How to Calculate Federal Income Tax Withheld
- 1). Check the most recent edition of IRS Publication 15 to find the value of each personal allowance claimed per pay period. For example, if you are paid weekly, each allowance is worth $39.42.
- 2). Multiply the number of personal allowances claimed on the W-4 form by the value per pay period. For example, if four allowances are claimed, you would multiply $39.42 by four to get $157.68.
- 3). Determine how much of your paycheck is subject to federal income tax withholding by subtracting the value of the allowances from the pretax paycheck amount. If your weekly income was $1,800, you would subtract $157.68 from $1,800 to find that $1,642.32 would be subject to federal income tax withholding.
- 4). Use appropriate tax withholding tables, found in IRS Publication 15, based on whether you are single or married, and your pay period to determine how much will be withheld for federal income taxes. If you were married, you would use the married weekly withholding table to find that for $1,642.32 of income subject to withholding, you would have $214.93 withheld.
