About Bonus Check Calc

Bonus Check Calc answers one question: how much of my bonus will actually land in my bank account? It applies the IRS supplemental-wage rules and the bonus withholding rule of every state and the District of Columbia to a bonus amount, and shows each deduction, where it comes from and how it was calculated.

Who publishes it

The site is written and maintained by the Bonus Check Calc Editorial Team, an independent publisher. It is operated by the same independent publisher as a small group of other calculator sites. There is no named author because the content is a team product, checked against primary sources rather than anyone's personal authority — and we would rather show you the source than ask you to trust a byline.

We are not a payroll company, an accounting firm or a tax preparer, and we are not affiliated with the IRS, the Social Security Administration or any state revenue department. Nothing here is tax advice.

What it covers

• Federal income tax withholding on bonuses with both methods the IRS allows: the 22% flat rate (37% above $1 million) and the aggregate method using the 2026 Publication 15-T tables.
• Social Security with the 2026 $184,500 wage base and Medicare including the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.
• Each state's own supplemental-wage rule — flat rates, rules tied to the federal method, aggregate-only formulas, New Jersey's pay-period tables, Maryland's county-inclusive rates, Massachusetts' surtax tier — plus New York City, Yonkers and Indiana county taxes.
• Employee payroll contributions we could verify for 2026: California SDI, New Jersey worker contributions, New York Paid Family Leave and the WA Cares premium.
• A gross-up mode, a 401(k) deferral field and an estimate of what the bonus really adds to your federal tax.

Two jurisdictions are labeled as estimates rather than verified rules: District of Columbia and Louisiana. In both, the agency does not publish a current withholding table we could verify, so we show the tax rate that applies and say so plainly.

How it is funded

The site carries no advertising, no affiliate links and no third-party trackers, and it sells nothing. Your calculator inputs never leave your browser (see the privacy page). Running costs are paid by the publisher.

Corrections

If a figure is wrong or out of date, the fastest path is the corrections form. Every report is read, and confirmed errors are fixed and noted on the affected page. Our process is described in the editorial policy and the arithmetic in the methodology.