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Tax Refund Calculator

Estimate your federal tax refund or amount owed for 2025 or 2026 from your W-2: IRS Tax Table, child tax credit, EITC, education credits and Schedule 1-A.

Reviewed by CentExactRates effective 4 sourcesCalculated in your browser. Shared links include inputs.

Estimated federal refund

$977.00

$6,000.00 paid and credited against $5,023.00 of tax · tax year 2026

Effective rate 8.4%Tax Table
Your return
Income and tax paid
$

Form W-2 box 1, every job added together.

$

Form W-2 box 2, every job added together.

$
$

IRA and HSA contributions you made yourself, student loan interest.

$
Deductions
Deduction
$

Schedule 1-A: tips in an occupation that customarily receives them.

$

Only the half in time and a half: $15,000 of overtime pay at 1.5x is $5,000.

$

A new car for personal use, bought with a loan taken out after 2024.

$

From 2026, deductible beside the standard deduction.

Children and credits

With a Social Security number, for the child tax credit.

Children under 19, or under 24 in school, who lived with you more than half the year.

Needed for the earned income credit without a qualifying child.
$

Tuition and required fees for the American opportunity credit.

$

Courses that do not qualify for the American opportunity credit.

To see the withholding change that would bring the refund to zero.

  • Taxable income

    $43,900.00

  • Tax after credits

    $5,023.00

  • Refundable credits

    $0.00

    paid even with no tax due

Federal return, tax year 2026. An estimate from published rates, confirm current figures with the official source.

Your return, line by line

  • Income
    Adjusted gross income$60,000.00
    Standard deduction$16,100.00
    Taxable income$43,900.00
  • Tax and credits
    Income tax$5,023.00
    Tax after credits$5,023.00
  • Payments
    Federal income tax withheld$6,000.00
  • Refund$977.00
How the tax was found

Taxable income of $43,900.00 falls in the Tax Table row $43,900.00 to $43,950.00. The table prints the tax on the row's midpoint, $43,925.00, at the 2026 rates, rounded to the dollar: $5,023.00.

The deduction is the standard deduction of $16,100.00 for single.

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How this is calculated

A federal refund is the difference between what you paid during the year, your withholding and estimated payments plus any refundable credits, and the tax your return finally shows. The calculator follows Form 1040: adjusted gross income less the larger of the standard and itemised deductions and the new Schedule 1-A deductions gives taxable income, the tax is read from the IRS Tax Table below $100,000, and the child tax credit, the earned income credit and the education credits are applied in the order the form applies them.

refundpayments − (tax − credits)

negative refundamount owed

tax
the Tax Table or rate schedule on taxable income
credits
education credits, then the child tax credit and the credit for other dependents
payments
withholding, estimated payments and the refundable credits
Every figure comes from the IRS dataset for the year you pick, listed under Data sources. The guide works a $60,000 single filer and a head of household with two children.

What this does not include

  • State income tax returns, which are filed and refunded separately.
  • Self-employment tax, capital gains rates and the net investment income tax.
  • The alternative minimum tax and the premium tax credit.
  • Credits beyond children, the earned income credit and education, such as child care or energy.
  • Penalties for underpaying during the year, and interest on a late refund or payment.

How a federal tax refund is worked out, line by line. Form 1040 in plain steps: AGI, deductions, the Tax Table, nonrefundable and refundable credits, and why a refund is only withholding coming back.

Data sources

US federal return: Tax Table, credits and Schedule 1-A deductions, tax year 2026IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32Within its effective period
US federal return: Tax Table, credits and Schedule 1-A deductions, tax year 2025IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40Past its effective period
US federal income tax and FICA, tax year 2026IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)Within its effective period
US federal income tax and FICA, tax year 2025IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 (2025 inflation adjustments)Past its effective period

Every document each dataset was read from, its notes and how the figures were checked are listed in the guide's data sources.

CentExactCalculator publisher

CentExact publishes the calculation method, worked examples and available data sources. Automated checks cover reference calculations; they do not certify a result for your circumstances or imply approval by a lender or tax authority.

How we build and test our calculators

Figures are estimates derived from published rates and rules, current at the review date shown at the top of this page and taken from the sources listed under Data sources on this page. Rates, fees and thresholds change; always confirm current values with the official source before relying on a result.