In my case it was the Qualified Dividends that reduced my tax rate. I didn't realize that the first $94,000 of dividends are tax free for married filing jointly. The Capital Gains and Dividend worksheet helped me back into those calculations but boy does the IRS get to it in a backwards way. It would be nice if TT summarized the different rates for each type of taxable income to simplify this analysis and increase our confidence in its calculations. Also, it was confusing that no box was checked explaining where the calculation was coming from (tax table, etc.). All good now, thanks to everyone for the responses!