Free Iowa payroll tax calculator (and IA tax rates)

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    Pay Details

  • 2

    Exemptions

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    Federal Information

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    State Information

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    Locale Information

  • 6

    Voluntary Deductions

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    Calculate Paycheck

Welcome to our payroll calculator

Get your paychecks right by quickly calculating your employees’ payroll taxes, withholdings and deductions.

Hourly employee? Switch to hourly

How much did your employee earn?

Gross Pay: This is the total amount of wages your employee earned before taxes and deductions are withheld.


For salaried employees, gross pay equals their annual salary divided by the number of pay periods per year. For hourly employees, gross pay equals the number of hours worked multiplied by their hourly wage.


(Don’t forget to add on any tips, commissions, or bonuses!)

Gross Pay Method: Is the gross pay amount based on your employee’s annual compensation, or by how many hours they worked in the last pay period?

Gross Pay YTD: Enter the total gross pay your employee has earned this year, prior to this paycheck. Normally, this can be found on the last pay stub.

Pay Frequency: How often do you normally issue paychecks?

Check Date: Enter the check date that should appear on your paycheck.

Is your employee exempt from any taxes?

Federal: In some cases, public and governmental employees are exempt from federal taxes. Check “yes” if your employee is exempt and Federal taxes should not be deducted.

FICA: In some cases, public and governmental employees are exempt from FICA. Check “yes” if your employee is exempt and FICA taxes should not be deducted.

Medicare: In some cases, public and governmental employees are exempt from Medicare taxes. Check “yes” if your employee is exempt and Medicare taxes should not be deducted.

Please enter your employee’s withholding information.

2020 W4: Would you like to use the 2020 withholding tables? Here’s an article that covers the 2020 W-4 updates if you aren’t sure.

Federal Filing Status: Select your employee’s filing status for federal withholding. This helps determine how much federal tax will be withheld.

Two Jobs: If the employee indicated that they have more than one job or are married and filing jointly with a working spouse, select Yes here.

Dependents Amount: Enter the amount your employee listed on Line 3 of their W-4, if any. This is where they claim dependents.

Other Income: If your employee listed another other income on line 4(a) of their W-4, enter the amount here.

Deductions: Enter any deductions that your employee listed on line 4(b) of their W-4, if applicable.

Additional Federal Withholding: If your employee has asked to have additional funds withheld from each paycheck, enter the amount here. If they have not, enter “0”.

Round Federal Withholding: Would you like us to round your employee’s withholding totals to the nearest dollar? (It’s not required, but it is permitted)

Now, add information for their state.

State: Select the state where withholding should be calculated. It should be the same state where the work was performed.

Now, add locale information if applicable.

Does your employee have any voluntary deductions?

Please add any additional deductions for items like health insurance, 401(k), HSAs/FSAs, or any other benefits.


Select type of deduction needed:

401(k)

Add deduction

HSA

Add deduction

Custom

Add deduction

Let’s finish crunching the numbers!

Click the button below to see your paycheck calculated.

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Updated: October 21, 2024

Many employers use the Iowa payroll calculator at the top of this page to get employee paychecks right. Just add wage and W-4 information for each employee into the calculator, and it will do the rest of the work for you. There’s also more information on Iowa’s tax rules below. And if you have a lot of hourly workers, you may find our Iowa paycheck calculator more helpful.

Iowa payroll calculator that figures federal payroll taxes

First of all, for Uncle Sam’s sake, let’s calculate federal payroll taxes. Here’s a quick rundown of the components that go into federal tax withholdings. For a more detailed explanation on all of the steps below, head on over to our comprehensive step-by-step guide.

  • Gross wages, which is simply the amount of money an employee has earned during the last pay period.
    • For hourly employees, multiply the number of hours worked by their pay rate — and make sure you don’t forget to take overtime into consideration.
    • For salaried employees, divide each employee’s annual salary by the number of pay periods you have over the course of a year.
    • Bonuses, commissions, and tips are all part of gross wages as well.
  • Calculate any pre-tax withholdings. If your employees have 401(k) accounts, flexible spending accounts (FSA) or any other pre-tax withholdings, subtract them from gross wages prior to applying payroll taxes.
  • Deduct federal income taxes, which can range from 0% to 37%. We won’t get into the nitty-gritty here, but you can find further withholding information through the IRS Publication 15-T.
  • Deduct and match any FICA taxes to cover Medicare and Social Security taxes:
    • For Social Security tax, withhold 6.2% of each employee’s taxable wages until they have earned $168,600 in a given calendar year. Employers must match this tax.
    • For Medicare tax, withhold 1.45% of each employee’s taxable wages until they have earned $200,000 in a given calendar year. Employers also must match this tax. For employees who earn more than $200,000 per year, you’ll need to withhold an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9%, which brings the total employee Medicare withholding above $200,000 to 2.35%. Employers are not responsible for paying the Additional Medicare Tax.
  • Pay FUTA unemployment taxes, which is 6% of the first $7,000 of each employee’s taxable income. FUTA taxes come with a huge caveat that you will want to know about. You can claim a tax credit of up to 5.4% for state unemployment tax you pay, as long as you pay in full and on time. It’s an easy way to save a whopping 90%, so make sure you take advantage! Only you as the employer are responsible for paying FUTA taxes, so you don’t need to withhold FUTA from your employees’ paychecks.
  • Subtract any post-tax deductions. Most of your employees won’t have any post-tax deductions, but you might need to withhold things like court-ordered wage garnishments, child support, etc. Make sure you take these into consideration as well.
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Iowa state payroll taxes

Now that we’re done with federal taxes, let’s look at Iowa state income taxes. Iowa charges a progressive income tax, broken down into nine tax brackets. The rate ranges from 4.40% to 5.70%. Iowa does not have any local city taxes, so all of your employees will pay only the state income tax.

Keep in mind

Iowa is one of a handful of states with tax reciprocity. This means that if one of your employees lives in Illinois, works in Iowa, and wants taxes withheld for their home state rather than where your business is located, they must complete and submit an L-W-5-NR Employee’s Statement of Nonresidence in Illinois to you.

Iowa state unemployment insurance (SUI)

As an employer in Iowa, you have to pay unemployment insurance to the state. The 2024 rates range from 0% to 7.0% on the first $38,200 in wages paid to each employee in a calendar year. The taxable wage base will increase to $39,500 in 2025.

  • If you’re a new employer (congratulations!), you pay a flat rate of 1%.
  • New construction employers pay 7.0%.

Staying compliant

Having a workers’ comp policy is a requirement in most states, including Iowa. Learn how policies work, how this type of coverage protects employees from workplace injuries and illnesses, and what employers should know in our guide to Iowa workers’ compensation insurance.

Finished using the Iowa payroll calculator? Be sure to cut those paychecks!

You’ve done it! You’ve checked it off your to-do list so you can move onto the important things. Once each employee’s net pay is calculated (after taking deductions and withholdings into consideration), you’re in the clear. All you have to worry about is getting your employees paid on time as well as setting aside whatever you owe in FICA and unemployment taxes. Those numbers can add up quickly! You will need to fill out Form 941 to file federal taxes on a quarterly basis, and Form 940 to report your annual FUTA liabilities. You can pay taxes online using the EFTPS payment system. All the IRS employment tax due dates can be found here.

Additional Iowa payroll tax resources:

As if that wasn’t enough, here are some helpful links that can if you would like to learn more about Iowa payroll taxes:

 

Iowa Workforce Development (866) 239-0843 | Unemployment Insurance Taxes | Business Services

 

Iowa Department of Revenue (800) 572-3944 | Register Your Business | Withholding Tax Information

More helpful payroll calculators for Iowa employers

Iowa employers can use the calculator at the top of this page to quickly calculate their employees’ gross pay, net pay, and deductions in a few clicks. However, some employers may need to do a little more math before they are ready to cut paychecks. For example, do you occasionally reward your company’s top performers with bonuses? These payments are considered supplemental wages by Uncle Sam and must have taxes withheld. Also, if you have workers who leave from time to time, you may need to spend some time figuring out their last paychecks. So, if you could use a little more help navigating the numbers, check out some of the calculators listed below.

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