What Does STD W/H Table Mean on Your Paycheck?

On a paycheck stub, “STD W/H TABLE” stands for Standard Withholding Table, the IRS-published grid or formula your employer uses to calculate the federal income tax pulled from each check. Seeing it on your stub means your federal withholding is being figured the normal way — using the graduated rates that apply to most U.S. workers — rather than a flat supplemental rate or the special rules that apply to nonresident aliens.¹

What Each Piece of the Abbreviation Means

“STD” is Standard, meaning the default withholding method that applies to most employees. “W/H” is Withholding, the portion of your gross pay your employer sends directly to the IRS on your behalf before the rest lands in your bank account. “TABLE” points to the structured rate grids the IRS republishes each year, which your employer or payroll software consults to look up the correct amount for your wages and filing status.

Federal law requires every employer paying wages to deduct and withhold income tax “in accordance with tables or computational procedures prescribed by the Secretary” of the Treasury.² The line on your stub is confirmation that your paycheck is being processed through that standard requirement.

How the Withholding Amount Gets Calculated

The IRS publishes the working instructions in Publication 15-T, which employers use to figure the exact federal income tax to subtract from each paycheck.³ The tables are calibrated to your pay frequency — weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly — so the year’s tax burden is spread evenly across your checks. They’re updated annually for changes in tax law and inflation adjustments to the brackets.

Wage Bracket Method vs. Percentage Method

Publication 15-T offers two ways to arrive at the same result. The Wage Bracket Method uses a grid: your employer finds the row for your wage range and the column for your filing status and reads off a dollar amount. It’s designed for manual payroll and covers wages up to roughly $100,000 per year.⁴

The Percentage Method uses a formula instead of a lookup grid and is built for automated payroll systems. If your wages exceed what the wage bracket tables cover, your employer must switch to this method.⁴ Both apply the same graduated rates and both count as “standard,” so “STD W/H TABLE” can appear on your stub regardless of which one your payroll software runs.

Why Two Coworkers on the Same Salary See Different Amounts

The withholding calculation pulls from your Form W-4 and your gross pay for the period. Change any of the inputs and the number changes.

Filing Status

Your filing status picks the column of the table. The IRS recognizes five: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, and qualifying surviving spouse.⁵ Status is set by your marital situation on the last day of the tax year. Head of household, for instance, requires that you’re unmarried and paid more than half the cost of maintaining a home for a qualifying dependent.

Standard Deduction Baked Into the Tables

The tables assume you’ll claim the standard deduction on your annual return. For 2026, those amounts are:

Single or married filing separately: $16,100
Married filing jointly: $32,200
Head of household: $24,150

Those figures are already built into the table math, reducing the portion of your wages the calculation treats as taxable.⁶ If you plan to itemize instead, you can enter a different amount in Step 4(b) of your W-4.⁷

Graduated Tax Brackets

Federal income tax uses graduated rates, so different slices of income are taxed at different percentages. For 2026, a single filer’s seven brackets are:

10% on income up to $12,400
12% on income from $12,401 to $50,400
22% on income from $50,401 to $105,700
24% on income from $105,701 to $201,775
32% on income from $201,776 to $256,225
35% on income from $256,226 to $640,600
37% on income above $640,600

Married couples filing jointly have wider brackets at each rate.⁶ The tables apply these rates automatically. Your entire paycheck is never taxed at a single flat rate.

Multiple Jobs and Dependents

Step 2 of Form W-4 lets you account for a second job or a working spouse so your withholding tracks your combined income. Step 3 claims credits for dependents — $2,200 per qualifying child under 17 and $500 per other dependent — which reduces the amount pulled from each check.⁷

Why a Bonus Check Looks Different

Bonuses, commissions, and other supplemental pay aren’t always run through the standard table. If supplemental wages are identified separately from your regular pay and total $1 million or less during the calendar year, your employer can withhold a flat 22% on the supplemental amount. The alternative is an aggregate method: combining the bonus with your regular wages for that pay period, calculating withholding on the total as a single payment, then subtracting what was already withheld from the regular check.⁸

The aggregate method can produce a bigger bite on that particular check because the combined figure may push income into a higher bracket for calculation purposes. For supplemental wages exceeding $1 million in a calendar year, the portion above $1 million must be withheld at 37% regardless of what your W-4 says.⁸ Either way, withholding is only an estimate. Your actual liability is settled on the annual return, and anything overwithheld comes back as a refund.

Changing Your Withholding If It Looks Wrong

If the standard amount on your stub seems too high or too low, submit a new Form W-4 to your payroll or HR department. There’s no limit on how often you can update it.⁷ The form is organized into steps that each move the number in a specific direction:

Step 1: name, address, Social Security number, and filing status.
Step 2: multiple jobs or a working spouse; adjusts withholding upward.
Step 3: dependent credits; reduces withholding.
Step 4(a): other income (interest, dividends) you want factored in.
Step 4(b): deductions above the standard deduction if you itemize; reduces withholding.
Step 4(c): a specific extra dollar amount per paycheck; increases withholding.

Step 4(c) is useful if you have income from self-employment or rental property that isn’t withheld on. Most employers implement W-4 changes within one to two pay cycles.

Claiming Exempt Status

If you had no federal income tax liability last year and expect none this year, you can claim exempt on your W-4, and your employer will withhold zero federal income tax. An exempt W-4 is valid only for the calendar year in which you submit it. You must file a new exempt W-4 by February 15 of the following year, or your employer will begin withholding as if you were single with no other adjustments.⁹

Using the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator

If you’re unsure how to fill out the W-4, the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator at irs.gov walks you through it. The tool asks for figures from your recent pay stubs and estimates whether your current withholding is tracking your annual liability. Based on the results, it can generate a prefilled W-4 to hand to your employer.¹⁰ Running it after a new job, marriage, the birth of a child, or a significant income change catches mismatches before they show up at filing time.

Making Sure Enough Is Being Withheld

Because the tables produce an estimate, underwithholding is a real risk. If too little was pulled during the year, you may owe the IRS the balance plus an underpayment penalty. Interest on that penalty accrues at 7% per year, compounded daily.¹¹

You can generally avoid the penalty by meeting one of two safe harbors: your total withholding plus estimated tax payments equals at least 90% of your current-year tax liability, or at least 100% of the tax shown on your prior-year return. If your adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000 in the prior year ($75,000 if married filing separately), the prior-year threshold rises to 110%.¹² If a mid-year check against those thresholds shows you’re short, adjusting Step 4(c) on a new W-4 is the fastest way to catch up before December.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Aliens Employed in the U.S.
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3402 – Income Tax Collected at Source
3
Internal Revenue Service. About Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods
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Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Publication 15-T – Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods
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Internal Revenue Service. Filing Status
6
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill
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Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate
8
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide
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Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 753, Form W-4, Employees Withholding Certificate
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Internal Revenue Service. Tax Withholding Estimator
11
Internal Revenue Service. Interest Rates Remain the Same for the First Quarter of 2026
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Internal Revenue Service. Pay As You Go, So You Won’t Owe: A Guide to Withholding, Estimated Taxes and Ways to Avoid the Estimated Tax Penalty