2026 federal payroll reference
Estimate federal income-tax withholding for one regular paycheck using the wages and current Form W-4 amounts you enter. The calculation follows Publication 15-T Worksheet 1A and keeps every value in this browser.
Private, in-browser calculation
Use taxable wages after pretax payroll deductions—not salary or gross pay. Nothing entered here is submitted or saved.
Transparent methodology
Publication 15-T tells payroll systems how to convert a regular paycheck and Form W-4 entries into federal income-tax withholding. Agent Roth applies that same 2026 Worksheet 1A order to the values you enter; it does not substitute ordinary tax-return brackets for payroll tables.
Taxable wages for one paycheck are multiplied by the selected number of pay periods.
Step 4(a) is added; Step 4(b) and the applicable worksheet adjustment are subtracted.
The adjusted annual wage amount enters the exact schedule for filing status and the Step 2(c) choice.
Annual tentative withholding is divided by pay periods, Step 3 is applied, and Step 4(c) is added last.
A single filer enters $4,000 of biweekly taxable wages with Step 2 unchecked and no Step 3 or Step 4 amounts. The worksheet annualizes wages to $104,000, subtracts the applicable $8,600 adjustment, and applies the 2026 percentage schedule to $95,400. Tentative annual withholding is $14,050, or about $540.38 per paycheck before employer-specific rounding.
| Worksheet point | Illustrative amount | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Annual wages | $104,000 | $4,000 × 26 biweekly periods |
| Adjusted annual wages | $95,400 | After the Worksheet 1A adjustment |
| Tentative annual withholding | $14,050 | From the published 2026 schedule |
| Estimated per paycheck | $540.38 | Before employer rounding differences |
This calculator estimates regular-wage withholding, not actual tax liability, a refund, an amount due, or a penalty. It does not derive the correct W-4 entries from your household facts. For that broader exercise, use the official IRS estimator or review the complete return with an appropriately qualified tax professional.
Pre-2020 Form W-4, an employee claiming exempt, nonresident-alien adjustments, supplemental wages and bonuses using flat methods, pensions, nonperiodic distributions, and Roth-conversion withholding.
FICA, state or local withholding, self-employment, capital gains, Social Security taxation, deductions or credit eligibility, unequal multiple jobs, part-year work, and final refund or balance-due calculations.
It estimates federal income-tax withholding for one regular 2026 W-2 wage payment using the IRS Publication 15-T Worksheet 1A percentage method and the current Form W-4 entries you provide. It does not calculate an actual tax return, refund, balance due, or penalty.
No. This is an independent Agent Roth educational calculator with a narrower scope. The official IRS Tax Withholding Estimator considers broader household and tax-return facts and is the appropriate next step for multiple jobs, part-year work, or a more complete withholding checkup.
Enter the federal taxable wages for one regular paycheck, not necessarily gross pay or take-home pay. Pretax payroll deductions can make federal taxable wages differ from gross wages, so use the amount supplied by your payroll records when available.
Publication 15-T uses a separate percentage schedule and no worksheet adjustment when Step 2(c) is checked. Form W-4 says the option is generally more accurate than the other Step 2 options when the lower-paying job provides more than half of the higher-paying job’s wages; other multiple-job cases belong in the official IRS estimator.
Step 4(a) other income and Step 4(b) deductions adjust annual wages before the percentage schedule. Step 3 credits reduce tentative withholding but not below zero, and Step 4(c) extra withholding is then added to each paycheck.
Payroll timing, federal taxable-wage calculations, pretax deductions, consistent whole-dollar rounding permitted by Publication 15-T, supplemental-wage treatment, and later Form W-4 changes may produce a different paystub amount.
No. It estimates only federal income-tax withholding under the stated regular-wage method. FICA taxes and state or local withholding are outside the calculation.
Not when an employer uses a supplemental-wage or flat-rate method. Publication 15-T and Publication 15 describe separate methods for supplemental wages, so this regular-paycheck calculator would not be an appropriate model for those payments.
No. Pensions, nonperiodic retirement distributions, eligible rollovers, and Roth-conversion withholding follow different rules and forms. This calculator is limited to one regular W-2 wage payment.
No. It applies Form W-4 entries that you already provide; it does not determine whether those entries are correct or recommend a withholding amount. Review the official IRS estimator or a qualified tax professional before changing a Form W-4.
Sources checked August 31, 2026. Calculation version 2026-pub-15t-worksheet-1a-v1. Tables are committed and tested; they are not scraped at runtime.
[1] IRS
Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding MethodsSupports: 2026 Worksheet 1A, pay-period table, and standard and Step 2 percentage schedules.
[2] IRS
Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding CertificateSupports: Current filing-status, multiple-jobs, credits, other-income, deductions, and extra-withholding fields.
[3] IRS
Tax Withholding EstimatorSupports: Official broader withholding checkup and Form W-4 handoff.
[4] IRS
Tax Withholding Estimator FAQsSupports: Estimator inputs, supported situations, and limitations.
[5] IRS
Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated TaxSupports: Federal withholding, estimated-tax, and annual tax-planning context.
Educational and illustrative only. Not tax, legal, investment, or financial advice. Verify current federal guidance and your complete household situation before changing Form W-4 or making a payment decision. Read the educational disclosures.