2024 Taxes: What was your Fed/State total tax divided by AGI?

[ChpBstrd]

1) Find AGI. On form 1040 it's line 11.
2) Find "Total tax". On form 1040 it's line 24.
3) Divide Total Tax by AGI, i.e.  (total tax)/(AGI)

Do the same for your state return.

My numbers:
     Fed:    3.91%
     State: 2.6%

I'm always amazed at how low our taxes are, and how big a deal everyone makes of them. This is with one dependent, standard deduction, and a very middle-class AGI, run through online tax software. Anyway, what do your numbers look like?

[Omy]

Fed 3.5%
State 5.6%

Retired, no dependents, standard deduction.
Fed would be negative if we count our ACA subsidy.
We live in an expensive blue state...but it's really not worth it to us to move to a less expensive red state.

[Tasse]

Fed: 7.11%
State: 2.21%, though this is split unevenly between two states

MFJ, no dependents, standard deduction.

We made low 6 figures last year. Pew research says that was middle-income for both areas we lived in: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/16/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/

[Sanitary Stache]

Fed: 0%
State: 0%

or -51% if we consider ACTC and EITC refunds.
I did look at other taxes I paid in 2024

FICA: 7.23%
State sales tax: 4.2%
Gas tax: 0.3%
Property tax: 11.7%

Our income was below the poverty "line"for a family of five in 2024.

[FIGardengrl]

OK I will wade right in for the face punch. My numbers are by far higher than the previous posts. Hoping others will chime in and make me feel better:

Fed = 18%
State = 4.25%

Not retired (but retiring this year!).  MFJ, standard deduction, both of us still working. Mid-six figures total income.  I will say, we put 17% (total divided by that AGI) into retirement savings and another 16.5% into mortgage principal...

[AccidentialMustache]

Why are high numbers a face punch? It means you make a lot of income, but that doesn't mean you have to spend it. It means no tax sheltering like the 1% but I'm pretty sure that's "working as intended."

We spent less last year than we paid in taxes. Actually that's true on average over the last 5 years. On average because RSUs + volatile stock + vesting cliffs. And we've done major work on the house, bought an EV with cash, etc.

I should be FIRE'd, but given it wasn't clear any of the FIRE math would survive the new administration (ACA? SS? Recession?) I chose not to turn off the firehose of cash. That my company has international offices doesn't hurt either.

[seattlecyclone]

3.5% federal income tax, no state income tax where I live. Married filing jointly, single earner software engineer, child tax credit x2, fairly sizable charitable donations.

[Bartlebooth]

2023 numbers since my 2024 ones aren't done yet:
Fed: 3.0%
State: 0.0%

2022 - abnormal year because of capital gains that were 2x of salary:
Fed: 9.7%
State: 1.1%

[GilesMM]

2023:

Fed 16%
State 1 (rental) 5% of rental income
State 2 (residence) -22% - this state rebated from 2022 tax.
Final total paid (fed plus both states) was -1% of AGI.

2024: in prep


Hope this helps.

[ATtiny85]

22% fed
5.3% state

We put about 38% of the AGI amount into our taxable VTSAX account.

We will see a significant decrease in income this year. I retired, and spouse’s bonus should be distinctly lower. Not low enough to drop our rate much, but lower. Roth conversions will still have to wait.

[bacchi]

Federal: 0%
State: tbd

Thank you EV tax credit!

[MrGreen]

2024 was our 6th year with no meaningful W-2 income after FIREing.

Federal: 11.7%
State 1 (rental, sold a house): 4.3%
State 2 (residence): 0.7%
Total: 16.7%

AGI in the low six figures due to capital gains and depreciation recapture from house sale. Currently I aim for 10-12% in total taxes. We don't need that much income to support our spending but choosing to keep our AGI lower is grossly tax inefficient over our lifetimes and will result in more lifetime tax being paid so we raise it.

[SEAK]

Fed- 14%
State of AK- 0%
Total- 14%

[HPstache]

Fed - 3.3%
State - 0%

3 Dependents are a big factor for me

[uniwelder]

Federal- 5.1%
State- 3.5%

This is the first year we're paid any income tax in the last 4 years due to reducing our retirement contributions.  Combined salaries have been about 70k and we own three rental properties.

[lhamo]

Fed:  0%
State:   0%

Filing Head of Household (1 child still in college).  66kish of total income, mostly LTCG (44k), a small Roth conversion (around 9.5k) and the rest dividends and interest.

In Washington so no state income tax.

DD had about 18k in taxable scholarship income but because my rate was 0% she got to claim a full standard deduction and only had to pay tax on $3800 of her scholarship money, so she owed $383.

[trc4897]

Fed - 15.4%
State - 3.07%

Fed number is actually lower if you add tax deductible 401k, HSA, and SEP IRA contributions to the denominator

[ak907]

Sad compared to those who have posted so far:

Fed: 21%
State: 7.3%
Total: 28.3%

[Sandi_k]

AGI excludes retirement contributions, so using AGI:

Federal effective tax rate: 15.59%
CA effective tax rate: 5.52%

So ~ 21% - not bad, considering we converted the rest of DH's SEP-IRA to Roth in 2024.

2025 is likely to be quite a bit higher, given our plans to do a 6-figure conversion of my traditional 457 to Roth.

[zygote]

Fed: 6.1%
FICA: 7.5%
State: 7.8%

Total: 21.4%

I do have a decent amount of pre-tax contributions, so the percentages would go down a little if I added those amounts to the AGI.

[Wintergreen78]

Fed: 17%
State: 6.7%

If you consider my income including 401k contributions it is:

Fed: 14.8%
State: 5.9%

[ATtiny85]

Sad compared to those who have posted so far:

Fed: 21%
State: 7.3%
Total: 28.3%

Thanks for joining me in the 20+ club

[Much Fishing to Do]

For Fed I've seen anywhere from 30% (blowout business year) to 2% (when my flat state and local income taxes, and payroll taxes are all a  bigger hit). 

This year looks like Fed 14% & State/Local 5.5%.

[Captain FIRE]

I believe I'm the "winner" (loser) to date:

2024:
Federal: 25.5%
State: 5%
Total: 30.5%

2023:
Federal: 24.7%
State: 5%
Total: 29.7%

This excludes 401k contributions. Adding those (and $3k capital loss carryover) back in, and including Social Security, Medicare, Medicare surtax, and an additional state tax:
Total 2024 tax: 33.2%

[salt cured]

Retired, filing single. My rate would be higher but for the game of balancing ACA tax credits with Roth conversions. 

Fed: 3.6% (-12.8% with the PTC)
State: No tax

[travel2020]

Fed: 16%
State: No tax

[J.P. MoreGains]

Fed: 7.04%
State: 2.77% (I think)


I thought I might be lower looking at all of the other low numbers. This year I maxed out 401k, 457b and HSA so I thought I would come in around some of the other really low numbers.

But I imagine this is overall pretty low anyway.

Also this whole exercise is to get to see what we actually pay in taxes right? Since this is the return this is the black and white reality?

I use this tax calculator to estimate: https://www.talent.com/tax-calculator

But the return and this exercise is what I actually end up paying?

[Wintergreen78]

Fed: 7.04%
State: 2.77% (I think)


I thought I might be lower looking at all of the other low numbers. This year I maxed out 401k, 457b and HSA so I thought I would come in around some of the other really low numbers.

But I imagine this is overall pretty low anyway.

Also this whole exercise is to get to see what we actually pay in taxes right? Since this is the return this is the black and white reality?

I use this tax calculator to estimate: https://www.talent.com/tax-calculator

But the return and this exercise is what I actually end up paying?

Your 401k (and, it think, your 457b and HSA) don’t show up as income on your tax return. So you would need to add your contributions to each of those accounts to the total on line 9 of your tax return, then use that new total as your denominator.

For me, that dropped my effective federal tax rate by a little over 2%.

[Wintergreen78]

Another way to look at it: my marginal tax rate in California, considering federal, state, and Medicare, is about 35%, so by maxing out my 401k I saved about $8,000 in taxes.

[J.P. MoreGains]

Another way to look at it: my marginal tax rate in California, considering federal, state, and Medicare, is about 35%, so by maxing out my 401k I saved about $8,000 in taxes.

This is like an $8,000 raise. That's how I look at my tax savings.

[J.P. MoreGains]

@Wintergreen78 Thank you!

Factoring my 401k, 457b and HSA contributions which are all pre tax:

Fed: 3.2%
State: 1.3%

When I saw low numbers I figured I'd be like that since I put so much away pre tax.

Have been thinking about doing a Roth option for the 457b... but I like the idea of maxing out now to get all the pre tax savings.

[Dicey]

Ooh, this is a great exercise. I'm too lazy to get out of bed to check. Posting so I can find this later.

[Catbert]

Federal:  18.4%
State:      7.6%

RMDs, Roth conversions and a good year on rentals on top of SS and pensions.

[Dicey]

Ooh, this is a great exercise. I'm too lazy to get out of bed to check. Posting so I can find this later.

Okay, I figured it out.

Fed: 2.8%
State: 0

Given that we don't employ any particular strategies specifically to reduce our taxes, I'm kinda pleased with those results.

[McStache]

Federal: 14.7%
State: 3.5%
Payroll: 5.6%

[superman9379]

Federal: 0%     (Technically negative as I paid nothing, yet was fortunate to get a $5k refund)
State: 0%       (I live in a state that does have income tax)

Married filing jointly. 1 child that qualifies my family for the child tax credit. Federal refund was about $5k thanks to the earned income tax credit and additional child tax credit.
I consider myself fortunate that I was able to max my 457B ($23k), 403b ($23k), and Roth/Traditional IRA for my wife and I ($14k). Our AGI in 2024 was under 135% federal poverty level.

It gives me comfort that others are also saving aggressively like me, as in real life, I do not know anyone that saves much.

[JLee]

Fed 18%
State #1 portion: 3%
State #2 portion: 5.4%

[mistymoney]

AGI excludes retirement contributions, so using AGI:

Federal effective tax rate: 15.59%
CA effective tax rate: 5.52%

So ~ 21% - not bad, considering we converted the rest of DH's SEP-IRA to Roth in 2024.

2025 is likely to be quite a bit higher, given our plans to do a 6-figure conversion of my traditional 457 to Roth.

that's a big conversion!

why so much in one year?

[mistymoney]

single filing

18% fed
4% state

Includes some roth conversion.

[Sandi_k]

AGI excludes retirement contributions, so using AGI:

Federal effective tax rate: 15.59%
CA effective tax rate: 5.52%

So ~ 21% - not bad, considering we converted the rest of DH's SEP-IRA to Roth in 2024.

2025 is likely to be quite a bit higher, given our plans to do a 6-figure conversion of my traditional 457 to Roth.

that's a big conversion!

why so much in one year?

1) Next year, DH will be 63, so the IRMAA snapshot is taken next year.
2) We currently have 23% in Roth, and I want more like 40% for future use.
3) This year is likely to be our lowest-income year ever, given pension, investments, SocSec and later inherited IRAs.
4) We want to get ahead of RMD mandates.
5) When we have a single survivor, the tax bracket will be even higher.
6) The TCJA is currently set to sunset on 12/31/25, reverting to higher tax brackets.

[Dicey]

AGI excludes retirement contributions, so using AGI:

Federal effective tax rate: 15.59%
CA effective tax rate: 5.52%

So ~ 21% - not bad, considering we converted the rest of DH's SEP-IRA to Roth in 2024.

2025 is likely to be quite a bit higher, given our plans to do a 6-figure conversion of my traditional 457 to Roth.

that's a big conversion!

why so much in one year?

1) Next year, DH will be 63, so the IRMAA snapshot is taken next year.
2) We currently have 23% in Roth, and I want more like 40% for future use.
3) This year is likely to be our lowest-income year ever, given pension, investments, SocSec and later inherited IRAs.
4) We want to get ahead of RMD mandates.
5) When we have a single survivor, the tax bracket will be even higher.
6) The TCJA is currently set to sunset on 12/31/25, reverting to higher tax brackets.

So smart!

[Geppetto]

Fed: 18.41%
State: 5.94%

On a very middle class income with lots of dependents.

I'm self-employed, in a high tax state.

Add property taxes and sales tax on purchases, and the total tax burden on my existence is about 35% of AGI. It's an eye-watering amount of money for someone with my attributes to be paying into the system.

I'm happy to pay about half of it. I try not to think about the other half.

[mistymoney]

AGI excludes retirement contributions, so using AGI:

Federal effective tax rate: 15.59%
CA effective tax rate: 5.52%

So ~ 21% - not bad, considering we converted the rest of DH's SEP-IRA to Roth in 2024.

2025 is likely to be quite a bit higher, given our plans to do a 6-figure conversion of my traditional 457 to Roth.

that's a big conversion!

why so much in one year?

1) Next year, DH will be 63, so the IRMAA snapshot is taken next year.
2) We currently have 23% in Roth, and I want more like 40% for future use.
3) This year is likely to be our lowest-income year ever, given pension, investments, SocSec and later inherited IRAs.
4) We want to get ahead of RMD mandates.
5) When we have a single survivor, the tax bracket will be even higher.
6) The TCJA is currently set to sunset on 12/31/25, reverting to higher tax brackets.

very well calculated!
I keep forgetting about that irmaa creeping in to throw a spanner into the works.

thanks for reminder!

[mistymoney]

do we know if the tax cuts are going to be extended?

or will they jup up in 2026?

[SpareChange]

Fed: 7.04%
State: N/A

Single. No dependents. Standard deduction. W2 employee. I contribute to pretax accounts just enough to keep qualified dividends taxed at 0.

[GilesMM]

do we know if the tax cuts are going to be extended?

or will they jup up in 2026?

They will expire unless things change.