Income Tax Calculator

Max your pre-tax accounts first

You have $39,050 of 2025 headroom across 401(k), IRA, and HSA — filling it would cut roughly $3,905 of tax at your combined 10% marginal rate, while building your FI portfolio.

Use the HSA triple advantage

Pre-tax going in, tax-free growth, tax-free out for medical costs — and payroll HSA contributions skip FICA too. Invest it and pay current medical bills out of pocket if you can.

Capture every dollar of employer match

A 50–100% instant return that also grows tax-deferred. This beats any other use of the money, including paying down most debt.

Hold investments over a year

Long-term capital gains rates (0/15/20%) beat ordinary income rates. In a low-income year you can even realize gains in the 0% bracket.

Harvest losses in taxable accounts

Selling losers offsets gains plus up to $3,000 of income per year (watch the 30-day wash-sale rule).

Bunch deductions when itemizing

Stack multiple years of charitable gifts into one year (a donor-advised fund makes this easy) to clear the standard deduction; check your state's 529 deduction as well.