# How to find the tax bracket for an income in Excel

List where each rate starts and use an approximate match: `=XLOOKUP(E1,A2:A8,B2:B8,,-1)` returns the rate of the bracket the income falls in.

**Excel:** `=XLOOKUP(E1,A2:A8,B2:B8,,-1)` (Excel 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365)

**Google Sheets:** the same formula works.

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B | C | D | E |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Taxable income from | Rate |  | Taxable income | 92000 |
| 0 | 0.1 |  | Marginal rate |  |
| 11926 | 0.12 |  |  |  |
| 48476 | 0.22 |  |  |  |
| 103351 | 0.24 |  |  |  |
| 197301 | 0.32 |  |  |  |
| 250526 | 0.35 |  |  |  |
| 626351 | 0.37 |  |  |  |

Formula in E2: `=XLOOKUP(E1,A2:A8,B2:B8,,-1)`

Result: 22%

## How it works

Each row gives the first dollar of a bracket. Match mode `-1` returns the exact match or the next smaller value, so $92,000 lands on the bracket that starts at $48,476 and the formula returns 22%, the marginal rate.

## Other ways

- `=VLOOKUP(E1,A2:B8,2,TRUE)`: The classic approximate match. Works in every version as long as the bracket starts are sorted from lowest to highest.
- `=INDEX(B2:B8,MATCH(E1,A2:A8,1))`: MATCH with 1 finds the last bracket start at or below the income. Same sorting rule.

## Common mistakes

- The marginal rate isn't the rate on the whole income. Only the dollars above $48,476 are taxed at 22%; see the total tax calculation for that.
- Tax tables often say "over $11,925". In whole dollars that bracket starts at $11,926; listing $11,925 would put an income of exactly $11,925 in the wrong bracket.
- The first row must start at 0, or incomes below the first bracket return #N/A.

## Questions

**How do I return the bracket as text, like "22% bracket"?**

Join it: `=TEXT(XLOOKUP(E1,A2:A8,B2:B8,,-1),"0%")&" bracket"`.

**How do I calculate the effective tax rate?**

Divide the total tax by the income: `=total_tax/E1`, where the total comes from the bracket calculation.

Every formula and result on this page was checked by running it in the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine on 2026-10-30.

Source: https://spreadsheetpractice.com/formulas/tax-bracket-for-income