Bonus Pay Stub: How to Record a Bonus

A bonus is wages, but it isn't regular wages. The IRS calls it a supplemental wage, a category that also includes commissions, severance, back pay, retroactive raises, awards and prizes. Overtime and tips can be treated either way. Supplemental wages get their own federal withholding rules, which is why a bonus check often looks taxed differently from a normal paycheck.

The federal rules in one table

Situation	How federal income tax is withheld
Bonus paid with regular wages, not separately identified	As if the total were one regular paycheck
Bonus identified separately, and income tax was withheld from regular wages this year or last	Employer's choice: a flat 22%, or the aggregate method
Bonus identified separately, but no income tax withheld from regular wages this year or last	Aggregate method only
An employee's supplemental wages exceed $1 million in the year	37% on the excess, mandatory, regardless of the W-4

Whatever the income tax method, the bonus is subject to Social Security and Medicare. If it pushes the year's wages from that employer over $200,000, it's also subject to the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.

How the aggregate method works

1. Add the bonus to the regular wages for the current or most recent pay period.
2. Figure withholding on that total as if it were a single regular paycheck, using the W-4 and the IRS tables.
3. Subtract the income tax already withheld from the regular wages.
4. Withhold the remainder from the bonus.

Because step 2 annualizes the combined paycheck, a large bonus is taxed as though every paycheck that year were that big. That's why the aggregate method can withhold more than 22% on big bonuses and less on small ones.

Worked examples: 2026, single, biweekly

An employee earns $2,000 biweekly with a standard 2026 W-4. Regular federal withholding is $156.15 per paycheck. Here's federal income tax withholding on three bonus sizes:

Bonus	Flat 22%	Aggregate method	Aggregate as % of bonus
$1,500	$330.00	$274.23	18.3%
$5,000	$1,100.00	$1,090.54	21.8%
$10,000	$2,200.00	$2,625.94	26.3%

How the $1,500 aggregate figure comes out: $2,000 + $1,500 = $3,500. Annualized, that's $3,500 × 26 = $91,000, minus $8,600, or $82,400. The 2026 single table gives $5,800 plus 22% of the amount over $57,900, which is $11,190. Divided by 26 that's $430.38, and subtracting the $156.15 already withheld from regular pay leaves $274.23 for the bonus.

Social Security and Medicare are the same under both methods: on a $1,500 bonus, $93.00 and $21.75.

The bonus stub, line by line

Paid as a separate deposit in Texas, using the flat-rate method:

Line	Current
Bonus	$1,500.00
Federal income tax (22% supplemental)	$330.00
Social Security	$93.00
Medicare	$21.75
Net pay	$1,055.25

A clear bonus stub shows:

• A separate earnings line labeled as a bonus, never folded into regular pay without a label
• Its own pay date if paid separately, which determines the tax year
• The withholding method's result on the federal line
• Updated YTD totals that include the bonus. A $1,500 bonus raises YTD gross by $1,500 and YTD net by $1,055.25

If the bonus is paid on the same day as regular wages, it can appear as a second earnings line on the regular stub. If the employer identifies it separately, the federal line can still reflect the 22% rate applied to the bonus portion.

Withholding isn't the final tax

The 22% flat rate and the aggregate method are only ways to estimate tax at payment time. The actual tax on a bonus depends on total income for the year and is settled on the return. Someone in the 12% bracket who had 22% withheld from a bonus will usually get part of it back. Someone whose bonus is withheld at 26% under the aggregate method isn't being taxed at 26%. The withholding is just front-loaded.

State withholding on bonuses

States set their own rules. New York, for example, lets employers withhold state tax on separately identified supplemental wages at a flat 11.70% in 2026, or use the aggregate approach. California's SDI applies to bonuses like any other wages. For states where you enter withholding from payroll records, use the state amount actually withheld from the bonus.

Recording a bonus with PayStubShop

Our generator's bonus line handles both federal methods. Add the bonus to a regular stub or create a separate bonus stub with its own pay date, choose the flat 22% or the aggregate method, and the preview shows the federal, Social Security and Medicare amounts and the YTD effect before you pay. One stub is $6.99, and a bonus stub added to an order of regular stubs counts toward the same price ladder.

For how bonuses affect your W-2 and year-to-date totals, see what is YTD on a pay stub.