Undertanding tax brackets!

Congress establishes tax rates that apply to different levels of taxable income. Current law provides rates from 10% to 35%. The higher your income, the higher your tax rate.
The range of income where you stay at any particular rate is known as a tax bracket. For a single person in 2008 the rate on taxable income between $32,550 and $78,850 is 25%, so those numbers establish the 25% bracket. If you’re single and your taxable income is between those two numbers, your tax bracket is 25%.