What % do they hold out of a payroll check for taxes?

Answer 1

They hold out 7.65% for Social security and Medicare (6.2% and 1.45% respectively) for the first approx. $90,000 in annual income. After ~ $90K, only 1.45% for medicare is withheld. The amount withheld for state and federal income tax depends on your marginal tax bracket, your filing status (married, single, head of household) and your number of personal and dependency exemptions. You can go to irs.gov, instructions for filling out a 1040 (1040A, 1040EZ, etc.) and look up your amount on last years tax table, then figure your percentage. Mine is 18%. That includes my federal income tax withholding($440, paid weekly, single, 3 exemptions), 7.65% for SS/Med., and my state income tax withholding. I'm not sure where to get ahold of the state tax tables for your state. Some states do not even have an income tax.

Answer 2

I'm by no means an expert or qualified to answer this question, but I've studied it quite a bit some time ago. You need to verify these numbers for yourself.

The federal percentage depends on your tax bracket, and you don't tell us your income level. It also depends on your marital status, how many children you have, whether you are head of the household, whether someone else can claim you as a dependent, etc.

If you have a pay stub, divided the FICA withholding by the gross income.

If you earn more than $26,000/yr or $33,000 per year, you pay at least 25% in federal income taxes. At $38,000 to $43,000 you pay 33%. It goes up all the way to %40.

You pay 13.5% in Social Security Tax. Someone is going to say that your employer pays half of that, but if he weren't paying it to gov't, you would get it. If this 13% were a benefit, you would eventually receive all monies back, but most people don't. If this were a benefit, you could withdraw it at any time; you cannot. If this were your benefit, you could control it in some way, like say where it was invested, or at what rate, or how it was used; you cannot. It is a tax when they control it, don't give it back, and tell you how much to pay.

Each State has their own tax amount. Some states don't have an income tax. My state is 9%, but I think California is 11%.

So if we add up the numbers so far,

FICA 25%
SSA 13%
State 9%
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Total 47%

If you make a decent amount of money, this is the minimum withholding tax you pay. This is money you never see, that gets taken out of your paycheck before you ever get it, called "withholding." This is money you never get to decide on how it is spent.

Oh, but you want to spend some of what's left? Then you have to pay a City Sales tax. Each city is different, but mine is 7%. Some cities are as high as 12%.

Now the total tax comes to 54%. That's outrageous! When did the gov't begin making more on my earned money than I do? Do we really need this much "Protection?"

But we're not done yet. Your total tax burden has not yet been satisfied. Do you buy liquor, beer, cigarettes? Then you pay a huge tax. Do you drive? Gasoline taxes are becoming a huge portion of your income.

There are lots of "hidden" taxes. You pay for a license tag for your car every year, which is a tax. Your car insurance is mandatory now, which makes it a tax. Your driver's license fee is a tax. If you own a home you pay a property tax. All of your professional fees and licenses are taxes. You pay for a fishing and hunting license, which is a tax.

If you add them all up, you easily pay more than two-thirds of your income in taxes.

Answer 3

Depends on state (state income tax and payroll tax rates vary), the size of the paycheck (some payroll taxes are capped, while income taxes are progressive) and what's on your W-4.

Answer 4

Depends on the state you work in.
Some places have state, city, county taxes. And some do not have city and county taxes.
Also it depends on how many points you choose to get exempts for on the form provided by your employer when hired.
On a rough average take it around 28-30%.

Answer 5

I just copied my answer from a similar question from NY. The only thing that may not apply is your states rate.

How many times does this question have to be answered? No one will ever be able to give any of you a good answer. The answer depends on your pay rate and your withholding allowances. the correct number of withholding allowances depends on you ENTIRE tax situation.
The maximum Federal Tax rate is 35.
The Highest I found for NY state is 7.7%
FICA is 7.65%

These add up to 50.35%
Your actual withholding could be as low as 0%

Answer 6

This depends on what you specify. Which tax bracket do you fit in? Usually, you fill this information out upon being hired. You can claim exempt, and then you'll be responsible for paying all of your income taxes in full at the end of the year.

Answer 7

Income taxes depend upon your exemptions and your gross income -- anything from zero to 35%. They'll always take Social Security. That's currently 7.65%. Then there are optional deductions for health insurance, retirement, stock plans, etc. My total withholdings are around 55% of my gross pay, mostly because of retirement and stock fund deductions.

Answer 8

It depends on you tax bracket. You can look that up at IRS.gov

In general if you take away 20% you'll either be right on or happily surprised on payday.

You also have to remember whether or not you had any voluntary deductions like Life insurance, Medical, Pre-paid Legal, etc...

Answer 9

approx 1/3 of the check - 33% I guess. It comes out to be a little less - and you can change it depending on how much you want taken out.

Answer 10

25% flat if you do not assign any deductions on payroll yourself