Taxes

Tax Brackets for Therapists

July 30, 2021
July 30, 2021
Heard
Editorial Team
Fact-Checked by Richard Huynh, Tax Attorney

As a therapist or mental health professional, your salary can change fairly consistently, especially when operating as a sole proprietor or self-employed individual. This can be an added stressor or point of confusion come tax season––how do you figure out the rate at which you’ll be taxed?

Not only is your salary, caseload and client list changing every year, but so are the tax brackets!

What are tax brackets?

Tax brackets are a system created by the IRS which define the amount of taxation you owe based on the amount of income you make as a therapist. These brackets change on an annual basis and are typically adjusted for inflation, meaning it’s important to check them every year to see which bracket you’ll fall into, and subsequently, how much you’ll be taxed.

As a therapist, the bracket you fall into will be dependent on your taxable income, and how you are filing, whether that’s single, married filing jointly or as a widow(er), married filing separately or as a head of household. Generally, you’ll fall into one of seven primary "brackets" of income, defining your rate of taxation: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, or 37%.

TurboTax offers an easy-to-use, estimated tax rate calculator on their website for the 2020-2021 year.

2021-2022 tax brackets and federal income tax rates

Below is a table of the 2020-2021 tax brackets and federal income tax rates (for taxes filed in 2022).

Tax Rate Single filers Married filing
jointly or
qualifying widow(er)
Married filing
separately
Head of household
10% $0 to $9,950 $0 to $19,900 $0 to $9,950 $0 to $14,200
12% $9,951 to $40,525 $19,901 to $81,050 $9,951 to $40,525 $14,201 to $54,200
22% $40,526 to $86,375 $81,051 to $172,750 $40,526 to $86,375 $54,201 to $86,350
24% $86,376 to $164,925 $172,751 to $329,850 $86,376 to $164,925 $86,351 to $164,900
32% $164,926 to $209,425 $329,851 to $418,850 $164,926 to $209,425 $164,901 to $209,400
35% $209,426 to $523,600 $418,851 to $628,300 $209,426 to $314,150 $209,401 to $523,600
37% $523,601 or more $628,301 or more $314,151 or more $523,601 or more

Tax brackets are foundational in your process of filing taxes as a private practice or small business owner, whether you're doing so as a sole proprietor, S corporation, self-employed individual or employee.

Keep your eyes open for adjustments made to tax brackets on an annual basis and calculating your rate of taxation becomes easy in no time!

This post is to be used for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, business, or tax advice. Each person should consult his or her own attorney, business advisor, or tax advisor with respect to matters referenced in this post.

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