Not to be confused with marginal tax rates is the average tax rate, sometimes also called the effective tax rate. This takes the total taxes owed divided by income. The person making $60,000 pays tax of $12,400 x 0% + $9,875 x 10% + $30,250 x 12% + $7,475 x 22%, which comes out to total tax of $6,262 or an average/effective tax rate of 10.4%.