Bonus tax calculator 2026
Your employer withholds a flat 22% of a bonus for federal income tax, which is a withholding rule rather than a tax rate. This shows what reaches your account and what the bonus really costs, because when those differ the gap comes back to you at filing.
What actually reaches your account
$3,517.50
of a $5,000 bonus in Texas, once $1,483 is withheld. That is 70.3% of the bonus.
$3,517.50 of a $5,000 bonus reaches your account in Texas.
- In your account 70%
- Federal withheld (22%) 22%
- Social Security and Medicare 8%
Withheld now, and what it really costs
Texas, 2026| Federal income tax on the bonus | Amount |
|---|---|
| Withheld from the cheque, at the flat 22% supplemental rate | $1,100 |
| What the bonus actually adds to your 2026 federal tax | $600 |
| Over-withheld, so it comes back at filing | $500 |
The flat 22% is a withholding rule from IRS Publication 15, not a tax rate. Your bonus is ordinary income and is taxed at your own rates when you file, so the two figures above differ whenever your marginal rate is not 22%. Social Security, Medicare and state tax are withheld from a bonus the same way they are from salary.
Withheld at 22%, taxed at your own rate
A bonus is a supplemental wage. IRS Publication 15 lets an employer withhold federal income tax on one at a flat 22% instead of working out your personal rate, and most do because it is simpler. Above $1,000,000 of supplemental wages in a year the rate becomes 37%.
None of that changes what the bonus is worth. It is ordinary income and lands in the same brackets as your salary. A single filer earning $60,000 has $1,100 withheld from a $5,000 bonus but only pays $600 more federal tax for the year, so roughly $500 returns as part of the refund. Someone whose marginal rate is above 22% sees it the other way round and owes the shortfall.
Social Security and Medicare come out of a bonus exactly as they do out of salary, so a bonus paid after your wages have passed the $184,500 Social Security wage base loses 6.2% less than the same bonus paid in January.
How to use this calculator
- Step 1
Enter the bonus before anything is taken off
Use the gross figure from the letter or the pay stub, not what landed in your account. The tool takes that off for you.
- Step 2
Add your salary and state
The salary decides which bracket the bonus falls in, which is what makes the 22% either too much or too little. The state decides whether there is a state line at all.
- Step 3
Read both federal figures, not just the first
The top one is what the employer takes now. The one below is what the bonus adds to your tax for the year. The difference is your refund or your bill.
Estimates of annual liability, not a copy of your employer's payroll run. Some states withhold bonuses at their own supplemental rate, which this does not model. How the numbers are produced.
The rate has not changed since 2018
A bonus is not the only thing this covers. Publication 15 treats commissions, overtime pay, severance, back pay, sick pay, vacation payouts, awards and prizes as supplemental wages as well, and the same flat rate and the same true-up at filing apply to all of them.
People arrive here searching for the bonus tax rate in a particular year, so it is worth saying plainly: it is the same rate. The flat withholding rate on supplemental wages was cut from 25% to 22% by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with effect from 2018, and the mandatory rate on supplemental wages above $1,000,000 was cut from 39.6% to 37% at the same time. Neither has moved since, and the 2025 act made the underlying rates permanent.
A bonus paid in 2021, 2022, 2023 or 2024 was therefore withheld at 22%, exactly as one paid today is. What did change across those years is the tax you finally owe on it, because the brackets and the standard deduction move every year. That is the number the calculator above works out, and you can switch the tax year in it to see a past year on that year's own tables.
Frequently asked questions
How much tax is taken out of a bonus?
Federal income tax is withheld at a flat 22% on bonuses and other supplemental wages, plus 6.2% Social Security up to the $184,500 wage base and 1.45% Medicare, plus any state tax. On a $5,000 bonus that is $1,100 of federal income tax before FICA and state.
Why was my bonus taxed at 22%?
It was not taxed at 22%, it was withheld at 22%. IRS Publication 15 lets an employer withhold on supplemental wages at a single flat rate rather than working out your personal rate. The bonus is ordinary income on your return, so if your marginal rate is lower the excess comes back as a refund.
Do I get bonus tax back?
If the flat 22% withheld more than the bonus actually cost you, yes, as part of your refund. A single filer on $60,000 in a no-tax state has $1,100 withheld from a $5,000 bonus but it only adds $600 to the year's federal tax, so about $500 comes back. If you are in a higher bracket than 22% it works the other way and you will owe the difference.
Are bonuses taxed higher than salary?
No. A bonus is ordinary income, taxed on exactly the same brackets as salary when you file. Only the withholding is different, which is why the cheque looks small even though the year-end tax is unchanged.
Does this apply to commissions and severance too?
Yes. A bonus is one kind of supplemental wage, and IRS Publication 15 puts commissions, overtime pay, severance, back pay, sick pay, vacation payouts, awards and prizes in the same category. All of them can be withheld at the flat 22%, and all of them are ordinary income when you file, so everything on this page applies to a commission cheque exactly as it does to a bonus.
What was the bonus tax rate in 2022, 2023 or 2024?
The same 22%. The flat supplemental rate was cut from 25% to 22% by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect in 2018, and it has not moved since; the 2025 tax act made those rates permanent. The mandatory rate on supplemental wages above $1,000,000 went from 39.6% to 37% at the same time and has also stayed put. So a bonus withheld in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 or now was withheld at 22%, and if you are checking an old payslip that is the figure you should find.
What happens to bonuses over $1 million?
Supplemental wages above $1,000,000 in a calendar year are withheld at 37%, the top federal rate, and the employer must use that rate regardless of your Form W-4.
Can I avoid the withholding on a bonus?
Not directly, and the flat rate is your employer's choice of method rather than yours. What you can change is the outcome: putting part of the bonus into a traditional 401(k) or an HSA reduces the income tax on it, and a 401(k) deferral from a bonus is a common way to do that.
Read next
- PaycheckNew paycheck calculatorYour regular pay, with every deduction.
- How bonuses are taxed, and why the check looks so smallSupplemental wages are withheld at a flat 22% federal rate, which is often more than your normal rate, but the bonus is taxed as ordinary income when you file.
- Traditional or Roth 401(k): what changes on your paycheckThe same contribution, two different paychecks.
- Effective and marginal tax ratesWhy 22% is the wrong number for most people.
Other related calculators
- Payroll tax calculatorWhat an employee costs an employer, and what comes out of their pay. Both sides, one page.
- Paycheck calculatorTake-home pay after federal tax, FICA and state tax, for all 51 US jurisdictions.
- Federal tax bracketsEvery band and rate, with the standard deduction, for five tax years.
Hadi · Developer and maintainer
Federal tables checked against the IRS 2026 inflation adjustments on . State figures, where quoted, are each state's latest published schedule, 2025; federal figures are 2026.