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On Nov. 5, 2026, the IRS issued news release IR-2026-133. It says: “The Internal Revenue Service today announced the tax year 2027 annual inflation adjustments for almost 70 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules, standard deduction amounts and other tax changes.” The release points to Revenue Procedure 2026-35 for the details. The release adds: “The tax year 2027 adjustments described below generally apply to tax returns filed in 2028.” The Rev. Proc. carries its own caveat. Its PURPOSE section says the adjustments are “for various Code provisions as in effect on” a release date, and that if amendments to the Code are enacted for 2027 after that date, “taxpayers should consult additional guidance to determine whether these adjustments remain applicable for 2027.” In the PDF opened on Nov. 9, that release date still appears as a bracketed placeholder rather than an actual date. Our October 29 Academy post, “The 2027 tax numbers you're seeing online aren't official yet,” was right on the day it ran. Its main point is now out of date: these two IRS documents are the official 2027 figures.
Rev. Proc. 2026-35, section 3.01, Tables 1 to 5, sets the 2027 tax brackets on taxable income. Married filing jointly and surviving spouses (Table 1): 10% not over $25,600; 12% over $25,600 not over $104,050; 22% over $104,050 not over $218,250; 24% over $218,250 not over $416,650; 32% over $416,650 not over $529,100; 35% over $529,100 not over $793,650; 37% over $793,650. Heads of household (Table 2): 10% not over $18,250; 12% over $18,250 not over $69,650; 22% over $69,650 not over $109,100; 24% over $109,100 not over $208,300; 32% over $208,300 not over $264,550; 35% over $264,550 not over $661,350; 37% over $661,350. Unmarried individuals (Table 3): 10% not over $12,800; 12% over $12,800 not over $52,025; 22% over $52,025 not over $109,125; 24% over $109,125 not over $208,325; 32% over $208,325 not over $264,550; 35% over $264,550 not over $661,375; 37% over $661,375. Married filing separately (Table 4): the same as unmarried individuals up to $264,550. From there, 35% applies over $264,550 but not over $396,825, and 37% applies over $396,825. Estates and trusts (Table 5): 10% not over $3,400; 24% over $3,400 not over $12,100; 35% over $12,100 not over $16,500; 37% over $16,500. The news release sums up the top rate this way: “the top tax rate remains 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $661,375 ($793,650 for married couples filing jointly).”
Rev. Proc. 2026-35, section 3.15, sets the 2027 standard deduction: $33,200 for married filing jointly and surviving spouses, $24,925 for heads of household, $16,600 for unmarried individuals other than surviving spouses and heads of household, and $16,600 for married filing separately. For someone who can be claimed as a dependent, the standard deduction cannot exceed the greater of $1,400, or $500 plus the individual's earned income. The additional standard deduction for being aged or blind is $1,700, or $2,100 if the individual is also unmarried and not a surviving spouse. The news release puts it this way: “For tax year 2027, the standard deduction increases to $33,200 for married couples filing jointly, up $1,000 from 2026.” It lists $16,600 for single filers and $24,925 for heads of household.
A rate in these tables applies only to the taxable income inside its band, not to every dollar. Each row starts “Over” the amount where the row above it ends. Table 3 shows how to read this. For an unmarried filer, the 12% row ends at “not over $52,025,” and the 22% row starts at “Over $52,025.” So taxable income of exactly $52,025 is still in the 12% band, and only the income above $52,025 reaches 22%. The Rev. Proc. also sets the 2027 capital gains breakpoints in section 3.03: the maximum zero rate amount and the maximum 15 percent rate amount for each filing status. Married filing jointly: $102,100 and $633,600. Unmarried individuals: $51,050 and $563,200. Heads of household: $68,350 and $598,400. Married filing separately: $51,050 and $316,800. Estates and trusts: $3,400 and $16,750.
The AMT exemption (Rev. Proc. section 3.11) is $144,700 for married filing jointly and surviving spouses, $93,000 for unmarried individuals, $72,350 for married filing separately, and $32,500 for estates and trusts. The exemption begins to phase out at $1,031,900 for married filing jointly, and at $515,950 for unmarried individuals and married filing separately. The 28% AMT rate applies to excess taxable income above $252,500, or $126,250 for married filing separately. The estate basic exclusion amount for calendar year 2027 is $15,480,000 (section 3.44). The annual exclusion for gifts is $20,000, and $201,000 for gifts to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen (section 3.46). The news release states the same headline estate and gift figures. It gives the $20,000 gift figure twice: once under the estate heading and again under “Annual Exclusion for Gifts.”
The child tax credit (section 3.05 and the news release) has a maximum of $2,300, with a refundable portion of $1,800. The earned income tax credit (section 3.06) has a maximum credit of $8,496 with three or more qualifying children, $7,552 with two, $4,573 with one, and $685 with none. The investment income limit is $12,600. The full table of earned income amounts and phaseouts is in the Rev. Proc. The adoption credit (section 3.04) is up to $18,250, with a refundable portion of $5,280. It phases out for modified adjusted gross income above $273,680 and is fully phased out at $313,680. For health flexible spending arrangements (section 3.16), the salary reduction limit is $3,500, and the maximum carryover is $700. The monthly limit for qualified transportation fringe benefits and for qualified parking (section 3.18) is $350 each. Under §179 (section 3.26), the expense limit is $2,640,000. That limit is reduced by the amount by which §179 property placed in service exceeds $4,230,000. The limit for sport utility vehicles is $33,100. The foreign earned income exclusion (section 3.41) is $137,300. For medical savings accounts (section 3.30), a high deductible health plan for self-only coverage has a deductible of $3,000 to $4,550 and an out-of-pocket maximum of $6,050. For family coverage, the deductible is $6,050 to $9,050 and the out-of-pocket maximum is $11,050.
Section 2 of the Rev. Proc., titled CHANGES, says: “Section 70431 of Public Law 119-21, 139 Stat. 72 (July 4, 2025), commonly known as the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act amends § 1202(b). Certain amounts referred to in § 1202(b) are adjusted for inflation for years beginning after 2026.” Section 3.42 applies that change. For taxable years beginning in 2027, the $15,000,000 amount in §1202(b)(4)(B) is adjusted to $15,480,000, and the $75,000,000 amount in the introductory clause of §1202(b)(4) is adjusted to $77,390,000. The news release discusses the “Working Families Tax Cuts” more broadly. For example, it says personal exemptions “remain at 0” and that this “was made permanent by the WFTC,” and it covers changes to the limit on itemized deductions, the child tax credit and the employer-provided childcare credit. Those are statements in the news release. They are not listed in the Rev. Proc.'s Section 2. The employer-provided childcare credit (section 3.09 and the news release) has a maximum of $515,943.67, or $619,132.40 for an eligible small business.
The news release says the tax year 2027 figures generally apply to returns filed in 2028. Some items are not indexed. The news release lists personal exemptions as remaining 0 for tax year 2027, under items unaffected by indexing. It also says the modified adjusted gross income phaseout ranges for the Lifetime Learning Credit are not adjusted for inflation: $80,000 to $90,000, or $160,000 to $180,000 for joint returns. The Rev. Proc. carries its own caveat: later legislation can change whether these adjustments still apply. A simple habit: use the Rev. Proc. PDF for exact tables, and use the news release for its short list of the items of greatest interest and the year-over-year changes it states, such as “up $1,000 from 2026.” For a related tax study, see No Tax on Overtime: What W-2 Code TT Means in 2026.
The IRS released the official tax year 2027 inflation adjustments on Nov. 5, 2026: Rev. Proc. 2026-35 and news release IR-2026-133. The figures behind most client conversations are the rate tables, the standard deduction, the AMT, the estate and gift exclusions, the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, the health FSA limit and §179. Returns that use these amounts are generally filed in 2028, and later legislation can still change 2027 law.
In your own words: (1) A client asks about the 2027 standard deduction. Which document do you open first, the news release or the Rev. Proc., and why? (2) Using Table 3, where does the 22% band start for an unmarried filer, and what happens to the income below that point? (3) Why did our October 29 Academy post say the 2027 numbers weren't official yet, and what changed on Nov. 5? Answer key. (1) The news release is the short list, with the year-over-year changes it states. The Rev. Proc. has the full tables and every adjusted item. (2) The 22% band starts at taxable income over $52,025 (Rev. Proc. section 3.01). Income up to $52,025 stays in the lower bands. (3) On Oct. 29, the IRS had not yet issued the 2027 inflation Rev. Proc. It issued IR-2026-133 and Rev. Proc. 2026-35 on Nov. 5, 2026.
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