How Bonuses Are Taxed (2026)

Bonuses are supplemental wages

The tax code treats a bonus as wages like any other — subject to federal income tax, FICA and state tax — and gives employers two ways to withhold on it. If the bonus is paid separately, or identified separately on a combined paycheck, the employer may withhold a flat 22% (mandatory 37% once supplemental wages in the year exceed $1,000,000). If it is combined with regular wages without separation, the employer must use the aggregate method: add the bonus to the regular pay, run the total through the normal withholding tables as if it were a regular paycheck, and subtract the withholding already taken on the regular pay. A $3,000 bonus for someone on $60,000 is withheld $660.00 federally under the flat method and $647.46 under the aggregate method; in both cases FICA takes $229.50.

The tax is your marginal rate; the rest settles

On the return the bonus is simply income, taxed at whatever bracket it lands in. For the $60,000 earner in the 12% bracket the real federal tax on $3,000 is $360.00, so the flat method over-withholds by $300.00 and the aggregate by $287.46, both returned as refund. For someone on $150,000 in the 24% bracket, a $10,000 bonus is really taxed $2,400.00 and the flat 22% under-withholds by $200.00, which is owed in April. The feeling that bonuses are «taxed more» comes from seeing 22% plus FICA plus state leave the paycheck at once — roughly a third — against a regular paycheck's blended rate.

The aggregate method and the annualisation trap

The aggregate method annualises the combined paycheck: a $3,000 bonus in a biweekly $2,307.69 paycheck is treated as if every paycheck were $5,307.69 — a $138,000 salary — and withheld at that salary's rate. The larger the bonus relative to the paycheck, the worse the over-withholding: a $10,000 bonus on the same salary would be withheld as if the year paid $320,000. Nothing is lost, but the refund can be months away. Employers may choose the flat method for a separately paid bonus precisely to avoid this; if yours uses the aggregate method on a large bonus, the W-4 fixer can lower the rest of the year's withholding to compensate.

Keeping more of a bonus

Deferring part of it into the 401(k) removes it from federal and state taxable income at the marginal rate — $360 of tax on $3,000 at 12% — up to the $24,500 annual limit, if the plan allows deferrals from bonuses (most do; some require a separate election). Timing matters at the edges: a December bonus paid in January moves the income into the next year, useful when this year is unusually high. Asking for a raise instead of a bonus changes nothing about the tax and everything about what is withheld and when. And a bonus that pushes wages over the Social Security wage base is, above the base, 6.2% cheaper.

Signing, retention, commission, stock

Signing and retention bonuses are supplemental wages, withheld the same way, and a clawback repaid in a later year is deductible only in limited ways — repay in the same year if you can. Commissions are supplemental wages when paid separately from salary and regular wages when they are the whole pay. Restricted stock vesting is supplemental wages at the vesting value, usually withheld at the flat rate by selling shares, and the 22% is often far below the marginal rate on a large vest — the most common source of an unexpected April bill in tech. The bonus calculator handles all of them as a supplemental amount on top of the salary.

The three taxes on a paycheck, and why they behave differently

Federal income tax is progressive and starts from zero: the first $16,100 a single filer earns in 2026 is untaxed because that is the standard deduction, and the rate then climbs through seven brackets from 10% to 37%. It is the only line your W-4 changes. FICA is flat from the first dollar — 6.2% for Social Security up to $184,500 of wages and 1.45% for Medicare without limit — and no form changes it. State income tax is whatever your state decided: nothing in 9 states, one flat rate in 13, brackets in the other 29, and 11 states let a city or county add a line of their own.

On the $2,307.69 biweekly example above: $193.08 of federal withholding, $176.54 of FICA and $0.00 of Texas tax. Keeping them on separate lines is the point: a 401(k) contribution moves the first and third but not the second; a raise moves all three at different rates; the Social Security cap moves only the second. A single «taxes» figure hides which lever does what.

Withholding is not your tax

Every federal line on a paycheck is an estimate your employer makes on your behalf, following your W-4 and IRS Publication 15-T; the tax itself is settled once a year on your return. On $60,000 in Texas, the year's withholding comes to $5,020 against a projected tax of $5,020: $0 more than needed, which returns as a refund. Neither a refund nor a bill is a mistake by anyone; it means the W-4 on file did not describe the year exactly, and both are fixed on the W-4, not on the paycheck.

The three places the estimate goes wrong most: a second income in the household without the box in step 2(c) checked, so that both employers apply the full $16,100 standard deduction; a bonus withheld at the flat 22% when the marginal rate is something else; and untaxed side income with nothing on step 4(a). From 2026 there is a fourth, in the taxpayer's favour: the deductions for overtime premium pay and tips reduce the tax but not the withholding. The W-4 fixer turns the gap into the exact lines to change.

What changed in 2026

The standard deduction is $16,100 single, $32,200 joint and $24,150 head of household; every bracket threshold moved up with inflation; the Social Security wage base is $184,500; the 401(k) elective limit is $24,500. Each is read from the document that sets it — IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, the SSA's contribution and benefit base, IRS Notice 2025-67 — and listed with its source under the calculator.

The bigger change is the set of new federal deductions: qualified overtime premium pay up to $12,500 ($25,000 joint), reported tips up to $25,000, and $6,000 more for each person aged 65 or over, all phasing out above $150,000 of income. None of them changes what an employer withholds, because Publication 15-T does not know about them; they reduce the tax owed at filing, which is why the calculators on this site show them in the «withholding vs what you owe» box rather than on the paycheck. The what changed in 2026 guide keeps the dated list, including state changes.

A worked example: $80,000 in New Jersey, paid every two weeks

Take $80,000 a year in New Jersey, paid every two weeks (26 paychecks), single, standard W-4, no pre-tax deductions. The gross per paycheck is $3,076.92. Federal income tax withholding, from the 2026 Publication 15-T percentage method, takes $337.31. Social Security takes 6.2% of gross, $190.77, and Medicare 1.45%, $44.62. New Jersey withholds $111.77 under its brackets and deductions. The net deposit is $2,392.45, 77.8% of gross; over the year that is $62,204 from $80,000, an effective rate of 22.2% on all taxes together. Every line is reproducible from the documents on the sources page, and the table below lists them in the order they appear on a stub.

Two things on that stub are not obvious from the totals. First, the federal line is withholding, not tax: the tables annualise this paycheck as if all 26 were identical, and the year's actual tax, $8,770, differs from the $8,770 withheld by $0, which becomes a refund in April. Second, Social Security and Medicare are the same fraction of every paycheck of the year, because the salary is under the wage base, and no form can change them; only Section 125 deductions reduce their base. The reading guide walks each line and names what it should equal.

Nearby salaries: what $60,000 to $115,000 leave in New Jersey

A raise or a job offer is rarely at the round number on this page, so here is the ladder around it: the same every two weeks paycheck at 6 salaries from $60,000 to $115,000, single, standard W-4, no deductions. The effective rate climbs from 19.0% to 26.4% across the range because federal income tax is progressive while FICA is flat; each extra $10,000 of salary leaves less than the last, and the pay raise calculator prices any step exactly. The salary after tax pages carry the full range, one page per amount.

Reading the ladder the other way answers the interview question: to take home $10,000 more a year in New Jersey takes a raise of roughly $13,594 in gross at this level, because the new dollars are taxed at the marginal rate rather than the average. The state column grows faster than the salary, since New Jersey's brackets rise with income; the FICA column grows in a straight line until the wage base. The gross-up calculator runs the reverse computation for any net.

The same paycheck under each filing status

Filing status is the one W-4 line everyone fills in, and it moves the federal line more than most people expect. On $80,000 in New Jersey, paid every two weeks, a single filer is withheld $337.31 per paycheck; married filing jointly (one income) $201.54, because the joint table doubles the standard deduction to $32,200 and widens every bracket; head of household $244.15, with its $24,150 deduction and its own brackets. Married filing separately uses the single table. New Jersey's own deductions and brackets follow the state’s own joint schedule, which is why the state column moves too. Picking «married» with two incomes and skipping step 2 is the commonest cause of an April bill; the W-4 guide covers the choice.

The last column shows why the status matters beyond the paycheck: the year's federal income tax on $80,000 is $8,770 single and $5,240 married filing jointly on one income, a difference of $3,530 that the W-4 status either delivers through the year or holds back for a refund. Head of household is the status most often missed by single parents, who leave $2,422 a year on the single table. FICA is identical in every row, since it has no status.

The whole year on $80,000: withholding, tax due, and the settlement

26 paychecks of $3,076.92 withhold $8,770 of federal income tax over 2026. The tax actually due on the return, with the $16,100 standard deduction and no credits, is $8,770, so the year ends with a refund of about $0 — the gap between the withholding tables' approximation and the exact computation. The marginal rate on the last dollar is 22%; the effective rate on all taxes together is 22.2%. Social Security applies to every paycheck of the year, because $80,000 is under the $184,500 wage base. The 2026 deductions for overtime premium and tips apply at filing to anyone with qualifying pay; they do not change these paychecks. New Jersey takes $2,906 for the year, 3.6% of salary.

Refund or bill: what the year settles

Withholding is a prepayment; the return computes the tax and returns or collects the difference. On $80,000 with these settings the year withholds $8,770 against $8,770 due, so the settlement is a refund of about $0. A refund is money lent to the Treasury at no interest for up to sixteen months; a bill is fine up to a point and penalised beyond it. The point is the safe harbour: withholding of at least 90% of this year's tax ($7,893 here) or 100% of last year's (110% above $150,000 of income) avoids the underpayment penalty, which is interest on each quarter's shortfall. These paychecks clear the 90% harbour on their own.

What makes the settlement move: credits the W-4 does not carry (the earned income credit, education credits, the 2026 overtime and tip deductions), which enlarge the refund; a second income, other income, or too many dependents on the form, which produce the bill; a bonus withheld at the flat 22% when the marginal rate is 22%, which over-withholds at this salary; and a change of job or a partial year, which annualises each paycheck wrongly. The W-4 fixer sets the lines that bring the settlement to zero, or to a chosen refund.

What deductions do to this paycheck

Deductions are where the same salary produces different paychecks. A 6% traditional 401(k) contribution — $184.62 per paycheck on $80,000, well under the $24,500 annual limit — reduces federal and state taxable wages but not FICA wages, so it costs $132.50 of take-home rather than its face value. A $150 Section 125 deduction for health premiums or an HSA reduces every base including FICA, and costs $95.97. A Roth contribution of the same 6% comes out after tax and costs the full amount now in exchange for tax-free withdrawals later. The table gives each case for this paycheck; the pre-tax deductions calculator runs any amount and the 401(k) calculator draws the whole curve.

The order matters on the stub as well as in the arithmetic. Section 125 items come off first and reduce the FICA wages line, which is why a health premium lowers the Social Security and Medicare figures by 7.65% of itself; the 401(k) comes off next and reduces federal taxable wages only. Both appear in the W-2: box 1 (federal wages) is gross minus both, boxes 3 and 5 (Social Security and Medicare wages) are gross minus the Section 125 items alone. An employer match, where there is one, is added on top of the contribution and never touches the paycheck; the compare two jobs tool values it.

What each W-4 line does to this paycheck

The federal line is the only tax on the stub that a form can change, and each step of the W-4 moves it by a predictable amount. One qualifying child on step 3 lowers withholding by $84.62 per paycheck — the $2,200 credit spread over 26 paychecks — taking the net to $2,477.07. Checking box 2(c) for a second job raises it by $184.50, because the checkbox table halves the brackets so that each job is withheld as if it earned half the household income. Extra withholding on 4(c) is dollar for dollar. Other income on 4(a) adds the tax on it at the marginal rate; deductions on 4(b) remove it. The table runs each case for $80,000 in New Jersey; the W-4 fixer computes the combination that makes the year's withholding equal the year's tax.

None of these lines changes the tax; they change when it is paid. Claiming a child that is not yours on step 3, or deductions you will not take on 4(b), enlarges every paycheck and produces the same amount plus a penalty in April. The lawful levers are the ones you are entitled to — the children you have, the deductions you will itemise, the second income you must account for — and the fixer applies exactly those. A new W-4 takes effect from the next payroll run after your employer receives it, and the year-to-date withholding already taken is not recomputed.

$80,000 in New Jersey against nine other states

Federal tax and FICA are the same everywhere; the state line is what moves. On $80,000 paid every two weeks, the nine states with no wage tax leave $2,504.22 per paycheck; California leaves $2,381.34, $122.88 less, or $3,195 over the year. Flat-rate states sit in between and their rate is the whole story; bracket states depend on the salary. Prices move more than taxes between most of these states, and the state pages carry the BEA price index beside the take-home; the state ranking sorts all 51 for any salary.

Two cautions before reading the table as a moving guide. The state taxes wages where the work is done, with the resident state taxing everything and crediting the work state, so a remote job does not change the column unless you change where you live — and five states apply a «convenience of the employer» rule that keeps taxing remote work done elsewhere. And the no-tax states collect the difference elsewhere: property tax in Texas and New Hampshire, sales tax in Tennessee and Washington. The no-income-tax guide and the local taxes guide cover both.

A raise on $80,000: what arrives

A raise is taxed at the margin, so what reaches the account is the raise minus the marginal federal rate, FICA and the state's marginal rate on the new dollars only. A 3% raise on $80,000 in New Jersey adds $92.31 of gross to a every two weeks paycheck and $59.07 of net, 64.0% of it; against 3% inflation it is a real raise of about 0.0%. Nothing about the raise changes the tax on the salary below it — the «pushed into a higher bracket» fear describes arithmetic that does not exist in a progressive system. The table runs three sizes; the pay raise calculator runs any, with the inflation figure you enter.

A bonus on top of $80,000

A bonus paid separately is withheld at the flat 22% federal rate plus FICA and state: a $1,000 bonus leaves $701.05 and a $5,000 bonus $3,505.25 in New Jersey. Paid inside a regular paycheck under the aggregate method, the same bonuses are withheld $220.00 and $1,167.84 federally instead of $220.00 and $1,100.00, because the combined paycheck is annualised as if it recurred. The tax actually owed is the marginal rate — 22% at this salary — so the $5,000 bonus is really taxed $1,100.00 federally and the flat method returns $0.00 at filing. The bonus calculator shows both methods for any amount and state.

$80,000 on each pay schedule

The annual figures do not change with the pay schedule — $80,000 in New Jersey leaves the same $62,204 whether it arrives 52 times or 12 — because the withholding tables are the annual tables divided by the number of periods. What changes is the slice: a semi-monthly paycheck is 8.3% larger than a biweekly one, a monthly one more than double a biweekly one, and a weekly one half. Budgets are built from the slice, which is why the pay periods guide and the biweekly vs semi-monthly guide matter more than the small difference in withholding precision between them.

Employers choose the schedule, within the minimum their state sets, and the choice follows the workforce: hourly staff are usually paid weekly or biweekly because overtime is computed by the workweek, and salaried staff semi-monthly or monthly because their pay does not vary. A change of schedule re-spreads every per-paycheck deduction — a monthly premium divided by 2 instead of 2.1667 — and usually leaves a one-time gap between the last paycheck on the old schedule and the first on the new. The table gives $80,000 on all four; the frequency pages carry the calendar for each.

Common mistakes

Reading 22% as the tax. It is withholding. Expecting the aggregate method to be gentler. On a big bonus it is harsher. Missing the deferral election. Bonus 401(k) deferrals sometimes need a separate form.

Reading the flat 22% on a bonus as the tax on it. It is withholding; the tax is your marginal rate. Budgeting from the wrong paycheck: biweekly and semi-monthly differ by about 7.7%. Claiming the same child on two W-4s, which under-withholds the household by the credit. Assuming a raise can push you into a bracket that leaves you worse off — in a progressive system it cannot. Forgetting the Social Security cap: above $184,500 the later paychecks are larger, and a budget built on January's paycheck is too tight for December's.