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Insurance offered through OnPay Insurance Agency, LLC (CA License #0L29422)
Updated: January 12, 2024
As a small business owner in the Show Me State, you’ve got a lot of things to show. Whether you own the tastiest ice cream shop in Springfield or the hippest cafe in St. Louis, you’re showing Missouri and what being a small business owner means to you — and one of over 500,000 businesses shaping the state.
Now we want to show you what it means to us. We’ve designed a nifty payroll calculator that can figure out all of the federal and state payroll taxes for you and your employees. Help us help you by simply inputting wage and W-4 information for each employee into the calculator, and let it do the rest of the work.
Federal payroll taxes for Missouri employers
First of all, let’s calculate federal payroll taxes for the sake of Uncle Sam. You can calculate all your employees’ federal withholdings, as well as any additional taxes your business is responsible for paying.
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 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 the 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.
2024 Missouri (MO) state payroll taxes
Now that we’re done with federal taxes, let’s look at Missouri state income taxes. The first step to calculating payroll in Missouri is applying the state tax rate to each employee’s earnings, starting at 1.5%. It’s a progressive income tax, meaning the more money your employees make, the higher the income tax. The top tax bracket is 4.8%.
In addition, any residents, as well as anyone who works in St. Louis or Kansas City, must pay a local income tax of 1%.
Missouri state unemployment insurance (SUI)
As an employer in Missouri, you have to pay unemployment insurance to the state. In 2024, the rate ranges from 0% all the way up to 6% on the first $10,000 in wages paid to each employee in a calendar year.
New employers pay 2.37%, or 1% if you’re a nonprofit.
Cut Those Paychecks!
You made it! You’ve checked “payroll taxes” off your to-do list so you can move onto the important things. Once each employee’s net pay is calculated (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 UI taxes. Those numbers can add up quickly!
You will need to use Form 941 to file federal taxes quarterly, and Form 940 to report your annual FUTA tax. You can pay taxes online using the EFTPS payment system. More details about employment tax due dates can be found here.
Additional Missouri payroll tax resources:
Here are some helpful links that can help you become the payroll whiz your small business needs you to be!
Missouri Department of Revenue (573) 751-3505 | Employer Withholding Tax | Register Your Business Online | File & Pay Taxes Online | FAQs
These rates are based on local legislation and can change at any time. Always consult a tax professional if you are unsure about your obligations.
More helpful calculators for Missouri employers
Employers in the state of Missouri 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, every now and then, employers may need to do a little more math before they can cut paychecks. For example, do your top-performing employees sometimes receive bonuses? In the eyes of the IRS, these payments are considered supplemental wages 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 final paychecks. So, if you could use a little more help navigating the numbers, check out some of the calculators listed below.