New York Bonus Tax Calculator 2026

Use this New York bonus tax calculator to estimate how much of a bonus you may actually receive after 2026 federal supplemental withholding, Social Security, Medicare, New York State withholding and applicable NYC or Yonkers withholding.

You can compare the percentage method and aggregate method, enter year-to-date wages for FICA limits, and add prior supplemental wages so the calculator can handle the federal $1 million threshold correctly.

Important: A bonus can have a high withholding percentage without being taxed at that exact percentage on your final return. Withholding is a prepayment. Your final federal, New York State and local income-tax liability depends on your full-year tax situation.

How are bonuses withheld in New York in 2026?

Bonuses are generally treated as supplemental wages for payroll withholding.

When the payment is separately identified and the applicable conditions are met, the main 2026 percentage-method rates are:

Withholding	2026 percentage-method rate
Federal income-tax withholding	22% up to the $1M cumulative supplemental-wage threshold
Federal withholding on supplemental wages above $1M	37% on the excess
New York State	11.70%
NYC resident	4.25%
Yonkers resident	1.95975%
Yonkers nonresident	0.50%
Social Security	6.2% up to the 2026 $184,500 wage base
Medicare	1.45%, no wage cap
Additional Medicare withholding	0.9% once an employer pays more than $200,000 of Medicare wages during the year

These are withholding rules, not a promise of your final tax rate.

Your employer may instead use the aggregate method, and in some situations the aggregate method is required.

Percentage method vs aggregate method

The two methods answer the same payroll question in different ways.

Percentage method

For a separately identified bonus, an employer can generally withhold federal income tax at 22% when the payment qualifies for the optional flat method and the employee has not crossed the $1 million supplemental-wage threshold.

New York State has a separate 11.70% supplemental rate. NYC and Yonkers also publish their own supplemental rates.

This method is simple because the employer does not run the bonus itself through the ordinary progressive withholding calculation.

Aggregate method

Under the aggregate method, payroll:

1. combines the bonus with regular wages for the relevant payroll period;
2. calculates withholding on the combined amount as though it were one regular wage payment;
3. subtracts the withholding attributable to the regular wages;
4. withholds the difference from the bonus.

Federal aggregate withholding uses the employee’s regular W-4 context. New York State and local aggregate withholding use the corresponding New York withholding methods.

Aggregate withholding is not automatically higher. It can be higher or lower than the flat method depending on regular pay, filing/withholding settings, bonus size and locality.

The calculator shows both methods side by side so you can see the difference under the assumptions you enter.

When can the 22% federal bonus rate be used?

The federal 22% rate is not a universal rule for every bonus payment.

For separately identified supplemental wages below the $1 million threshold, the IRS allows the optional 22% method when federal income tax has been withheld from the employee’s regular wages in the current or immediately preceding calendar year.

If regular wages did not have federal income-tax withholding, the employer uses the aggregate method.

Also, if a bonus is combined with regular wages and the employer does not separately identify the bonus amount, federal income-tax withholding is calculated as though the total were one regular wage payment.

New York State, NYC and Yonkers publications use a similar basic distinction: when supplemental wages are separately paid or separately specified and regular-wage income tax is being withheld, payroll can use the published supplemental rate or the aggregate method. If regular wages have no income-tax withholding, the New York publications direct employers to the aggregate method.

New York State bonus withholding: 11.70%

For payrolls in 2026, New York State’s published supplemental withholding rate is 11.70%.

That number often surprises employees because it can be much higher than the state rate they associate with their normal annual income.

The key distinction is:

11.70% is a payroll withholding rate for qualifying supplemental wages. It is not automatically your final New York State tax rate on the bonus.

At tax-return time, bonus wages are included with your other taxable wage income and your final New York tax is calculated under the annual rules.

If 11.70% was more than necessary after your full-year income, deductions and credits are considered, the excess contributes to a refund or reduces other tax due. If withholding was too low, you can still owe tax.

For your annual liability rather than the bonus paycheck, use the New York income tax calculator.

NYC bonus withholding: use 4.25%, not the ordinary top NYC bracket

For an NYC resident whose separately identified supplemental payment qualifies for the percentage method, the official 2026 NYC supplemental withholding rate is 4.25%.

This is a particularly important distinction because some calculators use the ordinary annual NYC top bracket of 3.876% as a bonus-withholding rate.

They are not the same thing.

For bonus withholding under the percentage method:

NYC supplemental withholding = 4.25%

The NYC amount is in addition to:

• federal withholding;
• New York State withholding;
• Social Security and Medicare;
• other applicable payroll deductions.

If you want a regular NYC salary/paycheck estimate, use the NYC paycheck calculator.

Yonkers bonus withholding

Yonkers publishes separate 2026 supplemental rates.

For the percentage method:

• Yonkers resident: 1.95975%
• Yonkers nonresident: 0.50%

These local amounts are added alongside New York State withholding.

The calculator keeps Yonkers resident and nonresident options separate rather than applying one generic “Yonkers tax” rate.

Worked example: $10,000 bonus in New York

Consider a separately identified $10,000 bonus using the percentage method.

Assumptions:

• federal flat method is permitted;
• cumulative supplemental wages remain below $1 million;
• the employee is below the Social Security wage base before the bonus;
• Additional Medicare withholding has not started;
• no pretax retirement/benefit deduction is taken from the bonus;
• no PFL, disability or other payroll deduction is included in this example.

New York State outside NYC and Yonkers

Item	Amount
Gross bonus	$10,000.00
Federal withholding — 22%	−$2,200.00
New York State — 11.70%	−$1,170.00
Social Security — 6.2%	−$620.00
Medicare — 1.45%	−$145.00
Estimated bonus take-home	$5,865.00

Total modeled withholding in this simplified example is $4,135, or 41.35% of the bonus.

Again, 41.35% is the amount removed under these payroll assumptions, not necessarily the employee’s final combined tax rate.

If the employee is an NYC resident

Add NYC supplemental withholding:

$10,000 × 4.25% = $425

Estimated cash bonus:

$5,440.00

That means the simplified withholding/deduction stack is 45.60% before any other employee deductions.

If the employee is a Yonkers resident

Yonkers resident supplemental withholding:

$10,000 × 1.95975% = $195.98

Estimated cash bonus:

$5,669.03

If the employee is a Yonkers nonresident

Yonkers nonresident supplemental withholding:

$10,000 × 0.50% = $50

Estimated cash bonus:

$5,815.00

Why can an NYC bonus lose more than 45% before it reaches your bank account?

Using the simplified $10,000 NYC example:

• 22% federal;
• 11.70% New York State;
• 4.25% NYC;
• 6.2% Social Security;
• 1.45% Medicare.

Together, those deductions equal 45.60% before considering additional Medicare, PFL, retirement contributions, health benefits or other payroll deductions.

That is why employees often say their bonus was “taxed at 45%.”

A more precise statement is:

The bonus had about 45.6% withheld/deducted under those payroll assumptions.

The final income tax on the bonus is reconciled with the employee’s full-year federal, state and local tax return.

What happens when supplemental wages exceed $1 million?

The federal $1 million rule applies to cumulative supplemental wages paid to the employee during the calendar year, not just one isolated bonus.

Once cumulative supplemental wages exceed $1 million, the excess is subject to 37% federal withholding.

Example

Suppose your employer has already paid you:

$950,000 of supplemental wages

and now pays another:

$100,000 bonus

The first $50,000 of the new bonus fills the remaining amount below the threshold:

$50,000 × 22% = $11,000

The remaining $50,000 is above the threshold:

$50,000 × 37% = $18,500

Total federal income-tax withholding on that $100,000 bonus:

$29,500

That is why the calculator asks for supplemental wages already paid this year rather than assuming the full current bonus uses one federal rate.

How year-to-date wages change Social Security on a bonus

Social Security tax has an annual wage ceiling.

For 2026, the employee Social Security rate is 6.2% and the wage base is $184,500.

If your year-to-date Social Security wages are already above $184,500 before the bonus, no additional employee Social Security tax should be modeled on the bonus.

If you are just below the limit, only the part of the bonus needed to reach the wage base is subject to the 6.2% employee Social Security tax.

Medicare is different. The normal 1.45% Medicare employee tax has no wage cap.

Employers also begin withholding an additional 0.9% Medicare Tax once an employee’s Medicare wages paid by that employer exceed $200,000 during the calendar year.

The calculator therefore asks for YTD Social Security and Medicare wages rather than charging the same FICA amount to every bonus.

Can a 401(k) contribution reduce bonus withholding?

Potentially, yes — if your employer’s retirement plan allows you to defer part of the bonus and you have available contribution room.

A traditional pretax 401(k) elective deferral generally reduces the wages subject to federal income-tax withholding at the time of the deferral.

However, the IRS states that those pretax elective deferrals remain wages for Social Security and Medicare.

The calculator models a traditional pretax 401(k)/403(b) bonus deduction accordingly:

• reduces modeled federal income-tax withholding wages;
• reduces modeled New York/local income-tax withholding wages under the tool’s wage assumptions;
• does not reduce Social Security/Medicare wages.

A Roth 401(k) contribution does not receive the same current income-tax treatment.

Your employer’s plan terms determine whether a bonus can be deferred and what election applies. Check with payroll/benefits before the bonus is processed.

What about HSA, FSA, health insurance and other pretax deductions?

Some Section 125/HSA/FSA payroll deductions can reduce both income-tax wages and FICA wages when they qualify for pretax treatment.

The bonus calculator includes a separate Section 125/HSA/FSA input for this reason.

Actual treatment depends on the specific benefit and payroll plan. If your employer does not take that deduction from the bonus, leave it at zero.

Can New York Paid Family Leave also come out of a bonus check?

Your actual New York paycheck may also include a Paid Family Leave employee contribution.

For 2026, the employee PFL contribution rate is 0.432% of gross wages per pay period, capped at $411.91 for the year.

PFL is not New York income-tax withholding. It is a separate payroll deduction.

The calculator can include PFL and asks for your year-to-date PFL contribution so it does not continue beyond the modeled annual cap.

The worked bonus examples above exclude PFL and disability contributions so the tax-withholding methods are easier to see.

For a deeper explanation of these items, see New York paycheck taxes and deductions.

Flat vs aggregate example

The aggregate method can produce a substantially different bonus check from the percentage method.

As a calculator QA scenario, consider:

• $75,000 annual regular salary;
• biweekly payroll;
• $10,000 bonus;
• Single;
• no W-4 credits/extra income/deductions;
• 0 New York allowances;
• New York State outside NYC/Yonkers;
• $80,000 YTD Social Security/Medicare wages before the bonus;
• no PFL or benefit deductions in this illustration.

Under the calculator’s percentage method:

Estimated bonus take-home: $5,865.00

Under the aggregate method using those regular-pay assumptions:

Estimated bonus take-home: approximately $5,662.26

The difference is driven mainly by the regular withholding schedules applied to the unusually large combined biweekly payment.

Change the salary, W-4 settings, New York allowances, pay frequency or locality and the comparison can change. Aggregate is not inherently “better,” “worse,” “higher” or “lower.”

The calculator shows both estimates so you can understand the payroll effect.

Why does the aggregate method sometimes look extreme?

Regular withholding tables assume that the amount paid in a payroll period is representative of the employee’s pay pattern.

When a large bonus is combined with one ordinary weekly or biweekly paycheck, the combined amount can look like a very high recurring paycheck to the withholding formula.

That can produce a large withholding amount for that particular check.

This is still withholding. The employee’s annual return ultimately calculates tax using full-year income and applicable tax rules.

Does splitting a bonus into several checks reduce the final tax?

Not simply because the payment is split.

Payment timing and payroll method can change when and how much is withheld, especially under aggregate withholding.

But if the same taxable compensation is ultimately received in the same tax year, splitting it into multiple payroll checks does not by itself make the income disappear from the annual tax calculation.

For very large bonuses, cumulative supplemental wages also still count toward the federal $1 million threshold.

Are commissions, severance and back pay treated like bonuses?

“Bonus calculator” is a common search phrase, but IRS supplemental-wage rules cover more than annual performance bonuses.

Publication 15 lists payments such as:

• bonuses;
• commissions;
• certain overtime pay;
• accumulated sick-leave payments;
• severance pay;
• awards and prizes;
• back pay;
• retroactive pay increases;
• certain other supplemental payments.

The exact withholding method still depends on how the employer pays and identifies the compensation.

This calculator is most suitable for ordinary W-2 supplemental wage payments. It is not a legal severance calculator or a stock-compensation calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Are bonuses taxed at 22% in 2026?

Not exactly.

22% is an optional federal supplemental-wage withholding rate for qualifying payments below the $1 million cumulative threshold. Your final federal income tax on bonus wages is determined with your other annual taxable income.

Why does New York withhold 11.7% from my bonus?

New York State publishes 11.70% as its 2026 supplemental wage withholding rate for qualifying separately identified payments.

It is a payroll withholding rate, not a statement that your final New York tax rate is 11.70%.

What is the NYC bonus withholding rate for 2026?

For the percentage method, the official NYC supplemental withholding rate is 4.25%.

Do not substitute the ordinary annual 3.876% top NYC bracket for the official supplemental withholding rate.

What is the Yonkers bonus withholding rate?

For 2026 percentage-method supplemental withholding:

• Yonkers resident: 1.95975%
• Yonkers nonresident: 0.50%

Is FICA taken from a bonus?

Generally, yes. Supplemental wages are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Social Security applies only until the employee reaches the $184,500 2026 wage base. Medicare has no wage cap.

Why is my bonus withholding higher than my normal paycheck?

A percentage-method bonus can stack federal supplemental withholding, New York State withholding, local tax and FICA all at once.

Under the aggregate method, a large combined paycheck can also be annualized through the regular withholding tables, creating a large one-check withholding amount.

Will I automatically get the extra withholding back as a refund?

No guarantee can be made.

Withholding is credited against your final tax. Whether you receive a refund or owe additional tax depends on your complete annual return, including other income, deductions, credits and payments.

Does my W-4 affect the 22% flat method?

The 22% flat percentage itself does not use the employee’s W-4 entries. The W-4 matters to regular wage withholding and therefore to aggregate-method calculations.

The employer must also satisfy the federal conditions for using the optional flat method.

Does IT-2104 affect the flat 11.7% New York bonus rate?

The flat New York percentage method uses the published supplemental rate rather than ordinary allowance-based withholding.

IT-2104 matters to ordinary New York withholding and therefore can affect an aggregate-method calculation.

For allowance questions, use the New York withholding calculator.

Can I choose the bonus withholding method?

The withholding method is generally a payroll/employer decision subject to the applicable federal and New York rules.

The calculator lets you compare both methods for planning. It does not mean the employee can require payroll to use either method in every situation.

What if no federal or New York income tax is withheld from my regular wages?

The optional flat percentage method may not be available.

Federal Publication 15 directs employers to the aggregate method when federal income tax was not withheld from regular wages in the current or immediately preceding calendar year.

The New York State, NYC and Yonkers publications likewise direct employers to the aggregate method when income tax is not withheld from regular wages under their supplemental-wage rules.

Calculate your bonus, then check your full paycheck

Use the calculator above to compare percentage and aggregate withholding for your bonus.

For calculation assumptions and update methodology, see How the New York Paycheck Calculator Works.