North Carolina has three marginal tax brackets, ranging from 6.00% (the lowest North Carolina tax bracket) to 7.75% (the highest North Carolina tax bracket). Each marginal rate only applies to earnings within the applicable marginal tax bracket.

In North Carolina, different tax brackets are applicable to different filing types. Married couples filing their North Carolina income tax return jointly will usually have wider tax brackets than those filing separately or as an individual.

Technically, you don't have just one "tax bracket" - you pay all of the North Carolina marginal tax rates from the lowest tax bracket to the tax bracket in which you earned your last dollar. For comparison purposes, however, your North Carolina tax bracket is the tax bracket in which your last earned dollar in any given tax period falls.

You can think of the bracketed income tax as a flat amount for all of the money you earned up to your highest tax bracket, plus a marginal percentage of any amount you earned over that.

• Single Tax Brackets
• Couples Tax Brackets

You can use the income tax estimator to the left to calculate your approximate North Carolina and Federal income tax based on the most recent tax brackets.

Keep in mind that this estimator assumes all income is from wages, assumes the standard deduction, and does not account for tax credits.

For a more detailed estimate that takes these factors into account, click "View Detailed Estimate" (this will will redirect to an external website).

When calculating your North Carolina income tax, keep in mind that the North Carolina state income tax brackets are only applied to your adjusted gross income (AGI) after you have made any qualifying deductions.

Qualifying deductions might include an itemized deduction, the North Carolina standard deduction, exemptions for dependants, business expenses, etc.

Remember that North Carolina may have very different deduction laws from the Federal Income Tax, so you may have to write a whole new list of deductions for your North Carolina income tax return.

	Download a .CSV file of the North Carolina income tax brackets
	Download all 2013 state income tax tables as a PDF

1. The North Carolina tax brackets on this page were last updated from the North Carolina Department of Revenue in November, 2012. Please contact us if any of our North Carolina tax data is incorrect or out of date.
2. North Carolina tax return forms and the latest tax tables are available from the Department of Revenue .
3. Before the official 2013 North Carolina income tax brackets are released, the brackets used on this page are an estimate based on the previous year's brackets. These numbers are subject to change if new North Carolina tax tables are released.
4. The income tax estimator tool is provided by Tax-Rates.org.