See what your employer withholds from a bonus in 2026 (22% federal + FICA + state) and what you actually owe — the gap is your refund.
Sets the Social Security cap, the Medicare surtax and the bracket your bonus lands in.
2026 flat 22% federal plus Social Security and Medicare, no state tax and no prior salary.
| Bonus | Federal 22% | FICA | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $220.00 | $76.50 | $703.50 |
| $2,500 | $550.00 | $191.25 | $1,758.75 |
| $5,000 | $1,100.00 | $382.50 | $3,517.50 |
| $10,000 | $2,200.00 | $765.00 | $7,035.00 |
| $15,000 | $3,300.00 | $1,147.50 | $10,552.50 |
| $25,000 | $5,500.00 | $1,912.50 | $17,587.50 |
| $50,000 | $11,000.00 | $3,825.00 | $35,175.00 |
| $100,000 | $22,000.00 | $7,650.00 | $70,350.00 |
Estimates 2026 federal and state withholding on a bonus per IRS Publication 15, plus the incremental federal income tax the bonus causes. State supplemental rules were verified 2026-08-04 against each state's own 2026 guidance or two independent industry tables, and states do change rates mid-year. Excludes local taxes, pre-tax deductions and your W-4 settings. Not tax advice — verify with the IRS or a tax professional.
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Your employer almost certainly withholds a flat 22% from your bonus, plus Social Security, Medicare and your state's supplemental rate. That is withholding, not your tax bill. This calculator shows both numbers — what gets taken out of the cheque and what the bonus really costs you once you file — and the difference between them, which is the refund (or the shortfall) waiting at the end of the year.
A bonus is a supplemental wage. IRS Publication 15 lets an employer withhold from it in two ways: the percentage method, a flat 22% (rising to 37% on the part of your supplemental wages above 1 million dollars in a year), or the aggregate method, where the bonus is added to your most recent pay period's wages and withheld using the ordinary tables. Either way Social Security (6.2% up to the 184,500 dollar wage base), Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% once your wages pass 200,000) and your state's supplemental rate come out on top. None of this is the final tax. The bonus is ordinary income, so at filing it is taxed at your marginal bracket — if that bracket is under 22% the difference comes back, and if it is over you will owe more.
Bonus Take-Home Formula
Working out what a year-end or performance bonus is actually worth in your account.
Budgeting a new-job signing bonus after 22% federal withholding and state tax.
Commissions are supplemental wages too, and withheld the same way.
Bonuses above one million dollars, where the mandatory 37% tier applies.
Seeing whether over-withholding on a bonus will come back to you at filing.
Comparing take-home now against deferring a bonus into a retirement plan.
Shows the 22% your employer takes and the tax you actually owe, so you can see the refund coming.
If your salary already used up the Social Security wage base, no 6.2% comes out of the bonus — and the 0.9% surtax may.
51 jurisdictions, each marked as a published supplemental rate or our estimate, with the date they were checked.
Applies the mandatory 37% to the part of your supplemental wages above one million dollars.
A fixed table of what a bonus of 1,000 to 100,000 dollars leaves you, with no typing required.
With the flat percentage method, 2,200 dollars of federal withholding (22%) plus 765 in Social Security and Medicare, leaving 7,035 before state tax. Add your state's supplemental rate on top — in California that is another 1,023, taking you to 6,012. That is what is withheld, not what you owe; if your marginal bracket is below 22% some of it comes back.
The 22% is a flat federal withholding rate for supplemental wages, not a tax rate. It feels like 40% because Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%) and state tax stack on top — in a high-tax state the total withheld can pass 40% of the bonus. Your actual tax is settled on your return at your marginal bracket.
Some of it, if the flat 22% withheld more than your marginal bracket charges. A single filer earning 45,000 dollars is in the 12% bracket, so a 10,000 dollar bonus is over-withheld by about 1,000 dollars, which comes back at filing. Above the 22% bracket the reverse happens and you will owe the difference. Social Security and Medicare never come back.
The percentage method takes a flat 22% of the bonus, paid separately. The aggregate method adds the bonus to your most recent pay period's regular wages, works out withholding on the combined amount using the ordinary tables, and subtracts what was already withheld from that pay. Aggregate usually withholds more from a large bonus, because a single period's combined pay annualises high. Both are just withholding — the final tax is identical.
No. A bonus is ordinary income taxed at exactly the same rates as salary. Only the withholding differs, and withholding is a prepayment that gets reconciled on your return.
Yes, once your wages for the year pass the Social Security wage base — 184,500 dollars in 2026. Above it no more 6.2% is withheld on any wages, including a bonus. Medicare has no cap, and an extra 0.9% starts once wages pass 200,000.
The part of your supplemental wages above one million dollars in a calendar year must be withheld at 37%, the top federal rate. The first million takes the ordinary 22%. On a 1.2 million dollar bonus that is 220,000 plus 74,000, or 294,000 of federal withholding before FICA and state.
California, at 10.23% on bonuses and stock options, is the highest published supplemental rate, with New York at 11.7% for state alone before New York City. Nine states take nothing because they do not tax wage income: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
You can defer the federal and state income tax by contributing the bonus to a traditional 401(k), up to the annual limit, which lowers this year's taxable income. Social Security and Medicare still come out — payroll tax applies whether or not you defer.