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IRS PUBLICATION 15
2026 bonus withholding, the flat method.
A bonus is not taxed at a special rate in April. The 22% is only how much the employer may take out of that check. This page does that arithmetic, including the Social Security wage base.
Worked example
A $10,000 bonus, with $80,000 of wages already paid and no earlier bonus, is withheld like this. Federal flat tax is 22% of $10,000, which is $2,200. Social Security is 6.2% of $10,000, which is $620, because $80,000 plus $10,000 is still under the $184,500 wage base. Medicare is 1.45%, which is $145. Additional Medicare is zero because a single filer has not crossed $200,000. The check is about $7,035 before any state withholding.
Change the wages already paid to $184,500 and the Social Security line drops to zero. The bonus is still Medicare wages. That is the piece generic “22% of your bonus” articles leave out, and it is why two people with the same bonus can take home different amounts in December.
Flat method versus the tax you actually owe
Publication 15 lets an employer use a flat 22% when supplemental wages are identified separately and the employee has had regular withholding that year. The other method is to add the bonus to the ordinary paycheck and withhold as if that larger amount were the pay period. The second method often takes more out of a single large check and then evens out later. Neither method is your Form 1040. A single person whose ordinary wages already sit in the 24% bracket can be under-withheld by the 22% flat method. A person in the 12% bracket can be over-withheld and get it back when they file.
State tax is not in this tool. A no-income-tax state takes nothing more. California and a flat-rate state still want their own withholding on the bonus. Use the 2026 paycheck calculator for the salary, and this page for the one-off check.
Questions
What is the flat rate on a US bonus in 2026?
Employers who use the flat method withhold 22% federal income tax on supplemental wages until supplemental pay for the year passes $1 million. Above that, the rate is 37%.
Does a bonus still pay Social Security?
Yes, until year-to-date wages hit the 2026 wage base of $184,500. Medicare has no wage base.
When the 37% rate actually starts
The 37% flat rate is not for people in the 37% bracket. It is for supplemental wages after $1 million of supplemental wages have already been paid in the year. A $10,000 bonus on an $80,000 salary stays at 22% for federal income tax. A $50,000 bonus does too, if earlier bonuses have not used up the $1 million. Social Security can still be zero on that check if year-to-date wages are already past $184,500. Those are separate tests. One looks at supplemental wages. The other looks at all wages.