State of Tennessee Income Tax Tennessee State Income Tax
Tax Year 2023

1.1 -
Contents

QuickFact: The average family pays $0.00 in Tennessee income taxes. [1]
Rank: 43rd out of 51

1.
Tennessee Income Tax Table

Tax Bracket (Single) [2] Tax Bracket (Couple) [3] Marginal Tax Rate
$0+ $0+ 0.000%

Note: Tennessee has no state income tax. Only the Federal Income Tax applies.

Tennessee is one of seven states that do not collect a personal income tax. However, revenue lost to Tennessee by not having a personal income tax may be made up through other state-level taxes, such as the Tennessee sales tax and the Tennessee property tax.

Tennessee does not collect an income tax on tax normal wage income. A special 6% income tax called the Hall income tax applies only to taxable interest and divident income over $1,250 for individuals and $2,500 for married couples filing jointly. Taxpayers over 65 with total income less than $16,200 for a single filer or $27,000 for a couple filing jointly are exempt from this tax.

The Hall income tax, named after the state senator who sponsored it, has been around since 1929 and hasn't been raised since 1937. Only dividend or interest income from investments like stocks, mutual funds, and corporate dividends is subject to this tax. Interest from bank or credit union accounts, the type of interest earned by most Tennessee residents, is exempt from the Hall income tax.

Because of the limited types of income that are subject to the Hall income tax, the majority of Tennessee taxpayers do not have to submit a state tax return. On an average year, between 150,000 and 200,000 households pay into the tax fund, which consists of only about 2% of Tennessee's state tax collections.

In recent years, state commissions established to audit Tennessee's tax structure have criticized the tax as unfair to retired taxpayers, who often depend heavily on investment and dividend income. Exemptions for low income retirees have been introduced to help protect retired taxpayers.

For more information on the Hall income tax, call the tennessee Department of Revenue's tax help hotline at (615) 532-6439.

Note: We don't currently have Tennessee's income tax brackets for tax year 2024. Until updated 2024 tax rates become available for Tennessee, the tax brackets shown above and used in the income tax calculator will be from tax year 2023.

Learn how marginal tax brackets work View an explanation of marginal tax brackets

2.
Tennessee Income Tax Calculator

My Income
Filing Status
Exemptions
Claim an exemption for myself
Claim an exemption for my spouse
Dependants
 
How to use the Tennessee tax estimator How To Use This Calculator
You can use our free Tennessee income tax calculator to get a good estimate of what your tax liability will be come April. On the next page, you will be able to add more details like itemized deductions, tax credits, capital gains, and more.
Please remember that the income tax code is very complicated, and while we can provide a good estimate of your Federal and Tennessee income taxes, your actual tax liability may be different.
Compare the state income tax rates in Tennessee with the income tax rates in

10.
References

  1. Our state ranking and income tax figures are based on a family of four (married parents with two children) earning the national median household income of $50,000 per year. Deductions and personal exemptions are taken into account, but some state-specific deductions and tax credit programs may not be accounted for.
  2. Before the official 2024 Tennessee income tax rates are released, provisional 2024 tax rates are based on Tennessee's 2023 income tax brackets.
  3. The 2024 state personal income tax brackets are updated from the Tennessee and Tax FoundationExternal Link data.
  4. Tennessee tax forms are sourced from the Tennessee income tax forms pageExternal Link, and are updated on a yearly basis. Please make sure the Tennessee forms you are using are up-to-date.