How to figure out percentage taken out of paycheck

English
Español
中文 (简体)
中文 (繁體)
한국어
Русский
Tiếng Việt
Kreyòl ayisyen

Use this tool to estimate the federal income tax you want your employer to withhold from your paycheck. This is tax withholding.

Table of Contents Show

How It Works
What You Need
Don't use this tool if:
More on Tax Withholding
After You Use the Estimator
To change your tax withholding amount:
To keep your same tax withholding amount:
When to Check Your Withholding
When you have a major life change
If you changed your tax withholding mid-year
Why Check Your Withholding
How we make money
Form W-4: Employee’s Withholding Certificate
State W-4 (as applicable)
Direct Deposit Authorization Form
Form I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification
Best Practice

See how your withholding affects your refund, take-home pay or tax due.

How It Works

Use this tool to:

Estimate your federal income tax withholding
See how your refund, take-home pay or tax due are affected by withholding amount
Choose an estimated withholding amount that works for you

Results are as accurate as the information you enter.

What You Need

Have this ready:

Paystubs for all jobs (spouse too)
Other income info (side jobs, self-employment, investments, etc.)
Most recent tax return

Your information isn't saved. Learn more about Security.

Don't use this tool if:

You have a pension but not a job. Estimate your tax withholding with the new Form W-4P.
You have nonresident alien status. Use Notice 1392, Supplemental Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident Aliens.
Your tax situation is complex. This includes alternative minimum tax, long-term capital gains or qualified dividends. See Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax.

Estimator Frequently Asked Questions

W-4 Forms

2020 Form W-4 Questions and Answers
Form W-4 Employee Withholding Certificate
Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments
Notice 1392, Supplement Form W-4 Instructions for Nonresident AliensPDF

After You Use the Estimator

Use your estimate to change your tax withholding amount on Form W-4. Or keep the same amount.

To change your tax withholding amount:

Enter your new tax withholding amount on Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate
Ask your employer if they use an automated system to submit Form W-4
Submit or give Form W-4 to your employer

To keep your same tax withholding amount:

You don't need to do anything at this time.
Check your withholding again when needed and each year with the Estimator. This helps you make sure the amount withheld works for your circumstance.

When to Check Your Withholding

Check your tax withholding every year, especially:

When you have a major life change

New job or other paid work
Major income change
Marriage
Child birth or adoption
Home purchase

If you changed your tax withholding mid-year

Check your tax withholding at year-end, and adjust as needed with a new W-4

If you have more questions about your withholding, ask your employer or tax advisor.

Why Check Your Withholding

There are several reasons to check your withholding:

It can protect against having too little tax withheld and facing an unexpected tax bill or penalty at tax time next year.
It can let you adjust your tax withheld up front, so you receive a bigger paycheck and smaller refund at tax time.

Security

The Tax Withholding Estimator doesn't ask for personal information such as your name, social security number, address or bank account numbers.

We don't save or record the information you enter in the estimator.

For details on how to protect yourself from scams, see Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts.

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 31-Oct-2022

How we make money

Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. Bankrate is compensated in exchange for featured placement of sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. This compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear. Bankrate.com does not include all companies or all available products.

Bankrate, LLC NMLS ID# 1427381 | NMLS Consumer Access
BR Tech Services, Inc. NMLS ID #1743443 | NMLS Consumer Access

Form W-4: Employee’s Withholding Certificate

Each new employee must complete the IRS Form W-4, which tells you key information about how much federal income tax (FIT) you’ll need to withhold from their wages. The employee will enter their name, address, and social security number.

The W-4 was revised in 2020. The new form has a five-step process and a new Publication 15-T (Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods) for determining employee withholding. It no longer uses withholding allowances.

For employees hired in 2019 or prior, you can continue to use the information they provided on the old form W-4. It includes a worksheet that allows your employees to calculate withholding allowances for dependents and children. Some employees may want to fill out a new W-4 if they work a second job, get married, have a child, or get divorced, but you cannot require existing employees to complete a new one.

Employees can also elect to have additional tax withheld or request to be exempt from federal income tax withholding. The new form W-4 provides detailed instructions.

Make sure the employee signs the W-4, but don’t send it to the IRS unless requested. Retain it in your employee’s personnel file for a minimum of 4 years after the date of the employee’s latest tax return.

State W-4 (as applicable)

Some states have their own withholding forms. For states that don’t, the Form W-4 will often be used as the basis for calculating state and/or local income tax withholding. A complete list of applicable state tax forms can be found at the Federation of Tax Administrators website.

Direct Deposit Authorization Form

As an employer, you can pay your employees several different ways: paper check, direct deposit, prepaid debit card, or cash. Direct deposit is often the easiest and most secure way to deliver paychecks, which is why it is by far the most popular. In fact, more than 82% of US workers are now being paid by direct deposit.

An employee who chooses to be paid by direct deposit must fill out a direct deposit authorization form, complete with bank routing numbers and account numbers. The form acts as a permission slip for you to deposit the employee’s net pay electronically into their bank account.

As part of the verification process, many employers will ask for a voided blank check to confirm the accuracy of the bank account information provided by the employee.

Form I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification

New employees fill out a Form I-9 to certify that they are legally permitted to work in the United States (i.e. as a citizen, permanent resident, work visa holder, etc.). They can prove their work status by either providing you their US passport or both their driver’s license and Social Security card.

You are required by law to obtain a signed Form I-9 from your employee before employment commences. You should retain the completed form and any supporting documents in your employee’s personnel file.

Best Practice

You might also want to have new employees acknowledge their receipt of the company handbook, code of conduct, and any other formal policies at this time. While the acknowledgment isn’t necessary for payroll calculations, it’s a best practice to have your new employees complete all required company forms at the same time. HR software can make it easy to manage all these tasks.