What Is the Federal Withholding Percentage?

Most employers are required by law to calculate and withhold federal taxes from your wages. Three federal taxes are deducted from paychecks: income tax, Social Security tax and Medicare tax. Because each tax has a different rate, there are multiple federal withholding percentages. In fact, federal income tax has several percentage rates, one or more of which may be used to calculate the amount of income tax that must be withheld.

Federal income tax is deducted from taxable wages. To determine taxable wages, employers deduct the value of the withholding allowances an employee claims on her W-4 form from gross wages. The withholding allowance amount depends on the length of the pay period. For example, for 2018, the allowance amount is $79.80 for weekly pay periods or $159.60 for biweekly periods. Suppose an employee earns gross wages of $800 in one week and claims two withholding allowances. The taxable wages for federal income tax are $800 less $159.60, or $640.40. Additional amounts may be subtracted for non-taxable items like contributions to a retirement or health savings plan.

Federal income tax is a progressive tax. This means the more a person earns, the higher the tax percentage becomes – and the more money employers withhold from your paycheck. The dollar amount subject to each tax bracket depends on your filing status as single or married. For example, employers in 2018 will deduct zero tax on the first $71 of taxable wages and 10 percent on the amount from $71 to $254 for a single employee paid weekly. For a married worker paid weekly, the 10 percent tax bracket ranges from $222 to $588. Income tax withholding percentages increase as the taxable wages rise from 10 percent to 12 percent, then to 22 percent, 24 percent, 32 percent, 35 percent and finally to 37 percent.

The withholding rate for Social Security tax for 2018 is 6.2 percent. Social Security tax is calculated using gross wages with no deductions. There is an annual income ceiling for Social Security tax, adjusted annually. For example, the cap in 2018 is $128,400. Employers stop deducting Social Security tax up to that amount once an employee reaches that cap, and Social Security taxes are not deducted for any mounts beyond the cap.

Medicare tax is levied on all gross income with no deductions and no income cap. The withholding rate is 1.45 percent. There is also an Additional Medicare Tax that must be withheld on wages in excess of $200,000 per year at a rate of 0.9 percent.