Questions about the estimate

Usually not to the penny. The calculator annualizes this paycheck, uses 2026 federal brackets and the standard deduction, and uses a simplified state estimate. Payroll uses your W-4, benefit elections, and official withholding tables. Compare the lines, and use the override fields when your stub shows a different rate.

Enter the hours on one paycheck. Weekly full-time work is about 40 hours. Every two weeks is about 80. Twice a month is about 86.67. Monthly is about 173.33. Put overtime in its own field.

It is a multiplier on your hourly wage. 1.5 means time-and-a-half. Regular hours stay at your normal wage. Only the overtime hours use the multiplier.

In this estimate, a traditional 401(k) percent lowers federal income tax. It does not lower Social Security or Medicare. In Pennsylvania it also does not lower state income tax. Health premiums entered in the health field are treated as pre-tax and do lower income tax and FICA.

A few states do not tax wages. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming are set up that way here. Every other state uses a flat rate or a simplified graduated estimate.

Open Deductions and local tax. Philadelphia’s preset is 3.74 percent and New York City’s preset is 3.876 percent. Those rates are not applied just because you picked Pennsylvania or New York. Local rates change, so check them against your stub.

The numbers stay in this browser so the form can reopen with your last entries. They are not sent to an account, because the calculator does not have accounts. Clearing the site data for this browser removes them. See the privacy policy for advertising cookies.

No. It is an educational estimate for a W-2 hourly paycheck. It is not a filing position, a payroll calculation, or a promise of a refund.