Wisconsin Income Tax Calculator 2026

Wisconsin’s brackets and sliding standard deduction

Wisconsin taxes income at 3.5%, 4.4%, 5.3% and 7.65%. For a single filer, 3.5% applies to the first $14,680 of taxable income, 4.4% up to $50,480, 5.3% up to $323,290 and 7.65% above that (2025 amounts; Wisconsin publishes indexed figures late in the year).

The standard deduction is unusual: it is largest at low incomes and phases down to zero as income rises. For 2025 it starts at $13,560 single, $25,110 joint and $17,520 head of household. Middle- and higher-income filers get much less, which is why our calculator, using the maximum, understates their tax.

Exemptions and Wisconsin-only credits

Each personal and dependent exemption is $700, plus $250 for each filer aged 65 or older. Several credits then reduce the tax:

• Renter’s and homeowner’s school property tax credit: up to $300 combined ($150 if married filing separately or married filing as head of household), based on rent or property tax paid on your home.
• Itemized deduction credit: if certain federal itemized deductions (figured on Schedule 1, even if you did not itemize federally) exceed your Wisconsin standard deduction, part of the excess becomes a credit.
• Married couple credit: for joint filers when both spouses have earned income.
• Wisconsin earned income credit, which is tied to the federal credit and the number of qualifying children, and the homestead credit for lower-income homeowners and renters.

Retirement income and Social Security

Wisconsin does not tax Social Security benefits. Starting with tax year 2025, people who are at least 67 at the end of the year can subtract up to $24,000 of retirement income on Schedule SB. An older $5,000 retirement income subtraction with income limits also remains available.

Worked example

Single, $60,000 of wages, using our calculator’s maximum standard deduction: taxable income is $45,740 and Wisconsin tax about $1,880 (3.13% of gross). The real standard deduction at that income is much smaller. In the 2025 Form 1 table, a single filer with Wisconsin income of $60,000 gets $8,676, not $13,560. With that deduction and one $700 exemption, taxable income is $50,624 and tax before credits is about $2,097. That is the more realistic figure, and it shows how much the sliding deduction matters.

A married couple on $110,000 owes about $3,643 in the same estimate. Joint filers get wider brackets (the 4.4% bracket starts at $19,580), and if both work they may also qualify for the married couple credit.

Wisconsin brackets for married couples

Joint filers get wider brackets than single filers in Wisconsin. Tax on Wisconsin taxable income for a married couple filing jointly (2025 brackets):

Forms, deadlines and residency

Full-year residents file Form 1. Nonresidents and part-year residents file Form 1NPR, which is required if gross income was $2,000 or more (combined for married couples). The 2026 return is due April 15, 2027; interest runs on unpaid tax from that date even if you have an extension.

Wisconsin has income tax reciprocity with Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan, so residents of those states who work in Wisconsin generally pay only their home state on wages. Wisconsin residents working in those states file only a Wisconsin return on that pay.