Nebraska · the numbers

Nebraska figures at a glance, 2026

The Nebraska numbers for the 2026 return in one place: the rates and brackets by filing status, the standard deduction, the $176 exemption credit, the credits and their limits, the dates, and the figures beyond the income tax that a Nebraska household meets. Each with a line on where it comes from, and a short list of what changed from 2025.

By Charles Trautman, EA, editor

Need to Know Tax · written from Nebraska Department of Revenue sources, November 3, 2026; updated November 12, 2026 after the election · not yet reviewed by a Nebraska practitioner

Most of Nebraska’s 2026 figures come from one source, the Department of Revenue’s 2026 Form 1040N and Tax Calculation Schedule, posted in August 2026 and listed as final in October. The headline number is the top rate, 4.55%, down from 5.20%. The rest moved with inflation: the standard deduction is $8,850 single and $17,700 joint, the exemption credit is $176 a person, and the brackets widened a little. The posted PDF still carries an August 17 draft stamp, and the booklet with the age-65 amounts had not posted when this was written, so those are marked to come.

The core figures

Nebraska income tax, 2026 return (filed 2027)
Item	2025	2026
Starting point	Federal AGI	Federal AGI
Rates	2.46% / 3.51% / 5.01% / 5.20%	2.46% / 3.51% / 4.55% / 4.55%
Top rate scheduled for 2027		3.99%
Standard deduction, single or married filing separately	$8,600	$8,850
Standard deduction, married filing jointly or surviving spouse	$17,200	$17,700
Standard deduction, head of household	$12,600	$12,950
Additional standard deduction per box, 65 or older or blind: single and head of household / married	$2,000 / $1,650	to come (verify)
Personal exemption credit, per person, residents	$171	$176
Social Security subtraction	100%, any income	100%, any income
Military retirement subtraction	100%	100%
Other pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s, Roth conversions	Taxed in full	Taxed in full
NEST 529 and Enable contribution subtraction, per return	$10,000 ($5,000 MFS)	$10,000 ($5,000 MFS)
Local income tax	None	None

From Form 1040N lines 6 and 18; the 65-or-older amounts are in the instructions. If you itemized federally, Nebraska allows the larger of its standard deduction or your federal itemized deductions less state and local income tax, lines 7–10.

The brackets

2026 Nebraska Tax Calculation Schedule, tax before credits (Form 1040N line 15)
Nebraska taxable income	Single, MFS	Joint, surviving spouse	Head of household
2.46% on the first	$4,130	$8,250	$7,700
3.51% up to	$24,760	$49,530	$39,620
4.55% above that (printed as two tiers, both 4.55%)	$24,760 and up	$49,530 and up	$39,620 and up
Tax at the top of the 3.51% bracket	$825.71	$1,651.88	$1,309.81

To compute: take the base amount and add 4.55% of taxable income above the threshold. Single, $39,150 taxable: $825.71 + 4.55% × $14,390 = $1,480. 2025 single thresholds: $4,030, $24,120 and $38,870, with 5.01% and 5.20% above. The schedule’s fourth line ($39,900 single, $79,800 joint, $59,160 head of household) is where 3.99% takes over in 2027.

The credits

Nebraska credits on the 2026 Form 1040N
Credit	Figure	Refundable?	Where
Personal exemption credit	$176 × exemptions; residents only, prorated for part-year	No	Line 18
Earned income credit	10% of the federal EITC; not for nonresidents or married filing separately	Yes	Line 44
Child and dependent care, AGI $29,000 or less	100% of the federal credit, falling to 30% at $29,000; the federal decimal is now .50 to .43	Yes	Line 42, Form 2441N
Child and dependent care, AGI over $29,000	25% of the federal credit	No	Line 23
Child Care Refundable Tax Credit, child age 5 or under	$2,000 per child if household income is $75,000 or less; $1,000 up to $150,000; $15 million statewide cap; apply first on Form 7203	Yes	Line 48
Adoption credit (new)	10% of the federal adoption credit	Yes	Line 52
Community college property tax credit	100% of community college property taxes paid in 2026 on Nebraska parcels you paid	Yes	Line 45, Form PTC
Credit for the elderly or disabled	The federal Schedule R credit as allowed on Schedule 3	No	Line 20
Credit for tax paid to another state	Lesser of the other state’s tax or the Nebraska tax on the same income; residents only	No	Schedule II
Stillborn child credit	$2,000 (verify)	Yes	Line 47

The school district property tax credit is not on the return; since 2024 it is applied on the property tax statement. There is no Nebraska child tax credit; each dependent is a $176 exemption credit.

Worked example: the same family, 2025 and 2026

Married, two children, federal AGI of $95,000 in both years, Nebraska standard deduction, no other adjustments. The only differences are the figures that changed.

	2025 return	2026 return
Federal AGI	$95,000	$95,000
Nebraska standard deduction, joint	−$17,200	−$17,700
Nebraska taxable income	$77,800	$77,300
Tax from the schedule	$3,090	$2,915
Personal exemption credits, 4 persons	−$684	−$704
Nebraska tax	$2,406	$2,211
Change		−$195

2025 tax: $1,609.15 + 5.01% × ($77,800 − $48,250). 2026 tax: $1,651.88 + 4.55% × ($77,300 − $49,530). About $150 of the saving is the rate cut; the rest is indexing. The 2026 withholding tables were revised, so most of it has shown up in paychecks, not the refund.

Dates

Nebraska dates for the 2026 return
Date	What
January 15, 2027	Fourth 2026 estimated payment, Form 1040N-ES
March 1, 2027	Farmers and ranchers who file and pay in full by today owe no 2026 estimates
April 15, 2027	Form 1040N and payment due; first 2027 estimated payment; Form 4868N if paying with an extension
June 15 and September 15, 2027	Second and third 2027 estimated payments
October 15, 2027	Extended due date; a federal extension carries over automatically
February 2 to June 30, 2027	Homestead exemption applications (Form 458) for 2027, with the county assessor

Estimated payments are required when expected Nebraska tax after credits exceeds withholding by $500 or more; the safe harbor is 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s (110% if 2025 federal AGI was over $150,000). Interest on late payments was 8% a year for 2025 returns; the 2027 rate is to come (verify).

Beyond the income tax

Other Nebraska figures a household meets
Item	2026
Inheritance tax, county-levied	Class 1 (children, parents, siblings, grandchildren and their spouses): 1% over $100,000 per heir. Class 2 (aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews): 11% over $40,000. Class 3 (others): 15% over $25,000. Spouses and heirs under 22 exempt. No estate or gift tax.
State sales tax	5.5%, plus local rates up to 2%; groceries exempt; use tax on untaxed online purchases goes on Form 1040N line 59
Homestead exemption, age 65 and over	Full exemption of the first $95,000 of value (or 200% of the county average, if more) at 2025 household income up to $37,000 single / $43,400 married, phasing out to zero at $54,301 / $64,501 (verify); filed with the county assessor on Form 458 by June 30
School district property tax credit	Printed on the property tax statement; percentage of school taxes to come (verify)
Reciprocal states for wages	None

What changed from 2025

Top rate 5.20% to 4.55%; third-tier rate 5.01% to 4.55%. Next year both go to 3.99%.
Standard deduction up $250 single, $500 joint, $350 head of household. Exemption credit $171 to $176. Brackets indexed.
New refundable adoption credit, 10% of federal, line 52.
New Form 27242 for the Nebraska 60% deduction on qualified property and research spending, first claimed for 2026.
Form 2441N carries the larger federal child and dependent care percentages, so the Nebraska refundable credit for AGI under $29,000 rises.
No change: Social Security and military retirement subtractions, 10% EITC, $10,000 NEST subtraction, child care credit amounts and cap, inheritance tax rates, Form PTC covering community college taxes only.
No Nebraska response to the federal tips, overtime, senior and car-loan deductions; they do not reach the return.

Behind the scenes: why the numbers move in odd steps

Nebraska indexes the bracket thresholds, the standard deduction and the exemption credit to the consumer price index every year. The standard deduction is rounded down to the nearest $50, which is why it goes $8,600 to $8,850 rather than to an uneven figure. The rates are not indexed; they are the schedule written into LB 754 in 2023, so the rate falls in round steps on January 1 while the thresholds creep. The 65-or-older amounts are indexed too but appear only in the instructions, which is why they are the last figure known each year.

What to bring

Last year’s Form 1040N, for a line-by-line comparison
Dates of birth for everyone on the return; the 65-or-older box changes the deduction
Property tax statements for every Nebraska parcel paid in 2026, for the community college credit on Form PTC
NEST or Enable contribution statements
Form 7203 approval, if you applied for the child care credit
Estimated payments made, with dates

Questions people ask

What is the Nebraska income tax rate for 2026?

Three rates: 2.46%, 3.51% and 4.55%. A single filer reaches 4.55% at $24,760 of Nebraska taxable income, a couple at $49,530. The schedule prints a fourth line at $39,900 single and $79,800 joint, but the rate above it is also 4.55% this year.

What is the Nebraska standard deduction for 2026?

$8,850 single or married filing separately, $17,700 married filing jointly or surviving spouse, $12,950 head of household, plus an additional amount for each 65-or-older or blind box that the instructions will give (it was $2,000 single and $1,650 married for 2025).

Is there a Nebraska personal exemption?

Not as a deduction. Each person on the return, including dependents, earns a $176 credit against the tax on line 18. It is not refundable and does not phase out.

Is the school property tax credit still on the return?

No. Since 2024 it is taken off the property tax statement before you pay. Form PTC with the 1040N now covers only community college taxes, at 100% of what you paid in 2026.

Three rates, one deduction, a $176 credit a head

Know your taxable income and your filing status and the Nebraska tax is two lines of arithmetic.

Written by Charles Trautman, EA, editor  ·  Need to Know Tax, Lone Tree, Colorado
Questions about this article in Nebraska are answered by [your practice name]  ·  [your phone]  ·  [your email address]. We’re looking for an EA or CPA in each Nebraska city to hold that city’s seat and take this spot — is that you?
Ask a question about this article →

An invitation to Nebraska EAs and CPAs

These Nebraska pages were written by the editor from the Nebraska Department of Revenue’s own publications, and they need a Nebraska practitioner’s eye. One enrolled agent or CPA in each Nebraska city holds that city’s seat: reads these pages before the filing season and is credited as a reviewer, is named on every page of their city’s edition, and answers its readers’ questions. $1,000 for the 2026 season, the charter price. Take your city’s seat (a two-minute form and a card), tell us you’re interested, write to editor@needtoknowtax.com, or read how it works.

Forms and official pages named in this article

Sources and where to check

Updated November 12, 2026, after the November 3 election · tax year 2026 figures · awaiting review by a Nebraska practitioner — use the right article