The Analyze view is the results side of a tax scenario. Open any scenario under Planning > Taxes and click Analyze: the top gives you the headline numbers in about five seconds, and the sections below explain how the estimate comes together, where the client sits against key thresholds, and where there's room to plan.
Everything updates automatically when the scenario's inputs change. You enter data in Inputs; you read the answers here. A Print PDF button in the Analyze header gives you a printable version of the whole view.
The Headline Numbers
The top of the page leads with Total tax (the big number), with a bar showing how that total splits between federal tax, state tax, and payroll FICA. If a prior-year return is on file, you'll also see how this year's federal effective rate compares.
Six stat tiles sit alongside:
Adjusted gross income — the AGI the rest of the analysis builds on
Standard deduction or Itemized deduction — whichever the scenario takes, with the amount
Federal tax — the federal liability before payments and credits
All-in effective rate — total tax divided by taxable income, the average across everything
Combined marginal rate — the rate on the next dollar earned, counting federal, state, and payroll taxes together
Federal marginal rate — the federal-only rate on the next dollar
A Thresholds strip shows at a glance how much room the client has before key limits like Medicare IRMAA tiers or the Roth IRA phaseout, or how far over them they already are.
Working Through the Sections
A navigation rail on the left tracks where you are as you scroll. Sections only appear when they're relevant to this client, so a scenario with no investment income won't show capital gains detail, and NIIT only shows up when the surtax is actually in play. Here's the tour:
Your tax story — A waterfall walking from total income, to taxable income, to federal tax after credits, to the total tax estimate. When a client asks "how did you get that number," this is the section to share your screen on.
Safe-harbor payment check — Appears when prior-year figures or payments are entered. Shows the safe harbor target (90% of current year, or 100%/110% of prior-year tax depending on income), quarterly estimated payments, and progress toward covering it.
Estimate Roth bracket room — An interactive what-if. Drag the slider to model a Roth conversion amount and watch the bracket ladder and tax impact update live, before you ever touch the scenario's inputs.
Items to review — Planning flags generated from this scenario, shown as cards with a Review, Opportunity, or Info badge. Filter by category (Income, Deductions, Credits, Payments, Investments, Benefits) or sort by amount or category. Each card expands to a suggested review action.
Room before key tax thresholds — Progress meters showing how much income fits before the next bracket, surtax, or income limit kicks in.
What makes up the estimate — Donut charts breaking the total into net federal tax, state tax, and payroll FICA, with the federal detail split further (regular income tax, investment gains tax, self-employment tax, AMT, additional Medicare tax, NIIT).
How regular income is taxed — The federal bracket table: how much income fills each bracket, the tax from each, and how much room remains in the current bracket.
How long-term gains & qualified dividends are taxed — The 0% / 15% / 20% preferential rate stack, including the special 28% collectibles and 25% unrecaptured Section 1250 rates when a return includes them.
Income limits to watch — The MAGI table. Each row is an income-dependent rule (IRA deduction, Roth contribution, child tax credit, NIIT, and more) with the relevant MAGI definition, the modeled income, the limit, and a color-coded status: Under, Phase Out, or Above.
Medicare premium tiers — The IRMAA table: every MAGI band with its Part B premium and Part D add-on, the client's current tier highlighted, and the room left before the next tier. Keep in mind IRMAA is officially based on the return from about two years prior; this section models it from the scenario's income.
Deeper dives, when they apply — Social Security taxability (how much of the benefit is subject to tax), wage and withholding reconciliation across jobs, capital loss carryover reconciliation, business income detail, itemized deduction detail, credits, and prior-year comparison.
Assumptions — A footer documenting the filing status, tax year, and any manual overrides behind the numbers above.
How to Read It in Practice
Check the Total tax number and the Safe-harbor payment check. That's the client's reality.
Scan the Thresholds strip. Anything close to a limit shapes every recommendation that follows.
Open Items to review and sort by amount. That's your shortlist.
Model the moves worth making: use Estimate Roth bracket room for conversions, or copy the scenario, change the inputs you're testing, and put the two side by side on the Compare page.
Common Questions
Why don't I see the safe harbor section?
It needs data to work with: prior-year tax and AGI, or withholding and estimated payments, entered in the scenario's Inputs under Payments. Enter those and the section appears.
What's the difference between effective and marginal rate?
Effective is total tax divided by total income, the average across everything. Marginal is the rate on the next dollar earned. Planning decisions (conversions, bonuses, gain harvesting) care about marginal; clients usually ask about effective.
A section I expected isn't showing.
Sections render only when the scenario has the relevant data. No capital gains entered means no capital gains section; no business income means no business section. Add the inputs and the section appears.