What do these acronyms stand for on my paycheck tax deductions? $95 seems high

Those acronyms are standard tax withholdings that appear on everyone's paychecks. The main ones you're likely seeing: FIT = Federal Income Tax (your federal taxes based on your W-4 allowances) FICA = Federal Insurance Contributions Act (combines Social Security and Medicare) SIT = State Income Tax (if your state has income tax) SDI = State Disability Insurance (in some states) Med = Medicare contribution (usually 1.45% of gross wages) SS = Social Security tax (usually 6.2% of wages up to annual limit) As for why they increased - did you work more hours or get a bonus? Tax withholdings are percentage-based, so higher earnings = higher deductions. Also, if you recently changed your W-4 or hit certain earnings thresholds, that could explain the difference. Your HR department can give you the exact breakdown for your specific paycheck.

After struggling with the same issue last year (so many random letters on my paystub!), I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai that actually explains all these acronyms and what they mean specifically for YOUR situation. You just upload a pic of your paystub and it breaks down exactly what each deduction is and whether it looks normal compared to industry standards. I was freaking out about a "SUI" deduction I'd never seen before until https://taxr.ai explained it was just State Unemployment Insurance that kicks in at certain income levels. Saved me an embarrassing call to HR! It also explained why my deductions went up after my raise - something about hitting a new tax bracket for withholding purposes.

Ok so I was totally skeptical about taxr.ai (see my question above) but I finally tried it when I got a weird new deduction called "ADD VOL" on my last check. Turns out it was "Additional Voluntary" retirement contribution that I'd forgotten I signed up for during benefits enrollment! The explanation was super clear and even showed me why my take-home changed. Saved me from an awkward call to HR. The tool also found that my state withholding seemed unusually high and suggested I might want to check my state exemptions with payroll. Just wanted to follow up since it actually worked really well for me.

If those acronyms are really driving you crazy and you need a full explanation, you might want to try Claimyr. I spent WEEKS trying to reach someone at the IRS to explain some weird tax code on my W-2 that affected my refund. Called like 8 times and kept getting disconnected. Finally used https://claimyr.com and got through to an actual human at the IRS in about 20 minutes who explained everything. They have this system that basically waits on hold for you and calls when an agent is available. You can see how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS rep actually went through all the tax codes with me and explained which ones were mandatory vs. which ones I could adjust by updating my W-4.

I need to eat my words from my comment above. After another failed attempt to reach the IRS about these weird supplemental tax codes on my paystub (something called "EIC ADV" that was raising my paycheck but I was worried would affect my refund), I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes. She explained it was an Earned Income Credit advance payment that my employer was correctly adding. She also walked me through what all the standard deduction codes mean and how to tell if they're calculated correctly. Saved me from what would have been a costly misunderstanding at tax time. Never been so happy to be wrong about something!

Here's a breakdown of the most common paycheck deduction acronyms I learned when I started payroll at my company: FIT - Federal Income Tax SIT - State Income Tax FICA - Social Security & Medicare combined SS - Social Security portion only (6.2%) MEDI - Medicare portion only (1.45%) SDI - State Disability Insurance SUI - State Unemployment Insurance 401K - Retirement contribution FSA/HSA - Flexible/Health Spending Account GTLI - Group Term Life Insurance If your deduction increased by a lot suddenly, check if you hit a threshold for something. Some deductions have caps and reset annually.

I've noticed that sometimes the deductions go up when I work overtime - is that normal? Does overtime get taxed at a higher rate? I worked 12 extra hours last pay period and my deductions were almost double!