Wisconsin income tax brackets and rates for 2025 and 2026

Each rate applies only to the taxable income inside its bracket. 2025 Wisconsin Act 15, the 2025-27 budget, kept the four rates but moved the top of the 4.4% bracket from $28,640 to $50,480 for single filers, and from $38,190 to $67,300 for married couples filing jointly, starting with tax year 2025. From 2026 the bracket amounts are indexed to inflation.

The 2026 brackets are from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s 2026 estimated tax instructions; the 2026 Form 1 instructions come out in the winter. Heads of household use the single brackets, and married filing separately uses half the joint amounts.

A Wisconsin return starts from federal adjusted gross income, adds and subtracts Wisconsin items on Schedule SB, then takes off a standard deduction and exemptions. The standard deduction slides: it is largest at low incomes and shrinks as income rises, to nothing at middle-to-high incomes. Exemptions are $700 for you, your spouse and each dependent, plus $250 each for you and your spouse at 65 or older.

Wisconsin has no itemized deduction. Instead, if certain federal itemized deductions are more than your Wisconsin standard deduction, you get an itemized deduction credit of 5% of the difference.

For example, a single filer with $60,000 of income for 2026 gets a standard deduction of about $9,170 ($13,960 less 12% of income over $20,120) and a $700 exemption, leaving about $50,130 of taxable income. The 2026 brackets give about $2,070 of tax, roughly 3.5% of income.

Wisconsin follows federal tax law as amended to December 31, 2022, for both 2025 and 2026, and laws passed after that date apply in Wisconsin only if the Legislature adopts them. It has not adopted the July 2025 federal tax law (Public Law 119-21). That law’s deductions for qualified tips (up to $25,000), overtime pay (up to $12,500, or $25,000 joint), car loan interest (up to $10,000) and the extra $6,000 for people 65 or older are all taken after federal AGI, where Wisconsin starts, so none of them lowers Wisconsin income.

The Department of Revenue lists federal business changes Wisconsin does not follow either, including 100% bonus depreciation for property placed in service after January 19, 2025.

Wisconsin does not tax Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits, or military and uniformed services retirement pay. Other pensions and IRA withdrawals are generally taxed as they are federally, with these subtractions on Schedule SB.

Wisconsin’s credits come off the tax; the earned income and homestead credits are paid to you even if they exceed it. Most are for full-year residents only.

For 2025, a full-year resident under 65 must file with gross income of at least $14,260 single, $26,510 married filing jointly, $12,630 married filing separately or $18,220 head of household, not counting Social Security. Part-year residents and nonresidents file with gross income of $2,000 or more. Full-year residents file Form 1; anyone who lived in another state or country at any time in the year files Form 1NPR. Full-year residents can e-file free with the Department’s WisTax.

2025 returns were due April 15, 2026; Wisconsin’s due date follows the federal one, so 2026 returns are due April 15, 2027. Any federal extension works for Wisconsin too, even if you file the federal return on time; attach a copy of it, or a statement saying which federal extension you are using. Pay by April 15 to avoid 1% a month interest during the extension.

Check a Wisconsin refund with the Department of Revenue’s refund status tool at tap.revenue.wi.gov/RefundStatus. Choose the tax year, then enter your SSN or ITIN and the refund you claimed. By phone: (608) 266-8100 in Madison, (414) 227-4907 in Milwaukee or (866) 947-7363 toll free.

The Department says most directly deposited refunds are issued in less than three weeks, but its fraud and error checks can hold some returns, e-filed or paper, for up to 12 weeks, and it asks you to wait 12 weeks before calling. No refund goes out before March 1 unless you and your employer have filed all required forms. Its “Why is my refund delayed?” page names three main reasons: a credit claim selected for review, identity verification, and wages on the return that do not match what employers reported.

Wisconsin has reciprocity agreements with Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan, covering wages, salaries and other pay for work as an employee. An Illinois resident working in Wisconsin pays tax on that pay only to Illinois: give the Wisconsin employer Form W-220 to stop Wisconsin withholding, and if Wisconsin tax was withheld anyway, file Form 1NPR to get it back. The agreements do not cover self-employment income, rental income, gains or lottery winnings. Wisconsin and Minnesota have had no reciprocity agreement since January 1, 2010.

A Wisconsin resident is taxed on all income. For wages earned in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky or Michigan, ask that state for a refund of any tax withheld rather than claiming a Wisconsin credit. For income taxed by another state, claim the credit for net tax paid to another state on Schedule OS; city and county taxes do not count. In the year you move, Form 1NPR taxes all income received while you lived in Wisconsin and only Wisconsin-source income for the rest of the year.