{"tool":{"slug":"bonus-tax","name":"Bonus tax calculator","version":"2026-08-22","canonicalUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/bonus-tax","jsonUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/bonus-tax.json","pageUrl":"https://carlo.finance/tools/bonus-tax","parameters":[{"key":"salary","label":"Salary for the year","unit":"usd-per-year","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":60000,"sourceId":null,"help":"Your regular wages for the whole year, before the bonus and after anything you put into a traditional 401(k), HSA, or pre-tax health premiums. This is the number that decides what the bonus is really taxed at, because the bonus is stacked on top of it."},{"key":"bonus","label":"Bonus","unit":"usd","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":10000,"sourceId":null,"help":"The gross bonus, before anything is taken out. Signing bonuses, retention bonuses, commissions, and severance are all supplemental wages under the same rule."},{"key":"rate","label":"Flat withholding rate on the bonus","unit":"percent","min":0,"max":50,"default":22,"sourceId":"reg-31-3402g-1","help":"The rate your employer withholds on a separately paid bonus. 22% is the optional flat rate for 2025. Change it if your employer added the bonus to a regular paycheck and ran the whole thing through the wage tables, which is the aggregate method and usually withholds more."},{"key":"paid","label":"Bonuses already paid this year","unit":"usd","min":0,"max":100000000,"default":0,"sourceId":null,"help":"Supplemental wages you have already been paid this calendar year, before this one. It only changes the answer if the running total passes 1,000,000 dollars, where the mandatory 37% rate takes over."}],"options":[{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","options":[{"value":"single","label":"Single"},{"value":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly"},{"value":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household"}],"default":"single","sourceId":null,"help":"Your status on the last day of the year. It sets the standard deduction and where each rate starts, so it decides which bracket the bonus lands in. Your employer's flat withholding ignores it completely."}]},"taxYear":2025,"inputs":{"salary":60000,"bonus":10000,"rate":22,"paid":0,"status":"single"},"result":{"withheld":{"flatPortion":10000,"mandatoryPortion":0,"incomeTax":2200,"socialSecurity":620,"medicare":145,"additionalMedicare":0,"payroll":765,"total":2965,"effectiveRate":29.65},"owed":{"incomeTax":1780,"additionalMedicare":0,"creditLoss":0,"payroll":765,"total":2545,"effectiveRate":17.8,"trueRate":25.45},"takeHome":7035,"settlement":420,"withoutBonus":{"wages":60000,"standardDeduction":15750,"taxableIncome":44250,"taxBeforeCredits":5075,"taxAfterCredits":5075,"otherTaxes":0,"totalTax":5075,"earnedIncomeCredit":0},"withBonus":{"wages":70000,"standardDeduction":15750,"taxableIncome":54250,"taxBeforeCredits":6855,"taxAfterCredits":6855,"otherTaxes":0,"totalTax":6855,"earnedIncomeCredit":0},"computability":{"status":"final","fileReady":true,"blocking":[]}},"drivers":[{"key":"bonus","label":"Bonus","step":5000,"taxDelta":1100,"sentence":"Another $5,000 of bonus adds $1,100 of federal income tax, so you keep $3,900 of it. Your employer would withhold $1,100 on that piece whatever it actually costs."},{"key":"salary","label":"Salary","step":10000,"taxDelta":420,"sentence":"A $10,000 higher salary changes what this same bonus costs by $420, because the bonus is stacked on top of the salary and moves up the schedule with it. This is the whole reason one flat rate cannot be right for everyone."}],"sensitivity":{"bySalary":[{"salary":30000,"withheld":2200,"owed":1200,"effectiveRate":12,"settlement":1000},{"salary":45000,"withheld":2200,"owed":1200,"effectiveRate":12,"settlement":1000},{"salary":60000,"withheld":2200,"owed":1780,"effectiveRate":17.8,"settlement":420},{"salary":90000,"withheld":2200,"owed":2200,"effectiveRate":22,"settlement":0},{"salary":150000,"withheld":2200,"owed":2400,"effectiveRate":24,"settlement":-200},{"salary":300000,"withheld":2200,"owed":3500,"effectiveRate":35,"settlement":-1300}],"byStatus":[{"status":"single","label":"Single","owed":1780,"settlement":420},{"status":"married-joint","label":"Married filing jointly","owed":1200,"settlement":1000},{"status":"head-of-household","label":"Head of household","owed":1200,"settlement":1000}]},"assumptions":[{"key":"salary","label":"Salary for the year","value":60000,"unit":"usd-per-year","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"bonus","label":"Bonus","value":10000,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"rate","label":"Flat withholding rate on the bonus","value":22,"unit":"percent","provided":false,"source":{"id":"reg-31-3402g-1","name":"26 CFR 31.3402(g)-1 (supplemental wage payments)","url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-31/subpart-E/section-31.3402(g)-1","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The regulation that lets an employer withhold on a separately paid bonus at one flat rate instead of running it through the wage tables. The rate is the third lowest rate under section 1(c), 22% for 2025, and it is available only if income tax was withheld from your regular wages this year or last."}},{"key":"paid","label":"Bonuses already paid this year","value":0,"unit":"usd","provided":false,"source":null},{"key":"status","label":"Filing status","value":"single","unit":"choice","provided":false,"source":null}],"sources":[{"id":"reg-31-3402g-1","name":"26 CFR 31.3402(g)-1 (supplemental wage payments)","url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-31/subpart-E/section-31.3402(g)-1","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The regulation that lets an employer withhold on a separately paid bonus at one flat rate instead of running it through the wage tables. The rate is the third lowest rate under section 1(c), 22% for 2025, and it is available only if income tax was withheld from your regular wages this year or last."},{"id":"usc-26-3402g","name":"26 U.S.C. § 3402(g)(1)(A)","url":"https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section3402","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The statute requiring withholding at the highest rate under section 1, 37% for 2025, on supplemental wages above 1,000,000 dollars for the calendar year. This one is mandatory, not optional."},{"id":"irs-pub-15","name":"IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), section 7","url":"https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The employer instructions for supplemental wages: when the flat rate may be used, when the aggregate method applies instead, and the Additional Medicare Tax an employer must withhold once your wages pass $200,000 for the year regardless of how you file."},{"id":"rev-proc-2024-40","name":"IRS Rev. Proc. 2024-40 (2025 inflation-adjusted items)","url":"https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-24-40.pdf","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The rate tables and standard deduction for tax year 2025, which are what decide the real tax on the bonus once it is stacked on your salary."},{"id":"pl-119-21-obbba","name":"One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21)","url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-119publ21","asOf":"2025-07-04","note":"The statute that sets the current standard deduction used for 2025."},{"id":"usc-title-26","name":"26 U.S.C. (Internal Revenue Code)","url":"https://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title26","asOf":"2025-01-01","note":"The code sections the liability half implements: § 1 rates, § 63 deduction, § 32 earned income credit, § 3101 and § 3121 payroll tax, § 3101(b)(2) Additional Medicare Tax."}],"warnings":[{"code":"over-withheld","message":"Withholding of $2,200 on the bonus is more than the $1,780 it actually costs, so about $420 comes back at filing. It is your money the whole time, just not until April."}],"disclaimer":"This compares federal withholding on a supplemental wage payment against the federal tax the same bonus adds to a 2025 return, for a single earner with wage income only and the standard deduction. It leaves out state and local tax, dependents and their credits, itemized deductions, retirement or benefit deferrals taken out of the bonus, and any income that is not wages, so it is not your return and not tax advice. Check anything that matters against your own filing."}