Using IRS Tax Withholding Estimator: Should I Enter Gross or Net Pay from Paystub?
I'm trying to use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator tool to check if I'm withholding enough for my 2025 taxes, but I'm confused about what numbers to input. When it asks for "amount per pay period" from my recent paystubs, should I be entering my gross pay or my net pay? The second part asks for "year-to-date wages from most recent paystub." When I clicked the question mark for more info, it said to enter the total gross amount I *expect* to receive this year, but then it also mentions entering "wages earned." These seem like different things to me. I want to make sure I'm getting an accurate estimate since I definitely don't want to end up owing a bunch at tax time. Has anyone used this tool successfully and know which numbers I should be entering?
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Freya Ross
You should definitely use your GROSS pay for the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator, not your net pay. The tool is designed to help determine what your tax liability will be based on your total earnings before any deductions. For the "amount per pay period" section, enter your gross pay from your most recent paystub - this is your pay before any taxes or other deductions are taken out. For the "year-to-date wages" section, you'll use the year-to-date gross earnings shown on your most recent paystub. This represents how much you've earned so far this year before any deductions. Then the tool also wants you to estimate your expected total gross earnings for the year, which helps it calculate your projected tax liability. The wording in the tool can definitely be confusing! But remember the IRS calculator is trying to determine your total tax liability based on your full earnings, not what you take home after deductions.
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Leslie Parker
•Thanks for the explanation. What about bonuses or overtime? Should those be included in the gross amount or calculated separately? My company usually gives us a small holiday bonus and I work overtime occasionally.
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Freya Ross
•Yes, you should include all types of compensation in your gross amount, including any bonuses or overtime. The Tax Withholding Estimator is trying to calculate your total tax liability for the year, so it needs to account for all of your income. If you know you'll be receiving a holiday bonus or expect to work a certain amount of overtime, you should estimate those amounts and include them in your expected total gross earnings for the year. This will give you a more accurate picture of your tax situation and help ensure you're withholding the right amount.
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Sergio Neal
I used to struggle with the same thing until I found taxr.ai which really helped me understand how to use the Tax Withholding Estimator correctly. I was constantly getting confused between gross and net and honestly kept making mistakes. I uploaded my paystub to https://taxr.ai and it instantly clarified which numbers to use where on the IRS estimator. It analyzed my withholding patterns and showed me I was actually overwithholding by about $2,300 per year! Now I've adjusted my W-4 and see more money in each paycheck.
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Savanna Franklin
•Does it work with all types of paystubs? Mine looks pretty weird and has a lot of deductions since I work for a university with a special retirement system.
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Juan Moreno
•I'm kinda skeptical about using third-party tools with my financial info. How secure is it? Do they store your paystub data after analyzing it?
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Sergio Neal
•It works with pretty much any type of paystub I've seen. I've used it with both my corporate job and my side gig paystubs. The system is designed to recognize different formats including those with unusual deduction categories like special retirement systems. They use bank-level encryption for all uploads and according to their privacy policy, they don't permanently store your paystub data after analysis. Once your analysis is complete, you can download your results and the system purges your original documents. I was concerned about that too initially but felt comfortable after reading through their security practices.
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Savanna Franklin
Just wanted to update - I tried taxr.ai after posting my question and wow, it actually solved my confusion immediately. It analyzed my university paystub with all its weird retirement deductions and showed me exactly which numbers to use for the IRS calculator. Turns out I was using my net pay instead of gross and was way off in my estimates! The tool showed me which specific lines on my paystub matched up with what the IRS tool was asking for. Definitely saved me from a potential tax surprise next April.
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Amy Fleming
If you've tried using the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator and still end up needing to talk to someone at the IRS for clarification, good luck getting through on the phone! I spent literally 4+ hours on hold trying to get someone to answer a question about my withholding last month. Then I found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you when an agent is ready to talk. Saved me so much frustration.
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Alice Pierce
•How does this actually work though? Do they have some special access to the IRS or something? I don't really understand how they can get through faster than regular people.
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Juan Moreno
•Yeah right. No way this actually works. The IRS phone system is designed to be impossible. If this service actually worked, everyone would be using it and the IRS would probably shut it down.
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Amy Fleming
•They don't have special access to the IRS - they just use technology to handle the waiting for you. Their system automatically navigates through the phone menus and sits on hold so you don't have to. When an agent finally picks up, they connect you immediately. It's basically like having someone else wait in line for you. I was skeptical too until I tried it. They can't make the IRS answer faster - they just save you from having to personally sit through the hold music and constant "your call is important to us" messages. The IRS wouldn't shut it down since it's just a call connection service, not some kind of line-cutting trick.
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Juan Moreno
Well I'm eating my words now. After posting my skeptical comment I decided to try Claimyr because I was desperate to ask about a notice I received about my withholding. I've been trying to get through to the IRS for THREE WEEKS with no luck. Used the service yesterday and got connected to an agent in 35 minutes (while I was watching Netflix instead of listening to hold music). The agent answered my withholding question and even helped me understand how to properly adjust my W-4. Wish I'd known about this sooner instead of wasting days of my life on hold!
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Esteban Tate
Just to add another perspective on the Tax Withholding Estimator - make sure you also account for any non-wage income like investments, side hustles, crypto, etc. when using the tool. I made the mistake of only entering my W-2 income last year and ended up with a big surprise tax bill because I forgot about some stock I sold. The estimator is only as good as the info you put in it!
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Ivanna St. Pierre
•Do you know if there's a section in the estimator specifically for capital gains or do you just add that to your total income somewhere?
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Esteban Tate
•In the Tax Withholding Estimator, there's a specific section where you can enter "other income" which is where you should put capital gains, investment income, side hustle earnings, etc. It's not combined with your regular wages because these types of income are taxed differently. When you get to that section, you'll see options to enter different categories of non-wage income. Be as accurate as possible with these estimates since they can significantly impact your withholding recommendations. This is especially important for capital gains which can push you into higher tax brackets if they're substantial.
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Elin Robinson
has anybody else noticed that the irs withholding calculator estimator thing seems broken half the time?? i tried using it like 3 times this month and kept getting error messages. finally got it to work yesterday but super annoying. the federal government really needs to hire better web developers lol
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Atticus Domingo
•Try using it in incognito mode or a different browser. I had issues with Chrome but it worked fine in Firefox. Something about cookies or cache getting corrupted.
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Jordan Walker
I've been using the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator for a few years now and can confirm what others have said - definitely use your GROSS pay amounts. One thing I'd add is to be really careful about timing when you run the calculator. I always wait until I have at least 2-3 recent paystubs from the current year to get more accurate year-to-date numbers, especially if you got a raise or bonus early in the year. Also, don't forget to update your estimates if your situation changes during the year (new job, marriage, kids, etc.). I run it twice a year - once in spring and once in fall - just to make sure I'm still on track. Better to catch any issues early than get surprised at tax time!
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Ravi Choudhury
•That's really smart advice about timing and running it twice a year! I never thought about waiting for multiple paystubs before using the calculator. I've been making the mistake of trying to use it right after New Year's with just one paystub, which probably explains why my estimates seemed off. Do you have a specific month you prefer for your spring and fall check-ins, or do you just go by when major life changes happen?
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Raul Neal
•@Jordan Walker I usually do my spring check around late March/early April before (the tax deadline so I can still make estimated payments if needed and) my fall check in September or October. Those timing windows work well because by spring you have a good chunk of the year s'data, and fall gives you time to adjust your W-4 for the last few months if needed. The key is having enough paystubs to see patterns - like if your overtime varies seasonally or if annual bonuses affect your withholding calculations. I learned this the hard way after using just one January paystub and ending up way off on my projections!
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Chloe Harris
Great thread everyone! I just wanted to add a tip that helped me a lot - when you're entering your gross pay in the Tax Withholding Estimator, make sure to double-check that you're looking at the right line on your paystub. My paystub has like 6 different numbers that could be "gross pay" but only one is the actual total gross before ANY deductions (including pre-tax stuff like health insurance and 401k contributions). I was accidentally using my "taxable gross" which excludes pre-tax deductions, and that threw off my whole calculation. The IRS tool wants your TRUE gross - the very top number before anything comes out. Once I figured that out, my withholding estimates became much more accurate and I stopped getting those scary "you may owe money" warnings from the calculator!
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