Enter the amount an employee should take home and this gross-up calculator finds the gross payment that covers federal, state, Social
Security and Medicare taxes. To hand someone $1,000 in a state with no income tax, you pay about $1,421.47.
Gross bonus to pay, California
$1,700.11
so the employee takes home $1,000.00
Line
Amount
Gross bonus needed
$1,700.11
Federal income tax
−$374.02
Social Security
−$105.41
Medicare
−$24.65
California income tax (10.23% flat)
−$173.92
CA SDI
−$22.10
Employee takes home
$1,000.00
Taxes take 41.2% of the bonus.
With the aggregate method instead: gross $1,690.30.
10.23% on bonuses and stock options, 6.6% on other supplemental pay. Optional when paid separately.
Withholding estimate for 2026. What you finally owe is settled on your tax return, where a bonus is taxed like any other wages.
Gross-up formula
gross = net / (1 - total tax rate)
The total tax rate is federal withholding plus 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare plus any state rate. With the 22% federal flat rate for bonuses and no state tax, the rate is 29.65%. When a state uses regular withholding or tax rates change
with income, there is no single rate, so the calculator searches for the gross amount that leaves the exact net.
Gross-up examples by state
Gross payment needed for each take-home amount, paid as a bonus with the 22% federal flat rate.
Take-home wanted
Gross, Texas
Gross, California
Gross, New York
$500
$710.74
$850.06
$866.29
$1,000
$1,421.47
$1,700.11
$1,732.57
$2,500
$3,553.67
$4,250.26
$4,331.41
$5,000
$7,107.33
$8,500.52
$8,642.01
$10,000
$14,214.65
$17,001.03
$17,230.41
Flat rate or aggregate method?
If the payment goes out on its own, most employers withhold federal tax at the flat 22%, and the gross-up is simple.
If it is added to a regular paycheck, the aggregate method runs the combined amount through the normal withholding tables, which can need a
larger gross amount. Switch methods in Step 2 to compare. The bonus tax calculator works the other way,
from a gross bonus to take-home pay.
Grossing up means raising a payment so that, after taxes are withheld, the person receives a set amount. If you promise someone $1,000 in hand, you pay more than $1,000 gross and the taxes come out of the extra.
How do you calculate a gross-up?
+−
Divide the net amount by 1 minus the total tax rate. With 22% federal and 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare, that is 1 - 29.65% = 0.7035, so $1,000 net needs $1,421.46 gross in a state with no income tax. Add the state rate to the total for other states.
Why not just add the tax to the payment?
+−
Because the added amount is taxed too. Adding 29.65% of $1,000 gives $1,296.50, but taxes on that leave the employee short. Dividing by 1 minus the rate covers the tax on the tax.
When do employers gross up pay?
+−
For bonuses promised as a net amount, relocation payments, awards and gift cards, which count as taxable wages, and for some settlements. A gross-up costs the employer more, including its own share of Social Security and Medicare on the larger amount.