Federal Paycheck Withholding Calculator

How IRS Publication 15-T Worksheet 1A works

Under 26 U.S.C. § 3402(a)(1), "every employer making payment of wages shall deduct and withhold upon such wages a tax determined in accordance with tables or computational procedures prescribed by the Secretary." IRS Publication 15-T (2026) sets those rules. It tells employers that "If you’re an employer with an automated payroll system, use Worksheet 1A and the Percentage Method tables in this section to figure federal income tax withholding." Under 26 U.S.C. § 3401(b), "For purposes of this chapter, the term “payroll period” means a period for which a payment of wages is ordinarily made to the employee by his employer, and the term “miscellaneous payroll period” means a payroll period other than a daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or annual payroll period." Worksheet 1A takes your taxable pay on Line 1a and multiplies it by the Table 3 count on Line 1b (52, 26, 24, 12, 4, 2, or 260). On a $2,000 biweekly check, 26 paychecks give $52,000 on Line 1c.

Next, Step 1 adjusts that yearly pay using your Form W-4 (2026). It adds Step 4(a) other income on Line 1d to get Line 1e. Then it takes off Step 4(b) deductions on Line 1f and the Line 1g standard amount. When Step 2(c) is not checked, Line 1g is $12,900 for Married Filing Jointly and $8,600 for Single or Head of Household. That Line 1g figure is only part of the 2026 standard deduction, while the rest sits in the untaxed first row of each STANDARD table. Under Revenue Procedure 2025-32 section 4.14(1), "For taxable years beginning in 2026, the standard deduction amounts under § 63(c)(2) are as follows:" The table that follows lists one amount for each filing status.

Step 2 looks up your Adjusted Annual Wage Amount (Line 1i, or Line 1l on a 2019 form where each allowance takes off $4,300). The table row gives a base tax in Column C plus a rate in Column D on the pay above Column A. Dividing that yearly tax (Line 2g) by your pay periods gives the tentative check tax on Line 2h. Step 3 divides your yearly Step 3 credits by the pay periods on Line 3b and subtracts them from Line 2h, stopping at $0 on Line 3c. Step 4 adds any extra tax from Step 4(c) on Line 4a to reach the tax withheld on Line 4b.

The Worksheet 1A percentage method formulas

Line 1a = max($0, paycheck wages − pre-tax deductions);  Line 1c = Line 1a × pay periods
Line 1e = Line 1c + Step 4(a);  Line 1g = $0 if Step 2 checked, else $12,900 (MFJ) or $8,600 (Single/HOH)
Line 1i = max($0, Line 1e − (Step 4(b) + Line 1g));  2019 Form W-4: Line 1l = max($0, Line 1c − allowances × $4,300)
Line 2g = round_half_up(column C + column D × (adjusted wage − column A));  Line 2h = round_half_up(Line 2g ÷ pay periods)
Line 3b = round_half_up(Step 3 ÷ pay periods);  Line 3c = max($0, Line 2h − Line 3b)
Line 4b withheld per paycheck = Line 3c + Step 4(c)

Worked 2026 withholding examples

Standard W-4 for Single and Head of Household. Take $2,000 paid every two weeks (26 checks, $52,000 a year) with Steps 2 to 4 blank. For Single, taking $8,600 off on Line 1g leaves $43,400. The 12.00% row above $19,900 gives $1,240 + 12.00% × ($43,400 − $19,900) = $4,060 a year. Divided by 26, that is $156.15 a check. For a Head of Household paid $3,000 monthly (12 checks, $36,000 a year), Line 1i is $27,400, and the 10.00% row above $15,550 gives $1,185 a year, or $98.75 a month.

Step 2(c), Step 3 credits, and 2019 allowances. If the Single biweekly worker checks Step 2(c), Line 1g is $0. The wage sits in the 22.00% Step 2(c) row above $33,250. That gives $2,900 + 22.00% × ($52,000 − $33,250) = $7,025 a year, or $270.19 a check. With Step 2(c) unchecked and $2,600 in Step 3, Line 3b takes $100 ($2,600 ÷ 26) off the tentative tax to leave $56.15. On a 2019 Married W-4 with 0 allowances and $10 extra, the row above $44,100 gives $3,428 a year, or $141.85 a check.

Assumptions and limits

• Tables and steps come from IRS Publication 15-T (2026), dated December 3, 2025, with Form W-4 (2026) and Revenue Procedure 2025-32. Only 2026 tables are used here.
• This page uses the Percentage Method in Worksheet 1A. Manual payrolls that use the Wage Bracket tables in Sections 2 and 3 look up dollar bands and can differ by a few dollars.
• Under 26 U.S.C. § 3402(b)(4), "In determining the amount to be deducted and withheld under this subsection, the wages may, at the election of the employer, be computed to the nearest dollar." Publication 15-T also notes: "You may also round the tax for the pay period to the nearest dollar."
• Publication 15 tells employers: "To know how much federal income tax to withhold from employees’ wages, you should have a Form W-4 on file for each employee." A worker who gives no form is treated as Single with Steps 2, 3, and 4 blank. Form W-4 (2026) also allows an exemption when you owed no federal tax last year and expect none this year. As the form warns: "If you claim exemption, you will have no income tax withheld from your paycheck and may owe taxes and penalties when you file your 2026 tax return."
• The Form 1040 check assumes your yearly pay plus Step 4(a) is your only 2026 income. It takes off the 2026 standard deduction plus Step 4(b) and subtracts Step 3 credits up to the tax. Nonresident alien adjustments in Publication 15-T Section 1, FICA, and state tax are left out.
• The links to other calculators carry what each one means. Take-home pay and pay raise get gross yearly pay (your paycheck times the pay periods), and bonus tax gets taxable pay per paycheck after pre-tax deductions. Pay frequency goes along when the other page offers it (weekly, every two weeks, twice a month, or monthly); quarterly, twice-a-year, and daily pay open it on its own default. Take-home pay has no single field for pre-tax deductions, so its link starts its 401(k), health, and HSA lines at $0, and pay raise ignores health and HSA deductions. Pay above $5,000,000 a year for take-home pay or $2,000,000 for pay raise opens that page with its own starting pay.

These figures are estimates for learning and planning, not financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Terms of use.

What to do with your result

Match the $156.15 default (or your own Line 4b figure) against the federal tax line on your pay stub. Enter your stub's taxable pay after pre-tax 401(k), health, HSA, and FSA items. The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator page advises: "Check your withholding every January to make sure it’s correct for the year." For net pay after FICA and state tax, open the take-home pay calculator.

To change what your boss takes, file a new form. Form W-4 (2026) states: "Complete Form W-4 so that your employer can withhold the correct federal income tax from your pay." If you hold two jobs, compare Step 2(c) ($270.19 per check on $2,000 biweekly) with the W-4 multiple jobs worksheet calculator.

If you have deductions above the $16,100 Single or $32,200 Joint standard deduction, or 2026 deductions for tips, overtime, passenger vehicle loan interest, or age 65, use the W-4 deductions worksheet calculator for Step 4(b).

After a raise or bonus, see how much you keep in the pay raise calculator. You can also test supplemental bonus withholding ($1,100 on a $5,000 bonus) in the bonus tax calculator.

Federal paycheck withholding questions