Free New Jersey payroll tax
calculator (and NJ tax rates)

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    Pay Details

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    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!

Before we jump in, who are you using this calculator for?

Thanks!

Our calculators are designed for employers, and they’ll ask for information you may not have. For a better experience, please check out this employee-focused paycheck calculator.

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.

Here’s your paycheck information:

Leave payroll to us.

We do all the hard work to set you up, starting at just $40 + $6 per employee.

Updated: July 8, 2024

All of New Jersey’s local taxes, withholding requirements, and insurance taxes can be confusing. Fortunately, our New Jersey payroll calculator can simplify the process so you can focus on your small business and employees.

Federal payroll taxes New Jersey employers should know

Before you can start thinking about New Jersey payroll taxes, you need to first calculate federal payroll taxes. Below is a summary of the steps you need to take in order to run federal payroll, but if you would like to get into the nitty-gritty, check out our step-by-step guide.

 

  • Gross Wages. There are two main types of wages: hourly and salary. Calculate hourly employees’ wages by multiplying the number of hours worked by their pay rate, including a higher rate for any overtime hours worked. Calculate salaried employees’ paychecks by dividing their salary by the number of pay periods per year. Bonuses, tips, and commissions also get included in gross wages.
  • Pre-Tax Deductions. For all employees with a 401(k), FSA account, or anything along those lines that are exempt from payroll tax, subtract any contributions they make from gross wages before you apply any payroll taxes.
  • Federal Income Tax. This is the biggest chunk of payroll taxes. It ranges from 0% to 37%, depending on your employees’ income level. If you need more clarification, you can always turn to the IRS for more information.
  • FICA Taxes. FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contribution Act, and it is responsible for collecting both Social Security and Medicare taxes. For Social Security, withhold 6.2% of each employee’s taxable wages until they have earned $168,600 for the year. Any wages earned above $168,600 are exempt. For Medicare, withhold 1.45% until taxable wages reach $200,000. This rate gets bumped up to 2.35% for salaries above $200,000. The official term for the extra 0.9% tax is called Additional Medicare Tax (very original, we know…). You as the employer are responsible for matching all FICA taxes that your employees pay. The only exception is the Additional Medicare Tax for salaries above $200,000, which is paid only by employees.
  • FUTA Tax. Your employees can sit this one out because only employers are responsible for this one. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (or better known as FUTA) tax, is applied to the first $7,000 in wages you pay to each employee during the year. The rate is a flat 6%. If you’re good and you pay your New Jersey unemployment tax in full and on time, you could be rewarded a tax credit of up to 5.4%. Check out this information from the IRS on how FUTA tax credits work.
  • Post-Tax Withholdings. If your employees are subject to court-ordered wage garnishments, for example, you are responsible for taking the money out of their paychecks at this stage and sending that money to the proper authorities.

 

Many companies offer online payroll processing to automate most of the numbers too, so businesses can spend less time figuring out state and local taxes.

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New Jersey state payroll taxes

New Jersey has a progressive income tax policy with rates that go all the way up to 10.75% for gross income over $5 million. Tax brackets vary based on filing status and income.

 

Local Taxes: For most of the Garden State, there are no local income taxes. However, Newark residents and any non-residents who work in Newark have to pay an additional city tax of 1%.

 

Unemployment Insurance (UI): In New Jersey, unemployment taxes are a team effort. Both employers and employees contribute. Rates range from 0.6% to 6.4% on the first $42,300 for 2024. If you’re a new employer, you’ll pay a flat rate of 2.8%.

 

Disability Insurance (DI): New employers pay 0.5%. Employees pay 0.47%. All other businesses are taxed based on employment experience.

 

Family Leave Insurance (FLI): New Jersey is a family-oriented state, granting insurance if you are bonding with a new baby (biological or adopted) or caring for a sick family member. Employees are responsible for paying this 0.28% tax.

 

NJ Workforce Development Partnership Fund: 0.0425% for employees and 0.1175% for new employers.

 

Here are all the details if you want to look further.

 

Keep in mind: There are some states with reciprocal tax agreements in place, and New Jersey currently has one with the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. What does this mean? Let’s say that you have an employee who lives in Pennsylvania, but travels to New Jersey to work for your company. In this situation, your employee may want state taxes withheld for their home state instead of where your business is located. To set this up, the employee must fill out Form NJ 165 and give it to you.

Keeping compliant

New Jersey is one the states where having a workers’ comp is necessary for most employers. Learn how policies work, how this type of coverage safeguards employees from workplace injuries and illnesses, and can protect companies from litigation in our guide to New Jersey workers’ compensation insurance.

New Jersey payroll tax resources

In case that wasn’t enough, here are some more resources for you to learn more about New Jersey payroll taxes:

 

Register as an employer with the Department of the Treasury | (609) 292-9292

 

Employer Withholding Information from the Division of Taxation.

 

New Jersey Income Tax Withholding Instructions | (609) 984-1721

 

For existing employers (as well as those looking to launch a business), New Jersey provides a special tax information packet to help them understand their tax obligations and avoid missteps. If you want to learn more, here are two options:

  • Call their tax hotline at 609-292-6400
  • Use New Jersey’s Automated Tax Information System at 800-323-4400

Did you know?

The Garden State is working on a mandatory retirement savings program that is scheduled to go into effect in 2024. Learn more in our employer’s guide to New Jersey Secure Choice.

Write those paychecks

Go be the next big, or small, thing. If anything, New Jersey has proven that sometimes the smallest things make the biggest impact. So go write those paychecks and make the impact your small business, whatever it is, was meant to make. Make sure to send in your federal tax filings every quarter by filling out Form 941. You also need to file Form 940 to report your FUTA taxes annually. Learn more about IRS tax due dates here. You can also make deposits on an ongoing basis through the EFTPS payment system.

More helpful payroll calculators

The calculator at the top of this page makes it simple for New Jersey employers to quickly process their employees’ gross pay, net pay, and deductions (so you can cut paychecks with confidence). But occasionally, employers have situations that require a little more number crunching. For example, if you reward employees with bonuses, Uncle Sam considers them supplemental wages and requires taxes to be withheld. Moreover, if an employee leaves for another job, you may need to figure out what their final paycheck will be. So, if you can use a little more help adding up the numbers, check out some of the calculators listed below.

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