Calculate a 2026 Arizona paycheck using A-4 percentage elections. Compare 2% default withholding with 2.5% annual tax, examples, and overtime.
Your pay details
Change any field to update the gross estimate.
01 / INPUT
Regular resident wages, 2020+ federal W-4, latest supported 2026 state tables. Not for historical paychecks, bonuses, nonresident allocation, or multistate payroll.
Pay amount
Tax context
Deductions
Enter deductions for one pay period. Other pre-tax reduces income-tax wages but not FICA; use only qualifying deductions. Dollar elections below specify annual or per-paycheck amounts separately.
Federal W-4 elections
Planning inputs only. This does not submit an electronic W-4; your employer uses the form you file with them. Leave blank anything you did not enter on your W-4.
$
Annual dollars
$
Annual dollars
$
Annual dollars
$
Dollars per paycheck
Year-to-date taxable wages
Taxable wages earned before this paycheck from the same employer—not tax already withheld. Blank means 0.
$
Wages before this paycheck
$
Wages before this paycheck
Arizona state withholding
Blank means the official 2% default. Use the exemption checkbox for exempt withholding.
$
Dollars per paycheck
$
Optional. State income-tax wages for this paycheck; blank uses the calculated amount.
Arizona A-4 uses your elected percentage of gross taxable wages; this is not the 2.5% annual income-tax rate. Blank uses the agency’s 2% default. Resident regular wages only. Use the wage override for a known state-taxable base. Enter county/local taxes, disability, paid leave, and other payroll charges as actual dollar amounts below.Effective current 2026 payroll tables (not historical paychecks)Official employer withholding source
Local and other payroll
Known actual dollar amounts per paycheck, not rates. Blank means 0.
$
Dollars per paycheck
$
Dollars per paycheck
Arizona A-4 uses your elected percentage of gross taxable wages; this is not the 2.5% annual income-tax rate. Blank uses the agency’s 2% default. Effective current 2026 payroll tables (not historical paychecks).
ESTIMATED TAKE-HOME PAY
Complete the inputs
Enter pay, state, and filing status to calculate.
Paycheck breakdownBIWEEKLY
Gross pay · every 2 weeks gross$0.00
Federal income tax · estimate—
State income tax · estimate—
Social Security · estimate—
Medicare, including any additional tax—
Pre-tax deductions—
Post-tax deductions—
Local tax · entered amount—
Other payroll · entered amount—
Estimated net pay—
Choose your tax contextSelect a U.S. state and filing status. Tax lines stay blank until these are selected.
Withholding estimates use current employer tables and the elections entered. Annual totals repeat this paycheck—not future wage-cap changes. Local taxes, disability, and paid leave require actual entered amounts. Historical or special payroll methods are not supported.
Paycheck & Tax Guides
Understand the numbers behind your paycheck.
Practical 2026 explanations with IRS and state sources. Learn what an estimate can—and cannot—tell you.
Arizona employees choose a withholding percentage on Form A-4. The default paycheck percentage is not the same as the annual income-tax rate, so an employee can see 2% withheld even though Arizona describes a 2.5% flat annual tax.
A-4 uses a percentage election on gross taxable wages
Arizona’s 2026 A-4 instructions require a default 2.0% withholding rate when an employee does not make a valid different election. Supported choices are 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%, and 3.5%, with an additional dollar amount if elected. Withholding exemption has separate qualifying requirements; selecting a small percentage is not the same as being exempt.
The calculator applies the chosen A-4 percentage to the state taxable wage base. Do not enter an allowance count to stand in for a percentage. If payroll has a different state-taxable amount because of benefits, use an employer-confirmed wage override rather than repeatedly changing the rate to force a matching result.
A 2% deposit deduction is not a 2% final annual tax
Arizona DOR identifies a 2.5% flat individual income-tax rate for tax years 2023 and beyond. Final liability uses the annual tax-return base, deductions, and credits. The A-4 withholding percentage is an advance payment mechanism applied to a different payroll base; neither rate alone establishes whether you will owe or receive a refund.
Review A-4 when pay, household income, or deductions change. The salary example intentionally uses a 2.5% withholding election, while the hourly example uses the 2% default. That contrast demonstrates an employee election, not a difference in Arizona’s annual tax law between hourly and salary workers.
A covered nonexempt employee generally earns at least time-and-a-half after 40 worked hours in a workweek under the FLSA. At $25 an hour, seven qualifying overtime hours produce $262.50 of overtime wages. Add the regular $1,000 for $1,262.50 total gross before deductions.
The elected A-4 percentage still applies to state-taxable regular-check wages. Federal withholding can react differently because it uses progressive employer schedules. Do not remove all overtime wages from the state base because federal qualified-overtime deduction rules may apply to part of the premium.
Arizona worked examples
Both examples are hypothetical and calculated with this site's withholding engine for a single filer.
Hourly check using the default 2% election
Hypothetical example, not a real paycheck
Pay frequency
Biweekly (26 periods per year)
Gross calculation
$25.00 per hour × 80 hours = $2,000.00
Filer
Single, 2020+ W-4, Step 2 off, Steps 3 and 4 zero, year-to-date wages zero
State elections
Zero or default
Per-paycheck breakdown for Hourly check using the default 2% election
Line
Per paycheck
Gross pay
$2,000.00
Federal income tax withheld
$156.15
AZ state income tax withheld
$40.00
Social Security
$124.00
Medicare
$29.00
Retirement contribution
$0.00
Health deduction
$0.00
Partial net pay under these assumptions
$1,650.85
Excluded: local tax ($0.00) and other payroll deductions ($0.00) are assumed zero unless shown above. No benefits are included unless listed. This is a partial net under assumptions, not an actual deposit.
Gross is $2,000. Blank A-4 rate uses the official 2% default, producing $40.00 of state withholding. This does not forecast Arizona annual liability.
Salary with an explicit 2.5% A-4 election
Hypothetical example, not a real paycheck
Pay frequency
Biweekly (26 periods per year)
Gross calculation
$78,000.00 annual salary ÷ 26 pay periods = $3,000.00
Filer
Single, 2020+ W-4, Step 2 off, Steps 3 and 4 zero, year-to-date wages zero
State elections
Defaults except as listed below
Overridden elections
State withholding percentage: 2.5%
Per-paycheck breakdown for Salary with an explicit 2.5% A-4 election
Line
Per paycheck
Gross pay
$3,000.00
Federal income tax withheld
$320.38
AZ state income tax withheld
$75.00
Social Security
$186.00
Medicare
$43.50
Retirement contribution
$0.00
Health deduction
$0.00
Partial net pay under these assumptions
$2,375.12
Excluded: local tax ($0.00) and other payroll deductions ($0.00) are assumed zero unless shown above. No benefits are included unless listed. This is a partial net under assumptions, not an actual deposit.
Gross is $3,000 and the chosen 2.5% election produces $75.00 of state withholding. Benefits and additional A-4 dollars are zero; a default-rate check would withhold $60.00.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Arizona withholding 2% instead of 2.5%?
Form A-4’s default withholding percentage is 2%. Arizona’s 2.5% annual flat tax operates on the annual return base; the two figures are not interchangeable.
Can I choose a different A-4 percentage?
The form offers listed percentage elections and extra dollar withholding. Use the form’s eligibility rules for exemption rather than assuming a 0% election is automatically allowed.
Does selecting 2.5% guarantee no Arizona tax due?
No. Other income, deductions, credits, filing status, and withholding elsewhere affect the annual return. Choosing the same numeric rate does not make the payroll and return bases identical.
Default mode follows IRS Publication 15-T Worksheet 1A for a 2020-or-later W-4 and each supported state’s current employer formula. W-4 credits and annual adjustments affect federal withholding; state elections follow the state certificate independently.
Social Security withholds 6.2% on this check’s remaining wages under the $184,500 employer wage cap. Medicare withholds 1.45%, plus 0.9% on wages crossing the employer’s $200,000 threshold, regardless of filing status. Enter taxable wages before this paycheck in the YTD controls. Traditional retirement deferrals remain subject to FICA; qualifying cafeteria-plan health premiums are assumed FICA-exempt.
Annual projections repeat this check. The separate annual tax estimate mode retains a limited legacy liability model and uses filing-status Medicare liability thresholds; it does not represent paycheck withholding. Overtime is not automatically exempt from withholding or FICA. Use W-4 Step 4(b) for an elected overtime-related withholding deduction.
TAX YEAR 2026
Sources & assumptions
Federal filing statusNot selected
State selectedArizona
Rule set and update2026 · current 2026 payroll tables (not historical paychecks)
Regular resident wage withholding only. Not for 2019-or-earlier W-4 forms, historical pay dates, supplemental/bonus methods, multistate allocation, reciprocity, pensions, or special employer methods. State wage overrides and entered local/other payroll dollars are used as supplied, not independently verified. Each state section identifies its table and effective period. DC withholding is not verified and is unavailable rather than silently using annual brackets. Legacy annual mode omits many state adjustments and later amendments. This is a planning estimate, not tax advice or a guarantee of your employer’s exact result.