Seven brackets, one ladder — D.C. taxes a married couple exactly like a single filer
Almost every U.S. jurisdiction widens its brackets when you marry. The District does not. The same seven rates, from 4% to 10.75%, apply at the same income thresholds whether you file single, jointly, separately or as head of household. Marriage changes your standard deduction here; it does not change your ladder.
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 to $10,000 | 4% |
| $10,000 to $40,000 | 6% |
| $40,000 to $60,000 | 6.5% |
| $60,000 to $250,000 | 8.5% |
| $250,000 to $500,000 | 9.25% |
| $500,000 to $1,000,000 | 9.75% |
| Over $1,000,000 | 10.75% |
Two things about this table are worth stating plainly, because published versions of it disagree with each other. First, there are seven brackets, not six — several widely-copied summaries merge two of them. Second, the top rate of 10.75% starts above $1,000,000, not above $500,000: the band from $500,000 to $1,000,000 is taxed at 9.75%. We list the source we read for this on the page below, so you can check it rather than trust us.
The quiet tax rise nobody votes for
D.C.'s brackets are not indexed to inflation. The standard deduction is — it follows the federal figure, which is why it moves every year. The consequence is structural: as wages rise with prices, more of your income crosses fixed thresholds and is taxed at higher rates, even though no rate changed and no law passed. The ladder above has been unchanged since tax year 2022; the money it applies to has not.
The deduction, and the two supplements most calculators skip
The 2026 standard deduction conforms to the federal amount: $16,100 filing single or married separately, $24,150 as head of household, and $32,200 filing jointly or as a registered domestic partner. On top of that, filers who are 65 or older, or blind, add a further supplement — larger for unmarried filers than married ones. This calculator applies the base deduction for your filing status; if a supplement applies to you, your real withholding is a little lower than what you see here.
Where your D.C. withholding is actually set
Not on the federal W-4. The District has its own certificate, Form D-4, filed with your employer when you start a job or when your situation changes. If you have never filed one, your employer is withholding on defaults that may have nothing to do with your situation — which is the single most common reason a D.C. paycheck and a D.C. return disagree.
Working in the District but living in Maryland or Virginia? You are taxed where you live, not where you work: see the Maryland and Virginia pages instead.