Gross income is all sources of taxable income, but you're not taxed on all of it. You can take certain deductions to arrive at your taxable income, which determines your tax rate or bracket.
J.B. Maverick is an active trader, commodity futures broker, and stock market analyst 17+ years of experience, in addition to 10+ years of experience as a finance writer and book editor.
Lea Uradu, J.D. is graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, a Maryland State Registered Tax Preparer, State Certified Notary Public, Certified VITA Tax Preparer, IRS Annual Filing Season Program Participant, Tax Writer, and Founder of L.A.W. Tax Resolution Services. Lea has worked with hundreds of federal individual and expat tax clients.
Katrina Ávila Munichiello is an experienced editor, writer, fact-checker, and proofreader with more than fourteen years of experience working with print and online publications. In 2011, she became editor of World Tea News, a weekly newsletter for the U.S. tea trade. In 2013, she was hired as senior editor to a-sist in the transformation of Tea Magazine from a small quarterly publication to a nationally distributed monthly magazine. Katrina also served as a copy editor at Cloth, Paper, Scissors and as a proofreader for Applewood Books. Since 2015 she has worked as a fact-checker for America's Test Kitchen's Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines. She has published articles in The Boston Globe, Yankee Magazine, and more. In 2011, she published her first book, A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time (Tuttle). Before working as an editor, she earned a Master of Public Health degree in health services and worked in non-profit administration.
Gross income includes all income you receive that isn't explicitly exempt from taxation under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Taxable income is the portion of your gross income that's actually subject to taxation. Deductions are subtracted from gross income to arrive at your amount of taxable income.
Taxable income is a layman's term that refers to your adjusted gross income (AGI) less any itemized deductions you're entitled to claim or your standard deduction. Your AGI is the result of taking certain "above-the-line" adjustments to income, such as contributions to a qualifying individual retirement account (IRA), student loan interest, and some contributions made to health savings accounts.