The proper way to use them is to take the taxable income from line 43 of form 1040, line 27 from the form 1040A or line 6 from form 1040EZ and find the corresponding income amount in the tax table. The tax table for each one of these forms is exactly alike.

The income amount that is figured as your taxable income is on the right side in bold lettering. This has two numbers and your income must fall between these two numbers for you to use that line.

The columns are made up of the different categories Americans are classified under when it comes to figuring their tax liabilities. This is in accordance with their relationship or lack thereof. The columns are single, married filing jointly, married filing separately and head of household.

Find your taxable income and then follow the line over to the category you fall into and that is your tax for the year. The categories are simple. If you are married filing jointly you get a tax break and your tax is the lowest. One of the reasons is this saves the IRS paperwork and time because two incomes are on one form. The next lowest tax bracket is head of household. This is for single parents. The government does not like you as much because you are not married but still understand you are supporting children. The highest tax rate is for the single and married filing separately. The government figures there is a good reason you are alone so why should they care about you and tax you the most.

By using the IRS tax table, you can see how much you have to pay the government.