Washington Paycheck Calculator

Use Washington Paycheck Calculator to estimate net or “take home” pay for salaried employees. Simply input salary details, benefits and deductions, and any other necessary information as prompted below, and let our tool handle the rest.

What Are Payroll Taxes?

Payroll taxes withheld from employee paychecks fund Social Security and Medicare, to which the employer also makes payroll tax contributions.

The Social Security tax is paid by both the employee and the employer at a rate of 6.2% of the employee’s wages. The Medicare tax is also paid by both employee and employer, but at a rate of 1.45%.

Employers are also required to pay taxes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and the State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA). The employer must also collect federal income tax from employee paychecks, and pay that amount to the IRS. The rate is determined by the employee’s tax bracket.

Each state also has specific state payroll taxes that must be withheld and paid.

Washington Payroll Taxes

There is no state or local income tax in Washington. However, in addition to Social Security and Medicare tax, employers are required to pay SUTA taxes.

State unemployment tax is an employer-paid tax and not withheld from employees. SUTA tax rates in Washington range from 0.2% to 6.0% for established businesses. There is also a social-cost tax rate of no higher than 0.5% and an employment administration fund tax rate of 0.03%.

The taxable wage base in Washington is $56,500 and the average tax rate for new businesses in the state is 1.06%.

Paying Payroll Taxes

In Washington, you’re required to file unemployment insurance for your hourly and salaried employees, including domestic workers earning more than $1,000 each quarter. Yet there are exceptions to this requirement. To learn more, visit this website.

You are also required to submit quarterly tax and wage reports, regardless of whether or not you owe taxes. To learn more about how to use ePay to pay SUTA taxes, visit Washington’s Employment Security Department website. 

Using a Payroll Tax Service

In Washington, payroll and payroll taxes come with countless laws and restrictions, which is why many business owners turn to a payroll service provider to ensure their business remains fully compliant. It’s usually less expensive than creating a new staff position for managing payroll, and relatively easy.  

You’ll just send over your digital timesheets and relevant information and the service provider will take care of the calculations, payments and taxes, freeing you up to focus on growing your business. 

We highly recommend hiring a payroll service — as a busy entrepreneur, you won’t regret it!