Gross to net calculator

Enter the gross from the annual side: pick the salary, the state and the pay frequency — the engine returns the net, per period and for the year.

JavaScript is off: you are reading the default scenario, computed by the calculation engine when this page was built. Switching to the other precomputed scenarios needs JavaScript — every figure shown here is complete and readable as it stands.

Result — California — $75,000.00/year — biweekly — single

Net pay per period$2,228.94

Total deductions$655.68

Effective tax rate22.73%

Federal income tax: $295.00
FICA (Social Security + Medicare): $220.68
State taxes & programs: $140.00
Net pay: $2,228.94

Every line: amount, explanation and source. Explanations open line by line.
Line	Per period	Annual
Gross pay (incl. declared tips) Why this line? Your pay before anything is taken out — the starting point of every line below it. Why this rate: Not a tax — it is the amount your employer agreed to pay for the period. What changes it: Hours, salary, overtime and bonuses. Every other line in the result is computed from this amount. Source: IRS — Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IR-2025-103, 2025-10-09) — verified 2026-10-22.	$2,884.62	$75,000.00
Federal income tax Why this line? Federal income tax. On an employee paycheck (P1) this is the amount WITHHELD for the period, computed with the IRS Publication 15-T percentage method for automated payroll (Worksheet 1A): the period wage is annualized, adjusted for the Form W-4 entries — Step 4(a) other income added, Step 4(b) deductions and the Step 2 checkbox adjustment subtracted — taxed on the publication's own annual percentage schedules, then divided back by the pay periods, with the Step 3 amount credited per period and any Step 4(c) extra amount added. On the self-employment side (P3) it is the estimated annual liability: income minus the standard deduction, taxed through the 10%-37% brackets for the filing status. Why this rate: Congress sets the rates in the Internal Revenue Code. The IRS publishes the withholding machinery each year in Publication 15-T (2026 edition for 2026 paychecks) and the annual brackets and standard deductions in its yearly revenue procedure (for 2026: Rev. Proc. 2025-32). What changes it: Pay level and frequency, filing status, and the Form W-4 entries (Step 2 checkbox, Step 3 amount, Steps 4(a)/4(b)/4(c)) — and in P3, the one-half SE tax deduction and the QBI deduction, which reduce taxable income before the brackets apply. Source: IRS — Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods — verified 2026-10-26.	$295.00	$7,670.00
Social Security (FICA) Why this line? Your Social Security (FICA) contribution: 6.2% of wages, but only on the first $184,500 earned in 2026. It funds Social Security retirement and disability benefits. Why this rate: Set by Congress (IRC §3101): 6.2% employee + 6.2% employer. The $184,500 wage base for 2026 is announced by the Social Security Administration and rises with national wage growth. What changes it: It stops mid-year once cumulative wages (all employers combined, in this engine's liability view) reach the $184,500 wage base; the base is re-set by the SSA every October. Source: SSA 2026 wage base + IRC §3101/3111 rates; cross-checked in J1 correction (IRS/SSA) — verified 2026-10-22.	$178.85	$4,650.00
Medicare (FICA) Why this line? Your Medicare (FICA) contribution: 1.45% of every dollar of wages, with no cap. It funds Medicare health insurance for people 65 and over. Why this rate: Set by Congress (IRC §3101): 1.45% employee + 1.45% employer. There has never been a Medicare wage cap. What changes it: Nothing caps it — it grows dollar-for-dollar with pay. Only the wage amount changes it. Source: IRC §3101/3111 — no wage cap — verified 2026-10-22.	$41.83	$1,087.50
California income tax Why this line? State income tax on your wages for the state shown — flat in some states (one rate for everyone), progressive in others (brackets like the federal tax), and zero in the nine states that do not tax wages. Why this rate: Each state's legislature sets its own rates, brackets and deductions; the figures here are the state's 2026 parameters as encoded in the data pack. What changes it: The state (each sets its own system), income, the state's standard deduction/exemptions, and state law changes — several states cut rates for 2026. Source: California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) — 2026 indexing announcement (Tax News) and 2026 rate schedules X/Y/Z — verified 2026-10-23.	$102.50	$2,665.12
California SDI (State Disability Insurance) Why this line? California State Disability Insurance (SDI): an employee-paid 1.3% of wages with no cap since 2024, funding short-term disability and Paid Family Leave benefits. Why this rate: Set under the California Unemployment Insurance Code; the EDD publishes the rate each year (1.3% for 2026). What changes it: The rate is set annually by the EDD; it applies to all wages (no ceiling since SB 951 removed the cap). Source: California EDD — 2026 employee SDI rate 1.3%, no wage cap (SB 951 removed the cap) — verified 2026-10-23.	$37.50	$975.00
Total deductions Why this line? The sum of every deduction line for this paycheck — everything taken out between gross pay and net pay. Why this rate: Not a tax — the subtotal of the lines above it. What changes it: Any of the component lines; it drops noticeably mid-year for high earners once the Social Security cap is reached. Source: IRS — Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IR-2025-103, 2025-10-09) — verified 2026-10-22.	$655.68	$17,047.68
Net pay Why this line? What actually lands in your bank account for the period: gross pay minus every deduction line above it. Why this rate: Not a tax — it is the remainder after the taxes above are subtracted. What changes it: Any change in gross pay or in any deduction — including mid-year changes like reaching the Social Security cap, which makes net pay jump up. Source: IRS — Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IR-2025-103, 2025-10-09) — verified 2026-10-22.	$2,228.94	$57,952.32

Compare scenarios

In California (annual net)

$57,952.32
Engine scenario: full year at this pay.

Same pay, no state income tax (annual net)

$60,617.44
Engine scenario: state income tax removed, everything else identical.

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Methodology, limits and sources

Rates verified on 2026-10-26 (primary sources listed per line).

Federal withholding: IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A percentage method, applied per pay period from the Form W-4 entries. State income tax: annual method — the engine computes the annual state tax on the annual tables, then divides by the pay frequency (state per-period withholding tables are not reproduced — a documented, deliberate limit). The Social Security cap is applied cumulatively across the year.

Gross to net, without the pay-stub detour

This page is the paycheck engine entered from the annual gross: it figures the federal withholding with the IRS Pub. 15-T per-period percentage method, FICA with its cumulative Social Security cap, and the state tax of the state you pick — then splits the net back into pay periods. The full line-by-line paycheck view, with dependents, tips and local modules, is the paycheck calculator.