Bonus Tax Calculator (2026)
Your bonus is supplemental wages: 22% federal withholding (37% above $1M a year), FICA on every dollar, and a state rate your employer may set flat. Here is what is withheld on payday, and what the bonus actually costs at filing.
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Your bonus
TY 2026One separate payment, before any deductions.
Used for bracket position, the Social Security wage base and Medicare thresholds.
Only affects the $1,000,000 line: above it every extra dollar is withheld at 37%.
What the bonus really costs
two sidesOf your $10,000 bonus, $6,105 stays with you once every tax on it is counted — federal at your 2200% marginal rate, California tax and FICA.
| When the bonus is paid | Amount |
|---|---|
| Federal withholding (flat 22%) | −$2,200 |
| FICA (Social Security + Medicare) | −$765 |
| You receive (federal + FICA only) | $7,035 |
| When you file | Cost |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax on this bonus | $2,200 |
| California tax on this bonus | $930 |
| FICA (identical either way) | $765 |
| Total real cost | $3,895 |
State withholding is set separately by your employer — some states use a flat supplemental rate (New York 11.70%, California 10.23%), others withhold as if it were regular pay. The California figure above is the state tax you actually owe on the bonus, computed by the same engine as every state page.
How a bonus is actually taxed
The IRS calls a bonus supplemental wages — pay that is not regular salary: bonuses, commissions, severance, overtime premiums. Employers have two legal federal withholding methods for it (IRS Publication 15 (2026), section 7):
- Flat rate method. Withhold a flat 22% on supplemental wages up to $1,000,000 for the calendar year, and 37% on the amount above $1,000,000. No W-4 adjustments — it is deliberately simple, and it is what most payroll systems default to.
- Aggregate method. Add the bonus to the most recent paycheck and withhold as if it were regular pay. Closer to your real bracket when the bonus is large, but the employer chooses.
The 22% is a withholding rate, not a tax rate. Your real federal bill on the bonus is your marginal rate (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% or 37%). In the 24% bracket the flat rate under-withholds and you owe the rest in April; in the 12% bracket it over-withholds and you get it back. That gap is the “settle-up” figure on the right.
FICA is not a withholding choice. Social Security is withheld at 6.2% until year-to-date wages cross the $184,500 wage base for 2026, then it stops — so a December bonus on a $140,000 salary can be almost entirely exempt from Social Security while a January bonus on the same salary is not. Medicare (1.45%) applies to every dollar, plus 0.9% above $200,000. These are final: withholding differently never changes them, unlike income tax.
State tax is where withholding and reality diverge hardest. Some states mandate a flat supplemental rate — New York 11.70% (NYS-50-T), California 10.23% on bonuses and commissions (EDD DE 44). The rest withholds as if it were regular pay. The filing-side table above shows the state tax you owe on the bonus — computed by the same engine as the 50-state reference — because that is what decides whether April brings a bill or a refund.
Worked example — $10,000 bonus on a $100,000 salary, single
Both columns start from $2,200 of federal flat-rate withholding (22% of $10,000) — identical in every state. FICA too is the same $765 in both, because it does not care which state you live in. Only the state line moves:
| Line | California | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Federal withheld at payment (flat 22%) | $2,200 | $2,200 |
| Real federal tax on the bonus | $2,200 | $2,200 |
| State tax on the bonus | $930 | $0 |
| Total real cost (incl. FICA) | $3,895 | $2,965 |
| You actually keep | $6,105 | $7,035 |
Federal withholding and FICA are the two sides of one payday: what lands in your account in the first table is cash in hand, not tax paid. The second table is what your Form 1040 will say about the same money. The calculator repeats both for whatever bonus, salary and state you enter — the example above is the engine run, not a hand-typed figure.
What this ignores
- Your employer may use the aggregate method instead of the flat 22% — check the stub line. Both are legal; the calculator shows the flat method because it is the IRS default for bonuses under $1M.
- State withholding out of this paycheck is set by your payroll provider: some use the flat supplemental rate, some treat the bonus as regular wages. The table shows what you owe, not what will be deducted on payday.
- Local taxes (NYC, Yonkers, Ohio cities, Pennsylvania counties), pre-tax deductions, credits, and multi-state day allocation are outside this page.
- Other supplemental payments during the year count toward the $1,000,000 threshold (field on the left); they do not change your bracket position — that is already handled by your salary input.
Where to look next
- 50 states — every state tax structure, plus a calculator behind each row.
- Take-home pay calculator — a bonus is one payment; this is the whole year, with pre-tax deductions and local tax.
- Equivalent salary — the bonus next year: what salary keeps the same take-home in another state.
- Remote work taxes — when the bonus is earned in one state and you live in another.