In the state of California, does a bonus get added to the employees wages for their W-2?

Question

Is it part of the employees wages, or does it get taxed differently?

Answer 1

Whatever your employer pays you will show up on your W-2. Regular salary, commissions, bonuses, etc. are all reported. That is not unique to CA but is world wide.

Bonuses are subject to different withholding rules but are NOT taxed differently. They're added into your W-2 as noted above and you are taxed on your total income less adjustments, exemptions and deductions.

Answer 2

In the US, including but not limited to CA, bonuses are added to salary or wages on your W-2, and the bonus is taxed the same as other wages.

Answer 3

It is part of their wages, but bonuses are typically taxed at the highest percent (37%?).

When they pay your salary, they can estimate your annual income and figure out which tax bracket you will be in. When paying a bonus, there is no wa to know what you will end up making, so they tax it at the highest rate (assuming you will be in the highest earning bracket at the end of the year).


Note that this is a federal statute. It does not matter which state you are in.

If California has a STATE income tax, then I am not sure how they would tax the bonus as far as your state taxes.

Answer 4

Yes, it is part of your W-2 wages, and yes, it is taxed differently.

Bonuses are considered supplemental wages by the IRS. Federal taxes are generally withheld at the rate of 25%, rather than your usual tax bracket rate.

California income taxes on bonuses are generally withheld at the rate of 9.3%.

Answer 5

If you received two paychecks you should have two statements. Since they both have different amounts, it could be because one was paid at a salary while the other was paid at an hourly wage. So you must include BOTH statements for your filing.

Answer 6

Bonus is treated as income. Taxed the same.

Answer 7

Yep, if you get paid, whether wages or bonus, it's all taxable.