How do you determine your paycheck after taxes?

Question

I just got my first job, and I figured that if I work 28 hours a week, I could make $196 a week.

I'm trying to budget my money so that I can save up for a car, so I need to know what percents and stuff the government will take away from my paycheck.


Any help would be awesome. Thanks.

Answer 1

It depends on the state you live in and what your total gross would be, but as a rough estimate take the gross (total amount) and multiply it by .70 since you normally take home about 70% of your gross (this is assuming nothing else is being taken out like health insurance, etc.). You're probably not making massive amounts of money, so 70% is probably a low figure (the more you make the bigger percentage of taxes are taken out). But better to underestimate your pay than overestimate. The real proof comes when you get your first full pay check. Good luck.

Answer 2

For federal taxes income taxes, you should not have to pay anything this year since you will earn less than the standard deduction for a single person. I'm assuming that you are being claimed as a dependent by someone else too.

For Social Security taxes, 7.65% will be taken out.

If you haven't already done so, fill out a new W-4 form and claim exempt. Then, in mid-December, you will need to fill out a new W-4 and either claim 1 or 2 so you don't get burned by not having any taxes taken out in 2008.

Since I don't know what state you live, I can't give you any information about that. However, unless your employer makes you fill out a state W-4, they will just follow the one that you file for Federal taxes. When you file your state taxes, if they use the Federal W-4, you will owe at tax time. It will not be a big deal if no taxes are withheld because you will likely be under the threshhold for the underpayment penalty.

Answer 3

Figure $10 taken out a week for federal income tax withholding if you are a dependent, $4 a week if you aren't. Figure $15 a week for social security and medicare.

You don't say where you live. There will probably also be state (and maybe local) income tax, but some places don't have one. If your area has one, it would probably not be more than a few dollars a week.

Answer 4

Social security/medicare will take 7.65% or $14.99 a week. I'll assume that you are single and you claimed 1 withholding allowance when you completed your W4 form. The federal withholding tax will be $7.96 per week leaving a net pay of $173.05 / week after federal income withholding tax and social security / medicare tax.

Answer 5

I would take a current paycheck and use this website to figure out all the details, then you can figure out how many hours you need to work to fit your budget.

Answer 6

look at the federal tax tables based on your exemptions

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf

Answer 7

I think it is 17%.