How to Calculate Payroll | Taxes, Methods, Examples, & More

When you have employees, payroll is one of your most authoritative tasks. Because payroll is oh-so important, you need to know how to calculate your employees ’ checks. That includes knowing how to calculate taxes and other deductions accurately. Read on to learn more about how to calculate payroll .

How to calculate payroll: The basics

Before calculating payroll, you need to know how much and how frequently you pay your employees .
For hourly employees, multiply the total hourly rate by the number of hours worked for the wage period. If the employee works overtime and is nonexempt, multiply the hourly rate by 1.5 ( or the rate according to the overtime rules by department of state ) to get the overtime rate. then, multiply the overtime rate by the number of hours the employee worked over 40 in the week. Add the employee ’ randomness entire regular wages and overtime together ( if applicable ) .
If your employee is salaried, determine their annual wages and divide it by the number of pay periods in the class ( e.g., 26 give periods for semiweekly ). The sum is the employee ’ south megascopic wages for the yield time period. For model, if an employee makes $ 40,000 annually and is paid semiweekly, divide their annual wages ( $ 40,000 ) by 26 to get their total gross pay up for the period ( $ 40,000 / 26 = $ 1,538.46 ).

Reading: How to Calculate Payroll | Taxes, Methods, Examples, & More

broadly, there are a few taxes you need to calculate to process payroll correctly, including :

Federal income tax (FIT)
Social Security tax
Medicare tax
State income tax (SIT), if applicable
Local income tax, if applicable

In some states ( for example, Pennsylvania ), you may need to calculate state of matter unemployment taxes for your employees. additionally, some states have state-specific taxes employees and/or employers may need to pay ( for example, Oregon passage tax ) .

Federal income tax

The IRS releases a new Publication 15-T each class with instructions on how to calculate federal income tax. How to calculate federal income tax depends on a diverseness of factors, including :

Which version of Form W-4 you have on file for the employee (pre-2020 or post-2020)
Pay frequency
Employee’s filing status (e.g., single)
If the employee has multiple jobs (i.e., the employee checked the box in Step 2 for multiple jobs)
Dependents amount (or withholding allowances, if using the pre-2020 Form W-4)
Deductions
Additional withholdings

once you know your employee ’ second information, you can use Publication 15-T to determine how much to withhold for FIT .
Determine which calculation method acting to use before you start. The IRS offers two methods : share and engage bracket. Publication 15-T gives both the share method acting and engage bracket method worksheets. Use the applicable worksheet to calculate each employee ’ s federal income tax withholding .
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Social Security tax

Social Security tax is a payroll tax that both employers and employees contribute to equally. The total tax sum is 12.4 %. The employee pays half ( 6.2 % ), and the employer pays the early half ( 6.2 % ). The 2022 Social Security engage base is $ 147,000. only withhold Social Security taxes on wages up to $ 147,000 .
multiply 6.2 % by the employee ’ randomness arrant taxable wages for the pay up period to find their Social Security tax amount .

Medicare tax

Medicare is the early tax that both employers and employees contribute to. The total tax is 2.9 %, so employees pay 1.45 %, and employers pay 1.45 % .
Multiply the employee ’ mho gross taxable wages by 1.45 % to determine how much to withhold for Medicare tax. Medicare does not have a wage base. however, you may need to withhold an extra 0.9 % from employee wages depending on their wages and filing condition ( e.g., Single ). Employers do not have to contribute to the extra Medicare tax sum, but they must continue to contribute 1.45 % each paycheck .

State income tax

Some states do not have income tax, including :

Alaska
Florida
Nevada
New Hampshire
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Washington
Wyoming

If your employee works in a state without income tax, do not withhold country income taxes from their wages .
Some states have a flat tax rate, meaning that the rate does not change depending on how much an employee earns. These states include :

Colorado
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Michigan
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Utah

The pillow of the states with an income tax use a liberal tax rate, mean that the rate increases the more an employee earns .
If your state has a flat tax rate, multiply the tax pace by the gross taxable wages to determine the measure of tax to withhold from your employees ’ checks .
If your department of state uses a progressive tax rate, use the tax tables in your state ’ s income tax withholding software documentation to determine how much SIT to withhold from your employees .
Check with your country for more information on their tax rates .

Local income tax

not all states have local anesthetic income tax, even if the submit has state income tax. Check with your local government to determine if your employees must pay local anesthetic income tax .
Rates can vary from vicinity to vicinity. If your employees must pay local income tax, use the documentation from the local government to determine how much local income tax to withhold .

Other deductions to consider when calculating payroll

sometimes, calculating payroll is a easy as lone determining the total of taxes to withhold. other times, you have employee deductions to calculate, excessively. There are two types of deductions to consider when calculating payroll :

Pre-tax
Post-tax

Pre-tax deductions

Pre-tax deductions are what they sound like : the tax write-off comes out of the employee ’ sulfur wages before you calculate the taxes. A pre-tax deduction is tax-exempt and reduces the taxable income for an employee ’ s federal, state, and local anesthetic taxes, including :

Federal income taxes
FICA (Social Security and Medicare taxes)
State income taxes, if applicable
Local income taxes, if applicable

unfortunately, not all pre-tax deductions are so simple. For example, a 401 ( kelvin ) is a pre-tax deduction for federal income taxes but not for Social Security and Medicare taxes. then, you would lone subtract the cost of the tax write-off from the employee ’ sulfur gross wages to calculate FIT. To calculate Social Security and Medicare taxes, you would not subtract the come of the discount.

Post-tax deductions

Post-tax deductions are a sting elementary to calculate. Subtract the sum of the deduction from the wages after you calculate and deduct all of the payroll taxes .

Payroll how-to example

Your employee, Bob, earns a fortnightly wage of $ 3,000. He uses the 2021 Form W-4 and is single with no dependents. He did not check the box for multiple jobs. And, he does not have extra withholdings, other tax deductions, or pre- or post-tax deductions. Bob lives and works in Texas, so he does not have state or local income taxes .
Using Publication 15-T, you decide to use the percentage method to calculate Bob ’ s federal income tax withhold. Complete Worksheet 1A for the percentage method acting tables. You use an automated payroll system, so you must use the percentage method acting tables for automatize payroll systems careless of which version of Form W-4 you have on file .

step 2 above is incomplete because Bob ’ s wages meet multiple criteria ( which we ’ ll receive to in a moment ) .
hera is Bob ’ south information using Worksheet 1A for share Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems :

$3,000 per payroll period
26 pay periods in the years (biweekly)
$3,000 X 26 = $78,000

Bob earns $ 78,000 per year, and he uses the 2021 Form W-4. Complete the section for this adaptation of the form :

Enter “0” on line 1d because Bob does not claim other income (not from jobs).
Add $78,000 + $0 = $78,000 on line 1e.
Enter “0” on line 1f because Bob does not claim other deductions.
Bob did not check the box for multiple jobs and is filing as single. Enter $8,600 on line 1g.
Add $0 + $8,600 = $8,600 on line 1h.
Subtract $8,600 from $78,000 ($78,000 – $8,600) to get the Adjusted Annual Wage Amount of $69,400. Enter this amount on line 1i.

Bob ’ sulfur adjusted annual wages are $ 69,400 .
You must now calculate the doubtful withhold total for Bob ’ mho wages. Use the share method tables for fortnightly payroll. The leave side of the table applies to employees who did not check the box on Step 2 of Form W-4 .

To calculate Bob ’ mho FIT, use the area outlined in bolshevik. Use the section for Single or Married Filing Separately to determine the probationary withhold amounts :

Enter the adjusted annual wage amount ($69,400).
Bob’s wages fit multiple rows in his section. Because his wages fit multiple rows between the wage amounts in Columns A and B, use multiple tax percentage rates:
1. Wages between Columns A and B in the second row are multiplied by 10% ($14,625 – $4,350 = $10,275).
  1. Withhold $1,027.50 for wages earned between these amounts ($10,275 X 10%).
2. Wages between Columns A and B in the third row are multiplied by 12% ($46,125 – $14,625 = $31,500).
  1. Withhold $3,780 for wages earned between these amounts ($31,500 X 12%).
Calculate 22% (Column D) of the earnings that are over $44,475 (Column E).
1. $69,400 wages – $46,125 = $23,275 in wages taxed at 22%. This is $5,120.50 in FIT ($23,275 X 22%).
Add together the amount of tax for each of the rows to get the employee’s total annual FIT amount ($1,027.50 + $3,780 + $5,120.50).
1. The total amount of FIT to withhold for the entire year is $9,928.
Divide $9,928 by the 26 pay periods in the year to determine how much tax to withhold per paycheck for FIT.
1. Withhold $381.85 per biweekly paycheck ($9,928 / 26).

then, report for the tax credits listed on Bob ’ s Form W-4. Bob does not have any dependents, so enter a 0 on each line of Step 3 of Worksheet 1A .
Bob besides does not list extra withholdings. Enter a 0 on each line of Step 4 .
The total sum of FIT to withhold from each of Bob ’ mho paychecks remains $ 381.85 .

Short FIT calculation

Want to skip a couple of steps ? The column in Publication 15-T give you tentative withholding amounts in Column C. Use the doubtful withhold to determine Bob ’ mho FIT :

Locate where Bob’s annual adjusted income of $69,400 fits in the percentage tables.
1. His income is between $46,125 in Column A and $93,425 in Column B on Line 4.
Use the tentative withholding amount in Column C.
1. The tentative withholding amount is $4,807.50.
Subtract $46,125 from Bob’s adjusted annual income of $69,400.
1. $69,400 – $46,125 = $23,275
Multiply the difference in his annual wages and the amount in Column A by the 22% withholding percentage in Column D.
1. $23,275 X 22% = $5,120.50
Add the tentative withholding amount to the amount of wages taxed at 22%.
1. $4,807.50 + $5,120.50 = $9,928
Divide the total tax withholding amount by Bob’s 26 pay periods.
1. $9,928 / 26 = $381.85

In the sawed-off version, Bob ’ s FIT withholding remains $ 381.85 per paycheck .

Calculating other taxes and net income

Calculating Social Security and Medicare tax is much simpler than calculating FIT. Simply multiply $ 3,000 by 6.2 % to determine how much Social Security tax to withhold ( $ 3,000 X 6.2 % = $ 186 ). withhold $ 186 from each of Bob ’ randomness paychecks ( unless he hits the SS wage establish ) .
Multiply $ 3,000 by 1.45 % to determine how much Medicare tax to withhold ( $ 3,000 X 1.45 % = $ 43.50 ) .
Because Bob does not have submit or local income taxes, you can now subtract the tax withholdings from the crude income to determine Bob ’ sulfur net income ( aka take-home wage ) :
Gross Pay – FIT – SS Tax – Medicare Tax = Net Income
$ 3,000 – $ 381.85 – $ 186 – $ 43.50 = $ 2,388.65
Bob ’ second net income is $ 2,388.65 .

Double-check your work

Before you rush off to start writing paychecks, check and double-check your sour. You can use different calculators to make certain your mathematics is correctly. Often called a paycheck calculator, paycheck tax calculator, payroll calculator, or payroll tax calculator, these tools can assist you in checking your function.

Or, make it comfortable by using payroll software that has the tax rates and your employee ’ sulfur Form W-4 information entered. Payroll software does all of the calculations for you, including FIT, SIT, Social Security, and Medicare taxes. And, most software besides calculates extra state payroll taxes .
This is not intended as legal advice ; for more information, please chatter here.

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