Federal Income Tax Withholding Tables: Wage Bracket and Percentage

The federal income tax withholding tables are the IRS’s official lookup charts and formulas that tell your employer exactly how much federal income tax to pull from each paycheck. They live in IRS Publication 15-T, are updated every year for inflation, and come in two flavors: the Wage Bracket Method (a lookup chart) and the Percentage Method (a formula). Both should produce the same result when used correctly, and both take the same three inputs from your side: your Form W-4 selections, how often you’re paid, and your taxable wages for the period.¹

The legal backbone is 26 U.S.C. § 3402, which requires every employer paying wages to withhold federal income tax using tables or procedures the IRS prescribes.² The tables shift annually because Congress requires the IRS to adjust brackets and the standard deduction for inflation. For 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household, and those figures are already baked into the withholding math so you aren’t over-withheld on income the deduction will shelter anyway.³

What the Tables Read Off Your Paycheck

Before opening Publication 15-T, an employer needs three things: your W-4 entries, your pay frequency, and your taxable wages for the period.

Your W-4 Entries

Filing status sets the base rate. On the 2020-or-later W-4 you pick Single (or Married Filing Separately), Married Filing Jointly, or Head of Household. Step 2 is the multi-job checkbox; ticking it roughly doubles the withholding rate to prevent under-collection when two incomes are stacked. Step 3 handles dependent credits. Step 4 lets you report other income, request extra deductions, or ask for a flat additional dollar amount withheld each period.⁴

If you never turn in a W-4, your employer must withhold as if you were single or married filing separately with no other entries. That is the highest default rate for a given income. When you submit an updated W-4, your employer has until the start of the first payroll period ending on or after the 30th day from receipt to put it into effect.⁴

There is also an older set of tables for employees still on a pre-2020 W-4, which used the allowance system that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s repeal of personal exemptions eventually replaced.⁵ Employers can use an optional “computational bridge” to convert those old entries into the newer framework so one payroll system can handle both groups.

Exempt Status

You can claim exemption from withholding on your W-4 if you had no federal tax liability last year and expect none this year. An exempt W-4 expires every December 31, and you must file a new one by February 15 of the following year. Miss that deadline and your employer reverts to withholding as if you were single with no adjustments. Submit a new exempt W-4 after the deadline and it only applies going forward; you won’t be refunded the tax withheld in the gap.⁴

Pay Frequency and Taxable Wages

Weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly schedules each get their own tables because the bracket thresholds scale with how often you’re paid. The tables read against taxable wages, not gross pay, so pre-tax items like health insurance premiums, traditional 401(k) contributions, and FSA elections come off first.

The Wage Bracket Method

The Wage Bracket Method is a straight lookup. Find the page for your pay frequency, find the row that contains your taxable wages, and read across to the column for your filing status and Step 2 checkbox setting. Where the row and column meet is your withholding for that paycheck. No math.

Wage rows come in small increments so most pay amounts sit cleanly inside a range. If your wages land exactly on a bracket boundary, you use the row where that dollar figure is the lower end of the range.⁵ Separate columns split standard withholding from the higher rate for employees who checked Step 2.

The Wage Bracket tables have a ceiling. They generally cover annualized wages up to roughly $100,000, depending on filing status and pay period. If your taxable wages exceed the last bracket, or a pre-2020 W-4 claims more than 10 allowances, the employer must switch to the Percentage Method.⁵

The Percentage Method

The Percentage Method uses a formula instead of a chart, which is why automated payroll software and higher-income calculations rely on it. The sequence has three parts: adjust the wages, find the right bracket, then apply the rate.

For a 2020-or-later W-4, the worksheet first subtracts an amount tied to the standard deduction. If the Step 2 box is not checked, you subtract $12,900 from annualized wages for married filing jointly, or $8,600 for other statuses. If Step 2 is checked, you subtract nothing because the tables themselves handle the split. Any additional deductions entered on W-4 Step 4(b) come off here too. What’s left is the “adjusted wage amount” that feeds into the rate tables.⁵

The Percentage Method tables in Publication 15-T then express the progressive federal brackets as per-period amounts. For each bracket you get a flat base amount plus a marginal percentage on the excess above that bracket’s floor. As one example, on an annual basis using a 2020-or-later W-4, a single filer’s adjusted wages between roughly $19,900 and $57,900 fall into the 12% bracket with a base withholding of $1,240 plus 12% of the amount above $19,900.⁵ After you compute that tentative withholding, you add any extra dollars requested on W-4 Step 4(c) and subtract dependent credits from Step 3, prorated to the pay period.

Bonuses and Other Supplemental Wages

Bonuses, commissions, and other payments identified separately from regular wages are “supplemental wages,” and they don’t run through the regular tables the same way. If the payment is identifiable as separate from regular pay, the employer can withhold at a flat 22% federal rate.⁶ That is why a bonus can feel like it was taxed harder than your regular check even when it wasn’t; the flat rate simply ignores your W-4 details.

Once an employee’s cumulative supplemental wages for the calendar year cross $1 million, every dollar above that threshold is withheld at 37%, the top marginal rate, regardless of what the W-4 says.⁶ The alternative is the aggregate method, in which the employer combines the supplemental payment with your most recent regular check, runs the total through the Percentage Method, and subtracts the tax already withheld on the regular pay. Depending on your income, that can produce more or less withholding than a flat 22%.

Nonresident Alien Add-On

If you are a nonresident alien employee working in the United States, your employer adds a fixed dollar amount to your wages for each pay period before consulting the tables. It’s purely a withholding adjustment to compensate for the fact that nonresident aliens generally cannot claim the standard deduction on their return. The add-on depends on pay frequency and which W-4 version applies.⁵

For 2020-or-later W-4s, the common additions are $309.60 weekly, $619.20 biweekly, $670.80 semimonthly, and $1,341.70 monthly. For pre-2020 W-4s: $226.90 weekly, $453.80 biweekly, $491.70 semimonthly, and $983.30 monthly.⁵ These figures never appear on your W-2 and don’t increase your actual tax; they only nudge the withholding calculation.

Checking Whether Your Withholding Is Enough

Small errors settle up at filing time. Larger under-withholding triggers an IRS underpayment penalty calculated from the unpaid amount, the time it was outstanding, and the quarterly interest rate the IRS publishes.⁷

You avoid the penalty entirely if you meet any of these safe harbors:

Your return shows you owe less than $1,000 after subtracting withholding and credits.
Your total payments (withholding plus any estimated tax) covered at least 90% of the tax shown on your return for the year.
Your total payments equaled or exceeded 100% of last year’s tax liability. If your adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000 ($75,000 for married filing separately), that threshold rises to 110% of the prior year’s tax.

The prior-year safe harbor is the one most people target because last year’s tax is a known number on your filed return, and you can dial your W-4 to hit it through withholding alone.⁷

When the IRS Overrides Your W-4

If the IRS concludes your W-4 is producing too little withholding, it can send your employer a “lock-in letter” specifying the minimum withholding rate. This isn’t a suggestion. Once the letter takes effect (no sooner than 60 days after its date, to give you time to respond), the employer must withhold at least that amount and cannot reduce it without IRS approval. The employer also has to give you your copy of the letter and block any online W-4 tool from lowering your withholding.⁸

If you submit a new W-4 asking for more withholding than the lock-in amount, the employer honors it. If your new W-4 would produce less, the employer ignores it and keeps the lock-in rate in place.⁸

You can contest the determination within 30 days of the letter’s date by calling 855-839-2235 or writing to the IRS Withholding Compliance Unit in Andover, MA. You’ll need current pay stubs, a completed W-4 with worksheets, and documentation for any dependents you claim.⁹ After a lock-in letter is already in effect, you can still ask for a change, but the new W-4 goes directly to the IRS with a written explanation and supporting documents rather than to your employer.

1
Internal Revenue Service. About Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3402 – Income Tax Collected at Source
3
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
4
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 753, Form W-4 Employees Withholding Certificate
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15-T Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employers Tax Guide
7
Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty
8
Internal Revenue Service. Withholding Compliance Questions and Answers
9
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your Letter 2801C