I previously posted about the increase in retirement plan contribution limits for 2015. This week the IRS announced the tax brackets, personal exemption, and standard deduction amounts for tax year 2015. To be clear, the new brackets apply for the 2015 tax year, meaning the return that will be filed in 2016.  The tax brackets for 2014 (applying to the return you will file in 2015) were released last year and can be found on the IRS website.  

The full listing of changes for 2015 can be found in Revenue Procedure 2014-61. Pages 5-7 of the PDF lay out the tax brackets. A Forbes blog has also laid out the brackets in clear, easy to read charts. Here are some of the other changes. 

• The standard deduction has increased for all taxpayers. For a single taxpayer (or married filing separately), the standard deduction is now $6,300 (up from $6,200). For married filing jointly, the standard deduction is $12,600 (up from $12,400). Head of households likewise say an increase to $9,250 (up from $9,100). 
• The personal exemption for each individual is increased to $4,000 (up from $3,950).
• The annual exclusion for gifts will remain at $14,000. 
• Estates of deceased individuals dying in 2015 will have a basic exclusion amount of $5,430,000 (up from $5,340,000).

As a reminder, these are the numbers for 2015 tax returns that will be filed in 2016.