Free Georgia Payroll Tax Calculator and GA Tax Rates

Updated January 12, 2021

According to Georgia.org, 99.8% of businesses in Georgia are classified as small businesses. You won’t be alone in thinking payroll taxes aren’t quite as juicy as a Georgia peach. Luckily, our Georgia payroll calculator eliminates all the extra clutter associated with calculating payroll, so your administrative duties won’t be quite as dull.

All you have to do is enter wage and W-4 information for each employee, and our calculator will process your employees’ gross pay, net pay, and deductions for Georgia and Federal taxes:

See Georgia tax rates

Federal Payroll Taxes

Here’s a summary of what you need to know when you’re calculating federal payroll taxes. If you would like to see a detailed rundown, head on over to our step-by-step guide for more information.

• Calculate Gross Wages:
  • For all your hourly employees, multiply their hours worked by the pay rate. Don’t forget to increase the rate for any overtime hours.
  • For all your salaried employees, divide each employee’s annual salary by the number of pay periods you have.
• Calculate Any Pre-Tax Withholdings: If your employees contribute to HSA, 401(k) or other pre-tax withholdings, deduct the appropriate amount from their gross pay before you calculate payroll taxes.
• Deduct Federal Income Taxes: Federal taxes can range anywhere from 0% to 37% of taxable earnings. You can find further withholding information through the IRS website.
• Deduct and match any FICA taxes:
  • Social Security tax, which is 6.2% of each employee’s taxable wages up until they reach $142,800 for the year. Employers also have to pay a matching 6.2% tax up to the wage limit.
  • Medicare tax, which is 1.45% of each employee’s taxable wages up to $200,000 for the year. For any wages above $200,000, there is an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9%, which brings the rate to 2.35%. Employers have to pay a matching 1.45% of Medicare tax, but only the employee is responsible for paying the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.
• Calculate FUTA Unemployment Tax, which is 6% of the first $7,000 of each employee’s taxable income. Note that if you pay state unemployment taxes in full and on time, you are eligible for a tax credit of up to 5.4%, which brings your effective FUTA tax rate to 0.6%. Only employers are responsible for paying the FUTA tax, not employees.
• Subtract Post-Tax Deductions, which can be anything from court-ordered wage garnishments to child support.

Georgia Payroll Taxes

With six different tax brackets, payroll in Georgia is especially progressive, meaning the more your employees make, the more they have to pay. Rates range from 1% to 5.5%.

Though this could definitely be checked off as “complicated,” the rest of Georgia payroll taxes are a breeze. It doesn’t matter if you live in Savannah or Buford or Atlanta, because no city charges a local income tax.

Georgia Unemployment Insurance

Georgia doesn’t have state disability insurance, but it does have unemployment insurance. With a wage base of $9,500, unemployment insurance covers those unemployed through no fault of their own. Rates range from 0.04% to 7.56%.

If you’re a new employer, use the standard rate of 2.70%.

Check Please!

You’ve almost crossed the finish line. Reached your destination. Spotted the light at the end of the tunnel. Whatever works for you, you’re nearly there. All you have to do after calculating your employee’s net pay is cut those checks. Just make sure you’re setting aside the amount your company needs to pay to avoid any FICA and UI tax fiascos.

Federal tax filings are done by filing Forms 940 (annually) and 941 (quarterly), but deposits can be made on an ongoing basis through the EFTPS payment system. You can learn more about the tax reporting due dates here.

Georgia Payroll Tax Resources:

Just in case you want to learn even more about Georgia payroll taxes, here are a few helpful links.

Georgia Department of Revenue: To put it simply: your new best friend.

Register as an Employer: Or call (404) 232-3301 for more information.

The Department of Labor: Basically the almanac of payroll taxes for all Georgia employers.

Answers to your Questions: Unemployment Insurance and laws and regulations…all the things you need to know.