The income tax rates are important information that every person should be aware of as it would help them in filing their taxes appropriately. For the year 2011, the income tax rates would remain largely similar to the rates that were prevalent in 2010. Going into 2011, the IRS announced that due to low inflation and slow economy the rates have not changed much. Keeping the consumer price index (CPI) in mind and the stagnated growth, the IRS decided to keep the personal exemption amount and the standard deduction bracket similar to the 2010 tax rates.
Understanding federal and state taxes isn't that difficult if you understand the rates. Once you know about the rates, then you can easily decide which bracket applies in your case and thereby you can estimate your taxes on your own. The state income taxes generally range between 1% and 10%, and for every state there is a different rate. In some states there are also city income taxes so you must be aware of that too. With the start of 2011, it may be predicted that President Obama might cut down the Bush rates and go back to the income tax rates prevalent in 2001 to 2003. The top income tax rate might go back to 39.6 percent while the low bracket of 10 percent might be eliminated in future.
For this year 2011, the tax we pay might see an increase in capital gains and dividend rates. The capital gains rate might go back to 20 percent from 15 percent that was prevalent in 2010, and your dividend income might be taxed as your ordinary income so you must keep all these points in mind to calculate your tax correctly in future.
The rates keep changing yearly and unless you are well aware of the rates then you might suffer tremendously if you calculate your taxes with the old tax rate. You should keep track of your previous year income and taxes to chalk out your future taxes correctly. You must also look into child tax credit and the estate tax rates to calculate your taxes correctly.
Lastly, income tax rates can be checked online from any government site or you can also download them for easy reference. You can check on the rates table from any place, as long as it is reliable and you must use the correct rates to calculate your income taxes.
