How Much of My Bonus Will I Take Home After Taxes?

Most people take home between 55% and 75% of a bonus after taxes and payroll deductions. Where you land inside that range depends on how your employer withholds federal tax, whether your state taxes wages, what you contribute to a 401(k), and whether anything else comes out of your pay. The IRS classifies bonuses as supplemental wages, which is why the withholding on that separate check often looks steeper than what comes off your regular paycheck.

Here is what actually gets pulled out, in the order it typically appears on a pay stub, and how to estimate the net figure for your own bonus.

Federal Income Tax Withholding

Your employer picks one of two methods to withhold federal income tax from a bonus.

The Flat 22% Method

If the bonus is paid as a separate check, employers can withhold a flat 22% on any amount up to $1 million in a calendar year. Anything above $1 million from the same employer is withheld at 37%. The 22% rate was locked in when the individual rates from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act were made permanent in 2025 under P.L. 119-21.¹

The Aggregate Method

If the bonus is folded into a regular paycheck, your employer combines the two amounts, looks up the withholding on the total as if it were one normal payment, subtracts what would have applied to the regular wages alone, and withholds the difference from the bonus.¹ Because that combined total temporarily jumps into a higher bracket for the pay period, the aggregate method often withholds more than a flat 22%. It is not a higher tax, only higher withholding, and it gets reconciled on your annual return.

Social Security and Medicare

Bonuses are wages for FICA purposes, so both taxes apply.²

Social Security takes 6.2% of the gross bonus, but only up to the annual wage base. For 2026 that cap is $184,500, and if your regular wages have already crossed it, no Social Security tax comes out of the bonus.³
Medicare takes 1.45% of the full amount, with no cap.²
An Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% kicks in once your yearly wages pass $200,000 for single filers, $250,000 for married filing jointly, or $125,000 for married filing separately. Employers start withholding it after paying you more than $200,000 in the calendar year, regardless of filing status, and any difference is settled on your return.⁴

These rates are fixed by statute. Your employer cannot adjust them.

State and Local Taxes

Nine states impose no broad-based personal income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. New Hampshire and Washington tax certain investment income but not wages or bonuses. If you live in one of the nine, this line disappears from your pay stub.

Everywhere else, states either apply a flat supplemental withholding rate to bonuses or run them through the same tables used for regular wages. Supplemental rates generally fall between about 1.5% and just over 11%, depending on the state.

Some cities and counties layer their own income tax on top, most often in parts of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest, and typically between 1% and 4%. Look for a line on your pay stub labeled city, county, or local tax.

Retirement Contributions and Other Payroll Deductions

If you defer a percentage of pay to a 401(k) or 403(b), your payroll system will usually apply that same percentage to the bonus. A 6% deferral on a $10,000 bonus sends $600 to your retirement account before you see the rest. Whether bonuses count as compensation for the plan depends on the plan document; most plans include them, but some exclude certain pay types.⁵

Watch the annual ceiling. For 2026, employee 401(k) and 403(b) contributions cap at $24,500. Workers 50 and older can add up to $8,000 in catch-up, and those aged 60 through 63 can add up to $11,250 under SECURE 2.0.⁶ A large bonus can push you past the ceiling, and your employer should stop taking retirement contributions from the excess.

Other deductions that can reduce a bonus include HSA contributions set as a percentage rather than a flat dollar amount, and union dues or similar items pegged to total compensation. Wage garnishments for consumer debt, student loans, or child support also apply. Federal law treats bonuses as earnings subject to garnishment, and the garnishment is calculated on the gross amount before voluntary deductions.⁷

Estimating Your Take-Home

Work down the stack from the gross bonus:

Federal income tax: 22% under the flat method.
Social Security: 6.2%, unless your year-to-date wages have already reached $184,500.³
Medicare: 1.45%, plus 0.9% if your total wages for the year will pass $200,000.
State income tax: your state’s supplemental rate.
Local tax: whatever your city or county collects.
401(k) or other percentage-based deductions: your current deferral rate, subject to the $24,500 annual limit.⁶
Anything else your pay stub lists.

Take a $10,000 bonus for someone earning $80,000 in a state with a 5% supplemental rate, contributing 6% to a 401(k), with no garnishments or local tax. Federal withholding is $2,200. Social Security is $620. Medicare is $145. State tax is $500. The 401(k) contribution is $600. Take-home lands near $5,935, or roughly 59% of gross.

Withholding Is Not Your Final Tax Bill

The 22% flat rate is a withholding estimate, not the tax rate on your bonus. The bonus is added on top of your other income and taxed at whatever marginal bracket that additional income falls into. If your marginal rate is 12%, you were over-withheld and the difference comes back as a refund when you file your Form 1040. If your marginal rate is 32%, you were under-withheld and you will owe the difference. The aggregate method works the same way at reconciliation.

The IRS Tax Withholding Estimator lets you plug in an expected bonus and see how it moves your projected refund or balance due.⁸ If the gap is significant, you can file a new Form W-4 with your employer to adjust withholding on the paychecks that remain in the year.

What About Non-Cash Bonuses

Gift cards, electronics, travel, and similar perks count as taxable income at fair market value. Gift cards and cash equivalents never qualify as tax-free minimal benefits, no matter how small.⁹ Your employer adds the value to your W-2 wages, and the same withholding rules kick in as if you had been paid cash. A narrow exception exists for certain length-of-service or safety awards given as tangible personal property, but the everyday holiday gift card is fully taxable.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide
2
eCFR. 26 CFR Part 31 Subpart B – Federal Insurance Contributions Act
3
SSA.gov. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
4
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax
5
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Plan Fix-It Guide – You Didn’t Use the Plan Definition of Compensation Correctly for All Deferrals and Allocations
6
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)
8
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Withholding Estimator FAQs
9
Internal Revenue Service. Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits (Publication 15-B)