,504 |
| $50,000 | $16,431 | 32.9% | $5,752 | $5,504 |
| $100,000 | $34,931 | 34.9% | $16,712 | $11,504 |
| $250,000 | $90,431 | 36.2% | $56,456 | $45,196 |
Cite and link.
The clean address, a citation generated from the record so it can never carry a stale review date, and an address for every section so you can point a reader at the exact table or method.
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- Link
- https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets
- Citation
- Considerate Capital, "Trust Income Tax Brackets," reviewed September 4, 2026, https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets.
Link to a section
- The calculator https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#calculator
- The facts https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#facts
- Key numbers https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#key-numbers
- How trusts are taxed https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#how-it-works
- Worked examples https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#examples
- The compression chart and the comparison table https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#chart
- Methodology https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#methodology
- Sources https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#sources
- Revision history https://consideratecapital.com/tools/trust-income-tax-brackets#revision-history
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