Connecticut income tax brackets run from 2% to 6.99% across seven graduated tiers, with the thresholds set by filing status under C.G.S. ยง 12-700.1Justia. Connecticut Code 12-700 – Imposition of Tax on Income. Rates Each rate applies only to the income that falls inside its band, so your effective rate is almost always lower than your top bracket. Two things complicate that picture: a personal exemption that shrinks as your income grows, and a recapture charge that can quietly erase the savings from the lower brackets once you cross certain income levels.
The 2024 Rate Change
The current schedule took effect for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024. The lowest bracket dropped from 3% to 2%, and a new 6.9% bracket was inserted below the 6.99% top rate. That makes seven brackets rather than six, and the dollar thresholds differ by filing status.
Brackets for Single Filers and Married Filing Separately
- Up to $10,000: 2%
- $10,001 to $50,000: 4.5%
- $50,001 to $100,000: 5.5%
- $100,001 to $200,000: 6%
- $200,001 to $250,000: 6.5%
- $250,001 to $500,000: 6.9%
- Over $500,000: 6.99%
Because each rate only touches the income inside its range, the math is not what a flat rate would produce. Someone earning $60,000 pays 2% on the first $10,000, 4.5% on the next $40,000, and 5.5% on the remaining $10,000. The total is $2,550, not the $3,300 a flat 5.5% would produce.1Justia. Connecticut Code 12-700 – Imposition of Tax on Income. Rates
Brackets for Married Filing Jointly and Qualifying Surviving Spouse
- Up to $20,000: 2%
- $20,001 to $100,000: 4.5%
- $100,001 to $200,000: 5.5%
- $200,001 to $400,000: 6%
- $400,001 to $500,000: 6.5%
- $500,001 to $1,000,000: 6.9%
- Over $1,000,000: 6.99%
The joint thresholds are wider than the single ones but not always double them. The top rate does not begin for joint filers until income exceeds $1,000,000, compared with $500,000 for single filers.1Justia. Connecticut Code 12-700 – Imposition of Tax on Income. Rates
Brackets for Head of Household
Head of household filers fall between the single and joint schedules. The exact dollar bands are listed in the Tax Calculation Schedule (Form CT-1040 TCS) that the Department of Revenue Services publishes each year.2Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. CT-1040 TCS – 2025 Tax Calculation Schedule
What the Brackets Are Applied To
The brackets do not run against your gross pay. They run against your Connecticut adjusted gross income, after the personal exemption is subtracted.
Connecticut AGI starts with your federal AGI and then adjusts for state-specific items. You add back interest from bonds issued by other states and their municipalities. You subtract several categories of income Connecticut treats more favorably than the federal rules do, including Social Security benefits (fully subtracted if federal AGI is below $75,000 single or $100,000 joint, partially above those lines) and pension and annuity income (fully deductible in 2026 for taxpayers below $75,000 single or $100,000 joint, phasing out and disappearing at $100,000 single or $150,000 joint).3Connecticut General Assembly. Income Tax Exemptions for Retirement Income Contributions to the Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) 529 plan are deductible up to $10,000 per year on the state return.
Your Connecticut filing status generally follows your federal one. The exception is a married couple with mixed residency, where one spouse is a Connecticut resident and the other is not; they may need to file separately for state purposes even if they filed jointly federally.4Department of Revenue Services. State of Connecticut Form CT-W4 Employee’s Withholding Certificate
The Personal Exemption and Its Phase-Out
Before the brackets are applied, Connecticut lets you subtract a personal exemption from your Connecticut AGI. The maximum amounts are:
- Single: $15,000
- Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Surviving Spouse: $24,000
- Head of Household: $19,000
- Married Filing Separately: $12,000
The exemption is not a flat benefit. It shrinks by $1,000 for every additional $1,000 of Connecticut AGI once you cross a threshold tied to your filing status: $30,000 for single filers and $48,000 for joint filers. Single filers lose the exemption entirely at $44,000 of AGI. The result is that middle- and higher-income taxpayers get a reduced exemption or none at all, which pushes more of their income into the taxable brackets.2Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. CT-1040 TCS – 2025 Tax Calculation Schedule
Benefit Recapture for Higher Earners
Connecticut does not simply let higher earners enjoy the low rates on their first dollars of income the way most states do. Two separate recapture provisions claw back the savings from the lower brackets once income passes certain levels. Both amounts are added on top of the tax calculated from the standard brackets.
Rate Reduction Recapture
The first recapture targets the savings from the 2024 rate cut, when the bottom bracket fell from 3% to 2% and the 5% rate fell to 4.5%. It begins when Connecticut AGI exceeds $105,000 for single filers or $210,000 for joint filers. The charge adds $25 for every $5,000 of income above the starting point, up to a maximum of $250 for single filers.1Justia. Connecticut Code 12-700 – Imposition of Tax on Income. Rates
Lower-Bracket Recapture
The second, larger recapture erases the benefit of having any income taxed below 6.9%. It begins at $200,000 of Connecticut AGI for single filers and $400,000 for joint filers, growing at $90 per $5,000 of additional income and topping out at $3,150 for single filers. Once the maximum applies, the practical effect is that nearly all of your income is taxed at close to the top rate.1Justia. Connecticut Code 12-700 – Imposition of Tax on Income. Rates
Tax software handles both calculations automatically. If you are working through Form CT-1040 TCS by hand, each recapture has its own worksheet that must be completed separately.
Where to Look Up Your Tax
The Department of Revenue Services publishes two tools each year. The Tax Calculation Schedule (CT-1040 TCS) walks through the bracket math, the exemption phase-out, and both recapture worksheets step by step. The Tax Tables give a pre-computed tax amount for income up to roughly $102,000, broken out by filing status, and already reflect the exemption and basic bracket math for straightforward returns. Both are downloadable from the DRS Calculators and Tables page, and interactive calculators are available through the myconneCT portal.5Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. DRS Calculators/Tables
If your income exceeds $102,000, or you are subject to either recapture, the Tax Calculation Schedule is the right starting point. The lookup tables are built for simpler returns where the pre-computed figures already do the arithmetic for you.