Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: North Carolina’s individual income tax rate for 2027 is 3.49%, set by Session Law 2026-41 (July 2026), down from 3.99% in 2026. The Department of Revenue’s rate page still said on October 30, 2026 that further changes may apply from 2027 and had not posted the 3.49% figure or 2027 withholding tables.
The enacted schedule
Session Law 2026-41 rewrites G.S. 105-153.7(a) so that the rate for each taxable year is fixed by a schedule. It has no indexing; the schedule is:
| Taxable years beginning in | Rate |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.25% |
| 2026 | 3.99% |
| 2027, 2028 and 2029 | 3.49% |
| 2030, 2031 and 2032 | 3.24% |
| After 2032 | 2.99% |
The act says “This section is effective when this act becomes law.” It also strikes the revenue-trigger rows that would have applied to tax years 2027 through 2034; the trigger rows that remain begin with tax year 2035, so the enacted text does not make the 2027 rate depend on a revenue trigger.
What the Department of Revenue says
Its tax rate page reads: “For Taxable Years after 2025, the North Carolina individual income tax rate is 3.99% (0.0399).” It adds: “Additional rate changes may apply to tax years beginning with 2027 based on certain rate reduction triggers.” That sentence predates the new law and does not mention 3.49%. The codified statute page on the legislature’s site also still showed the old text when this page was checked; the session law is the enacted text.
Withholding is separate
For 2026 the Department states: “The withholding calculations are based on the individual income tax rate of 3.99% plus 0.1%.” No 2027 withholding rate or table was found, so the 2027 withholding rate is not stated here.
A worked example
As a computed example (an illustration, not a source figure), take $65,000 of North Carolina taxable income. At 3.99% the 2026 tax is $2,593.50 (computed). At the enacted 3.49% for 2027 it is $2,268.50 (computed), which is $325.00 (computed) less.
Common mistakes
- Using 3.99% for 2027. It is the 2026 rate; the enacted 2027 rate is 3.49%.
- Treating the Department’s older “rate reduction triggers” sentence as current for 2027.
- Applying the income tax rate to withholding. Withholding has its own rate and table.
Related: the North Carolina 2026 tax figures, how North Carolina taxes retirement income, whether North Carolina taxes pensions, and the federal 2027 tax brackets.
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Answer againSources
- North Carolina Session Law 2026-41 (S.B. 257): www.ncleg.gov
- North Carolina Department of Revenue, Tax Rate Schedules: www.ncdor.gov
- North Carolina Department of Revenue, NC-30 Income Tax Withholding Tables and Instructions for Employers (2026): www.ncdor.gov
- North Carolina Department of Revenue, Important Notice: Impact of Recently Enacted Laws on North Carolina Individual and Corporate Income Tax: www.ncdor.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.