Bonus Tax Calculator
See how much of your bonus you actually keep in 2026. Compare the IRS 22% flat percentage method against the aggregate method, add FICA and state withholding, and get your net bonus to the cent.
Bonus Tax Calculator
Gross Bonus Amount
Bonuses above $1,000,000 in a calendar year trigger a mandatory 37% federal rate on the excess.
Withholding Method
Percentage method is the IRS flat 22% on supplemental wages. Aggregate adds the bonus to your regular paycheck and withholds at your normal bracket.
Filing Status
Pay Frequency & Regular Wages
Year-to-Date Wages (optional)
Used to flag the 2026 Social Security wage base ($184,500) and the $200,000 Additional Medicare trigger.
State Supplemental Tax Rate
No state income tax: AK, FL, NV, NH, SD, TN, TX, WA, WY. Flat states include PA (3.07%), IL (4.95%). California supplemental can hit 10.23%; New York 11.7%.
Pre-Tax Deductions & Extra Withholding
Pre-tax deductions reduce federal and state income tax. FICA still applies to the full bonus per IRS rules.
Estimates only, not tax or legal advice. Actual withholding depends on your employer's chosen method, your W-4, year-to-date wages, and state and local rules.
Method Comparison
See Your Real Take-Home, Bonus or Not
ClockWage44's Hours Tracker logs every paycheck and runs federal tax, state tax, FICA, and deductions on-device. Add a bonus as extra income and the engine works out your actual take-home for the period.
How Bonus Tax Withholding Works in 2026
The IRS calls a bonus a "supplemental wage." That bucket covers year-end bonuses, sign-on bonuses, commissions, severance, back pay, awards, and most other payments outside your normal paycheck. Publication 15 and Publication 15-T give employers two ways to withhold federal income tax on supplemental wages: a flat percentage method or the aggregate method.
Under the percentage method, your employer takes a flat 22% federal income tax off the bonus on the first $1,000,000 of supplemental wages you earn in a calendar year. Anything above $1,000,000 gets hit with a mandatory 37% rate, no exceptions. This is withholding, not your final tax bill. When you file in April, your actual tax is recalculated against your full-year income, and any overage comes back as a refund.
Percentage Method vs. Aggregate Method
Run the same $5,000 bonus through both methods to see the difference. Say you are paid biweekly, $2,000 per check, filing single. Percentage method: $5,000 times 22% equals $1,100 of federal income tax withheld. Aggregate method: the employer adds the bonus to the regular check ($7,000 total), annualizes it ($7,000 times 26 equals $182,000), looks up the tax on that annual figure against the 2026 single brackets, subtracts the tax that would have been owed on $52,000 of annual regular wages, and divides the difference by 26. That math usually lands higher than 22% because the combined check pretends a single biweekly bonus repeats all year long.
Most large employers pick the percentage method because it is simpler and easier to explain on a pay stub. Smaller employers running off-the-shelf payroll software sometimes default to aggregate. Neither method changes your final tax bill, only how much is held back up front.
FICA, State Tax, and Pre-Tax Deductions on Bonuses
FICA always applies to bonuses. Social Security is 6.2% on the bonus, capped by the 2026 wage base of $184,500 (any wages above that for the year are exempt). Medicare is 1.45% on the full bonus with no cap. Once your combined year-to-date wages cross $200,000, employers add a 0.9% Additional Medicare withholding on every dollar above the threshold. The $200,000 trigger is filing-status agnostic at the employer level; you reconcile against the $200,000 / $250,000 / $125,000 thresholds (single, MFJ, MFS) when you file.
State income tax depends on where you live. Nine states do not tax wage income at all (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming). Many others use a flat supplemental rate that differs from their regular bracket rate, like Pennsylvania at 3.07% or Illinois at 4.95%. California layers a 10.23% supplemental rate on bonuses for highly compensated employees, and New York can hit 11.7%. The calculator above takes a single percentage so you can plug in whatever rate your state publishes for 2026.
Pre-tax contributions to a 401(k), 403(b), or HSA come off the bonus before federal and state income tax. They do not, however, escape FICA. That is why your $5,000 bonus contributed 100% to your 401(k) still shows Social Security and Medicare on the pay stub.
How to Estimate Your Take-Home Bonus Inside ClockWage44
ClockWage44's Hours Tracker has a built-in paycheck engine that handles federal tax, state tax, FICA, overtime rules, and deductions on-device. Log the bonus as extra taxable income on a paycheck estimate, pick the withholding method your employer uses, and the engine returns the same per-period net the calculator on this page does, against the rest of your real schedule. (Download the app)[/#download] to keep the math attached to your actual shifts. Pair this tool with the (overtime calculator)[/tools/overtime-calculator/] when a heavy week and a bonus land in the same pay period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about bonus tax calculator
How much of my bonus will I actually take home?
Net take-home is your gross bonus minus federal withholding (22% flat under the percentage method, or a bigger slice if the aggregate method pushes you into a higher bracket), 6.2% Social Security up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, 1.45% Medicare, any state supplemental tax, and pre-tax deductions like 401(k) or HSA. The calculator above runs all of that at once.
Why is my bonus taxed so high?
Bonuses are not taxed at a higher rate, they are withheld at a higher flat rate. The IRS treats bonuses as supplemental wages and lets employers withhold a flat 22%, which is often more than your normal paycheck withholding. Your actual tax bill is settled when you file, so if your effective tax rate ends up below 22%, you get the difference back.
What is the difference between the percentage method and the aggregate method?
Percentage method: your employer pays the bonus separately and withholds a flat 22% federal. Aggregate method: the bonus is added to your regular paycheck, and withholding is figured as if that combined amount were your normal pay. The aggregate method can briefly push you into a higher bracket for that one check, which is why a $5,000 bonus paid alongside your biweekly wage can look very different from the same bonus paid on its own.
What is the federal bonus tax rate for 2026?
22% on the first $1,000,000 of supplemental wages in a calendar year, and a mandatory 37% on any portion above $1,000,000. The rules live in IRS Publication 15 and Publication 15-T. The calculator splits the math at the $1M line automatically.
Do bonuses get hit with Social Security and Medicare?
Yes. Bonuses are FICA wages: 6.2% Social Security on the bonus up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, 1.45% Medicare on the full bonus with no cap, plus an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare once your combined year-to-date wages cross $200,000. Pair this tool with the guide on (how to read a pay stub)[/blog/how-to-read-a-pay-stub/] to see where each line lands.
How are bonuses over $1 million taxed?
Once your year-to-date supplemental wages cross $1,000,000, every additional dollar is withheld at a mandatory 37% federal rate. The split is required (the IRS does not let employers apply 22% to the portion above $1M), so the calculator switches to 37% on dollars over the threshold.
Will I get some of my bonus withholding back?
Maybe. Withholding is not the same as final tax. If your effective federal tax rate for the year ends up below 22%, the gap comes back as a refund. If your marginal rate is higher (say 24% or 32%), 22% withholding on a bonus may not cover your full bill, so plan for a balance at filing time.
Can I lower the tax on my bonus?
A few common moves: route part of the bonus into a pre-tax 401(k) or HSA (still subject to FICA, but it cuts federal and state income tax), time the bonus across tax years if your employer allows it, or bump up regular W-4 withholding so the bonus does not trigger an underpayment penalty at filing. For multi-job households, our guide on (how to file taxes with multiple jobs)[/blog/how-to-file-taxes-with-multiple-jobs/] covers W-4 coordination.