Delaware State Tax Calculator (2026)

How Delaware taxes income

Delaware charges 2.2% to 6.6%. State tax is a separate calculation from your federal return rather than a share of it — Delaware sets its own schedule and its own definition of taxable income.

• Top marginal rate: 6.6%, reached at $60,000 for a single filer
• Brackets: 6 graduated bands, starting at 2.2% above $2,000
• Standard deduction: $3,250 single / $6,500 joint
• Personal exemption: Structured as a credit — $110 single, $220 joint, $110 per dependent (not applied here)

Rate figures are as of January 1, 2026 and come from the published Tax Foundation compilation; they have not been independently checked against Delaware Division of Revenue. States do change rates mid-year, so confirm a figure there before relying on it.

What catches people out in Delaware

• Delaware has 6 brackets for a single filer, from 2.2% up to 6.6%, and the first band starts at $2,000 rather than at zero — income below that is untaxed.
• Joint filers use the SAME bracket floors as single filers rather than doubled ones, so two people earning similar amounts reach each rate at half the combined income they would have as individuals. That is a marriage penalty written into the schedule, and it is the opposite of how the federal brackets work.
• The Delaware standard deduction is $3,250 for a single filer and $6,500 for a couple filing jointly. It is a separate figure from the federal standard deduction and usually much smaller, so itemising is a decision you make once federally and again for the state.
• Delaware imposes a separate tax on lump-sum distributions in addition to the rates shown (footnote s). Some Delaware jurisdictions levy payroll taxes or flat-rate wage taxes (footnote a).

What this estimate leaves out

Three things are deliberately outside this calculation, because they change more often than annually and a confident wrong number does real damage on a tax page.

• The personal exemption — Structured as a credit — $110 single, $220 joint, $110 per dependent — is not applied, so the figure runs slightly high.
• Local and city income tax is not included. New York City is the significant one nationally.
• State-specific credits, subtractions and income addbacks are out of scope and can move the result either way.

If you have income in India, Delaware is where treaty relief runs out

States are not parties to the India-US tax treaty, and a state credit for "taxes paid to other jurisdictions" almost always means other US states rather than other countries.

So NRO interest, Indian rental income or a gain on Indian shares can be taxed by Delaware with no credit for the Indian tax deducted at source — even though Form 1116 largely neutralises that same tax federally.

The treatment is not uniform across states, so treat this as the general position rather than as Delaware's confirmed one, and check the credit rules with Delaware Division of Revenue before relying on relief.

Sources

• Tax Foundation — 2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets
• Delaware Division of Revenue — the authority for Delaware