Free tool
W-4 Withholding Calculator
Whether your paycheck is having enough taken out — and, if not, the number to write on a new W-4 to fix it before April.
Withholding is a running guess your employer makes about your tax, from the W-4 you filled in and nothing else. It knows nothing about your spouse’s job, your side income, or the deductions you will claim — so it is often wrong, and it is wrong all year before anyone notices.
This checks the guess. Put in what the year will actually look like and what is coming out of your paycheck now, and it says where you will land in April and what to change.
Your year, as it will end up
Everyone on the return. Gross pay before anything comes out, for the whole year — not what has been paid so far.
Self-employment profit, interest, rents, retirement income. Nothing is withheld on most of this, which is the usual reason a return comes out owing.
Worth up to $2,200 each — this is the W-4 Step 3 figure.
Older children, and relatives you support. $500 each, and not refundable.
What is being withheld
The year-to-date federal withholding on your most recent payslip. Federal income tax only — not Social Security, Medicare or state.
What comes out of a single, typical paycheck.
Count the ones still to come, including the next one.
Where you will land in April
$0 already withheld, plus 12 more paychecks at $0.
To cover it before the year ends, put $469 in Step 4(c) of a new W-4 — the “extra withholding” line — and give it to your employer. Tax withheld counts as paid evenly across the year however late in the year it is withheld, which is why fixing it through the W-4 beats writing a cheque in April.
2026 federal rates and brackets. South Carolina withholding is separate and not included.
What this does not include
This compares a projected federal liability against projected federal withholding. It is a check on whether your W-4 is roughly right, not a filled-in W-4 and not a return.
- South Carolina withholding, which has its own form and its own allowances.
- The order your pay actually arrives in. Bonuses, commission and overtime are often withheld at a flat supplemental rate that does not match your real bracket, which is a common source of a gap in either direction.
- Two earners with very different pay. The W-4 has a specific step for this and getting it wrong is the most common cause of a married couple under-withholding badly. If you both work, this is worth checking with a person.
- Credits beyond the child and dependant credits — education, energy, childcare and the Earned Income Tax Credit are all excluded.
- Pre-tax deductions — 401(k), HSA and health premiums all reduce taxable wages. Enter your wages after those come out if you want a closer figure.
This is an estimate, not a tax return. It is a projection from the figures you entered, using published federal rates for the tax year shown. It is not a completed or filed return, it is not professional tax advice, and it does not create a client relationship. Your actual liability depends on your full circumstances and on documents this page never sees. Before acting on a number here — changing your withholding, setting an estimated payment, spending a refund — have it checked against your real situation. Call (864) 781-4035 or book a free consultation.
Why withholding beats writing a cheque
There is a rule worth knowing: tax withheld from wages is treated as having been paid evenly through the year, no matter when in the year it was actually withheld. A payment you send the IRS yourself is credited on the day you send it.
The practical effect is large. Discover in November that you are $3,000 short, and $3,000 of extra withholding across the last paychecks is treated as though it had been paid steadily since January — which can remove an underpayment penalty that a $3,000 cheque in April would not.
This is why a household with side income often does better raising the W-4 than making estimated payments, and why the fix for a shortfall discovered late in the year is nearly always the payroll office rather than the chequebook.
The step that catches two-earner couples
The most common way a married couple under-withholds badly is that both W-4s are filled in as though that job were the household’s only income. Each employer then withholds as if the standard deduction and the lower brackets were available in full against that salary alone. Both are right on their own and the pair is badly wrong together.
The W-4 has a step for this and it is the one people skip. If you both work — particularly if the two salaries are similar — this is worth checking properly rather than estimating, and it is a short conversation with us.
A large refund is not a win
If the calculator says you are over-withholding, what that means is that you are having several hundred dollars a month taken from you and returned, without interest, the following spring.
Plenty of people prefer it that way, and as a saving mechanism it works because it is invisible. It is worth choosing deliberately rather than by accident. The alternative is the same money in each paycheck, and the calculator tells you how much that would be.
Withholding questions
Where do I put the extra withholding on the W-4?
Step 4(c), the line marked "Extra withholding". Enter the per-paycheck figure the calculator gives you, sign the form and hand it to whoever runs your payroll. You can submit a new W-4 whenever you like — there is no annual window.
How many allowances should I claim?
None — allowances no longer exist. The W-4 was redesigned and now asks about dependants, other income and deductions in dollars rather than in a number of allowances. If someone is still advising you in allowances, they are working from a form that has not been used for years.
I have a side business. Should I change my W-4 or pay quarterly?
Either works, and the W-4 is usually simpler if you have a job with enough salary to absorb it — one form instead of four payments and four dates to remember. The quarterly calculator shows the instalment route if you would rather keep the two separate.
Why was so much withheld from my bonus?
Supplemental wages — bonuses, commission, some overtime — are often withheld at a flat rate rather than at your own. If that rate is above your real bracket you get the difference back at filing; if it is below, the bonus quietly leaves you short. Either way it is a common reason a projection stops matching the payslip.
Does this cover South Carolina withholding?
No. South Carolina has its own withholding form, and being right federally says nothing about being right at state level. We look at both when we prepare a return.
Not the question you had? The full tax FAQ covers more ground, and our client reviews say what the work is actually like.
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