Citation Packs
Every FiscTalk estimate is grounded in a published IRS figure or state statute. Below is the source record we maintain for attribution — use it when citing FiscTalk, or to check any number back to its origin.
What this page is for
A tax figure is only as good as its source and its date. Two sites can quote the same standard deduction and only one of them be right for the year you are filing, because inflation adjustments and legislation move the number annually. This page records which publication each of our figures comes from and when we last retrieved it, so you can verify it rather than take our word for it.
It also exists so that citation is easy. If you quote FiscTalk in an article, a client memo or a filing worksheet, the source record below gives you the underlying authority to cite — which is what you should be citing, not us. We are a secondary source; the IRS and the state revenue departments are the primary ones.
The source record
Data sources & methodology
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32Source for 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, AMT exemption, and the Social Security wage base used across federal and take-home calculators.
- IRS Publication 15-TWithholding method and tables behind the W-4 calculator, including the 2026 percentage method.
- OBBBA 2025 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act)Permanent changes to the SALT cap, QBI deduction, QSBS, and the estate exclusion reflected in the relevant estimators.
- State Departments of RevenueState income tax rates, brackets, and local (NYC/Yonkers) levies modeled per jurisdiction, cited on each state tool page.
How we date a figure
Every tool and article carries an “as of” date. That date means: this is the state of the source as we last retrieved it, not a promise that the source has not changed since. Inflation adjustments are published in the autumn preceding the tax year, and legislation can change a figure mid-year. If you are filing, check the current publication rather than relying on a date that is months old.
Where a figure depends on legislation that has been enacted but not yet in force — the SALT cap is the obvious example, since it is scheduled to revert after 2029 — we say so on the page rather than quietly applying the version that makes a nicer number.
What we do when sources disagree
We do not pick the more flattering figure. Published figures can genuinely differ — a state may publish a rate in its instructions and a different effective rate once local levies are applied, and a summarised table may lag the underlying statute. When we find a conflict, we show the discrepancy or cite the primary source and explain which reading we used and why. A page that hides a conflict is less useful than one that names it.
How to verify any figure yourself
- Note the “as of” date and the source label shown on the page or in the calculator's source panel.
- Open that publication directly — IRS revenue procedures, publications and form instructions are all at irs.gov/forms-pubs; state rates are on each Department of Revenue site.
- Confirm the tax year. A 2025 figure is not wrong, it is just the wrong year — this is the single most common source of confusion.
- Recompute the arithmetic. Every worked example on this site is designed to be checked by hand, and we publish the bracket schedule used.
- If you find a mismatch, tell us via the contact form. Corrections are prioritised over other messages and we republish the reviewed date when we fix one.
How to cite FiscTalk
Cite the primary source where you can. Where you are citing our analysis or a worked example, a form like this is enough:
FiscTalk Editorial Team, “[Page title],” FiscTalk, last reviewed [date]. Figures from [IRS publication / state statute], retrieved [date]. Available at https://fisctalk.com/[path]/
We ask only that you preserve the “as of” date. A figure quoted without the year it applies to is how errors propagate.
Limits of this record
This page lists the authorities our dataset rests on. It is not a substitute for reading them, and it does not cover every provision — the alternative minimum tax, net investment income tax, and most credits appear only where the individual tool says so. Where a rule is unsettled or varies by locality, the tool flags it rather than selecting a value.
Related: editorial policy, 2026 tax reference, and the disclaimer.