28 feb How to Read a Pay Stub

A document that affirms the direct deposit of wages and reports gross earnings and deductions. Deductions shows any additional deductions that might be taken out of your paycheck after tax, like group life or disability insurance. Take-home pay is the net amount of income after taking out taxes, benefits, and other deductions. If you don’t have your pay stub, they are generally easily accessible.

Landlords and financial lenders may use your pay stubs to verify your income to be sure you can afford the rent or mortgage. They may also be applicable when seeking other types of loans such as car loans. Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication.

Common Items Included on Your Paycheck Stub

A pay stub should accurately determine an employee’s pay within a payroll period. It can even be used as evidence to either settle a dispute, or check for any discrepancies in pay. If you signed up for medical, dental or life insurance through your employer, your contributions to these plans will be deducted from your pay as well. Form W-2 reports an employee’s annual wages and the amount of taxes withheld from their paycheck. The principle behind federal income tax is that the government withholds a certain percentage of the money you earn in a year.

— The federal government requires your employer to withhold a certain amount of your paycheck to fund Medicare. Pay stubs include the details of each pay period’s wages including the following, depending on your personal circumstances. This is the amount of money you earned for this pay period, based on your hours worked and your pay rate. With any job, it can be difficult to decipher everything on your paycheck and figure out what various benefits provide for you. You might be wondering why money is being taken out of your pay and what exactly it’s going toward. If some of this is hard for you to understand, that’s completely normal!

pay stub

Many people use pay stubs to verity their income for a house, apartment, car, or loan. Depending on where you live, you may or may not be required to pay a state income tax. As with federal taxes, money for state taxes is withheld from every paycheck. Pay stubs are important documents that give employees transparency in how they are getting paid. It also gives year-to-date information so that the employee can see how they are doing for the entire year.

You’ll find any purchase journal and state tax deductions in this section. There are also many free online tools and templates that can be used if you don’t want the much expensive full payroll programs of the above websites. Some programs provide subscription-based services whereas some charge per stub.

There is no federal law that requires employers to provide employees with pay stubs, though most states do require employers to provide a pay stub. Taxes are often listed as a deduction on an employee’s pay stub. These withhold amounts to the total taxes that the employee has to pay to the federal, state, and local bodies. The federal income tax is the most mandatory tax, also considered as “pay-as-you-go tax”. Therefore this tax is directly collected from the paycheck and sent to the IRS regulatory.

Make Payroll Smooth and 100% Accurate

To avoid confusion, decipher what each abbreviation and acronym stands for. Not only will you learn what a “SSN” is, but you will also be able to understand the earnings and deduction abbreviations on your pay stub. Sometimes, the amount of federal income tax deducted from your earnings may be too high or too low. This could be due to a job change or the birth of a child, for instance. If your circumstances change, then you should inform the IRS or your company’s human resources department as soon as possible. If you have paid too much tax, they will calculate the amount you are due and pay you a refund.

• Contribution from the employee’s side may include payment of FUTA tax, SUTA tax, FICA tax, 401 etc.
• — Your total income after deductions and taxes are taken into account.
• The check stub also shows taxes and other deductions taken out of an employee’s earnings.
• For international employers, it is important to be aware of the rules for the countries in which they operate.
• States other than these do not require information to be provided on paper.

If the employer provides meals or uniform, that must also be included on the pay stub under the “credits” or “allowances”. Below, you will find some of the most common deduction codes that appear on your pay stub. A health savings account is another way to put pre-tax dollars aside in a special account for medical expenses.

The other 41 have requirements that include how to distribute pay stubs and who gets to decide—always the employee. Gross wages are the full amount an employer pays before deductions. This pay often includes more than the employee’s regular wages.

This can also include what the employee contributed to those categories, however, it is an optional component. All the important details of the employee like name, phone number, social security number and home address on a pay stub. AutoPay is used in conjunction with ADP products and services typically targeted to companies with more than 100 employees. All applicable taxes and deductions are taken out from your gross pay. There are several different taxes typically displayed and taken out of your pay stubs.

Federal Income Taxes

Be sure to check that the information on your last pay stub of the year matches the information on your W-2 form, which details your wages and taxes paid for the year. The federal government requires every working American to contribute a portion of their paycheck to Social Security, a system of supplemental retirement programs established in 1935. The Social Security fund provides benefits to current Social Security recipients.

Whether you opt for a check or direct deposit, you’ll receive a summary of tax information each pay period. You might be tempted to ignore this information, but you should understand what it means and why it’s important. When you start a new job or want to change the amount of tax that is withheld from your paycheck, you will needto fill out a W-4 Form. This will tell your employer how much money to deduct from your check for taxes and benefit contributions.

Also, most pay stubs will include retirement plan contributions such as IRAs or 401Ks and the amount deducted will be dependent on how much the individual has agreed to contribute. There are no federal laws requiring employers to issue pay stubs to employees, but they are required in many states. Pay stubs are written pay statements that show each employee’s paycheck details for each pay period. Pay stubs are also called paycheck stubs, wage statements, or payslips. If your business provides physical paychecks, typically, the pay stub is attached or included with the check.

Keeping in line with different employment and labor laws can be a challenge. Deductions could also include charitable contributions, payments toward loans, and any other voluntary or involuntary deductions (e.g., child support). List each deduction on its own line, and show current and year-to-date totals. This content is for information purposes only and should not be considered legal, accounting, or tax advice, or a substitute for obtaining such advice specific to your business. No assurance is given that the information is comprehensive in its coverage or that it is suitable in dealing with a customer’s particular situation. Intuit Inc. does not have any responsibility for updating or revising any information presented herein.

In addition, some union contracts require unionized employees to receive payslips. Here are some important things to be aware of before you receive your first paycheck. If you can’t locate copies, ask the Payroll or Human Resources department of your employer if they can provide you with copies of your pay slips or a login to access them online. These tools can also be useful for tax planning purposes, too, allowing you to check your withholdings against their recommendations. You may discover that you’re deducting too much or too little from your check, and change your withholdings accordingly. It is mandatory to show the pay period (Employee is paid from what date to what date?) and include the payment date as well.

What Information Is Available On A Paystub?

The contribution for these benefits is withdrawn from the paycheck before other taxes. However, these benefit deductions vary depending on the employer and the company’s policies. The earnings section shows your earnings from the pay period and includes overtime. It also shows pre-tax deductions for different employee benefits that you may receive, such as health insurance and retirement contributions. The stub is something the employee can use to confirm what funds were withheld from the gross pay that led to the final net pay amount.

Sometimes it is too difficult for employees to remember all the abbreviations – that’s why we have compiled this information. Your employer reports your annual salary as well as the number of dependents you report on your W-4 form to the federal government. As an employee, seeing your take home pay and what was taken out for tax purposes can be beneficial. You can use it as a guide when creating a budget to properly understand how much is coming in and where your money is going.

The deductions that relate to taxes are generally the most confusing, particularly those related to FICA. In most jurisdictions, you are legally entitled to see your pay stub. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice. This is the total amount of money you’ve earned so far this year. Discover a wealth of knowledge to help you tackle payroll, HR and benefits, and compliance.

This shows your current pay rate if you’re working an hourly wage job. Businesses usually offer a few payment methods for obtaining your paycheck. Just like any other check, it can be cashed or deposited to your bank account if you have one. These include health coverage, dependent care, and life insurance.

All the information that is required to be preserved goes beyond just pay stubs. Still keeping a record of the pay stubs and payrolls periods is very beneficial for the office environment and the relationship between the employees with their employers. The money contribution for benefits by an employer or an employee is also needed to be itemised on a pay stub. Contribution from the employee’s side may include payment of FUTA tax, SUTA tax, FICA tax, 401 etc.

If your business uses direct deposit, employees may have to access their pay stubs via an online portal. A pay stub is what you give employees with their paycheck to outline the details of how much was earned in gross pay and what deductions were made, leaving them with a net pay amount. Pay stubs should outline things such as tax withholdings, health insurance payments and retirement funding.

Overtime pay and additional income, such as paid time off, bonuses, and payroll advances, are also included under gross wages. Some states, like Georgia and Florida, don’t require employers to provide pay stubs. In those states, it’s the employer’s right to decide if they should issue pay stubs. But even among states that require pay stubs, there are discrepancies in the details. You’ll want to review your state’s laws to make sure your business is compliant with issuing pay stubs.

If you are enrolled in one of these programs, your contributions to your account will also show up on your paycheck. Paystubs are important because they lay out information about an employee’s wage during a certain period of time. They are useful to help avoid any confusion or disputes regarding pay as they clearly outline where percentages of the wage are being deducted and why. Depending on the locality, different requirements are expected to be met when it comes to paystubs, although generally the same kind of information should be included. Net pay, or take-home pay, is the amount left over after subtracting taxes and deductions from the employee’s gross pay. If the employee receives nontaxable income, include that income after subtracting all taxes and deductions.

The method of calculation of the gross earnings is different for hourly and salaried employees. Employees receive pay stubs as a record of their salaries and hourly wages. Pay stubs help the employees to understand and analyze all the taxes and deductions and check if they are paid correctly by the company. Many employers include a comparable list for contributions to retirement schemes and health insurance policies. On your pay stubs, these fields are usually denoted by the term “YTD” (year-to-date).