Calculate 2026 Colorado paychecks with the 4.4% employer worksheet, DR 0004 elections, FAMLI, daily overtime, and worked examples.
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
Colorado state withholding
$
Blank: $5,500 single/other or $11,000 married jointly. Enter 0 explicitly to remove the allowance.
$
Dollars per paycheck
$
Optional. State income-tax wages for this paycheck; blank uses the calculated amount.
Colorado DR 1098 applies 4.4% after an annual withholding allowance. Blank uses $5,500 single or $11,000 married jointly. 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
Colorado DR 1098 applies 4.4% after an annual withholding allowance. Blank uses $5,500 single or $11,000 married jointly. 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.
Colorado’s flat employer percentage does not remove the need to check the employee withholding certificate. The optional DR 0004 allowance, Paid Family and Medical Leave premiums, and daily overtime rules all affect a useful paycheck comparison.
The 2026 worksheet and optional DR 0004 allowance
The employer worksheet applies 4.40% after annualizing taxable wages and subtracting the applicable allowance. In this supported formula, blank allowance uses $5,500 for single/other and $11,000 for married-joint. An explicit zero removes the allowance rather than triggering the blank-field default.
DR 0004 is optional; the state explains that employers use federal W-4 information when no certificate is supplied. If you did file DR 0004, copy its annual dollar allowance and additional withholding accurately. This allowance is an annual amount, not a count or a per-check benefit premium.
Colorado FAMLI’s official estimator lists a total 2026 premium of 0.88% of covered wages, with a 0.44% employee share when split equally. Employers may pay the employee share as a benefit. The wage cap is $184,500 for 2026; coverage and approved plans can affect the current-check amount.
The examples exclude FAMLI. For an ordinary covered $2,400 gross check below the cap, a 0.44% employee premium would be $10.56 if the employee pays that share. Enter actual payroll dollars and track the applicable year-to-date limit; do not treat the full program rate as automatically owed by the employee.
Colorado has daily and consecutive-hour overtime triggers
Colorado’s 2026 CDLE guidance describes time-and-a-half beyond 40 weekly hours, 12 daily hours, or 12 consecutive hours, whichever results in higher pay, for covered work. Exemptions and special rules matter. A week below 40 hours can therefore still contain overtime; a weekly total alone cannot establish the amount.
At $30, two qualifying time-and-a-half hours add $90 to straight-time earnings. Determine the applicable daily/consecutive trigger from the work record, then enter the correct earnings in the overtime calculator. State-required premiums are not automatically the same compensation that qualifies for the federal overtime deduction.
Both examples are hypothetical and calculated with this site's withholding engine for a single filer.
Hourly pay with Colorado’s blank allowance default
Hypothetical example, not a real paycheck
Pay frequency
Biweekly (26 periods per year)
Gross calculation
$30.00 per hour × 80 hours = $2,400.00
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 pay with Colorado’s blank allowance default
Line
Per paycheck
Gross pay
$2,400.00
Federal income tax withheld
$204.15
CO state income tax withheld
$96.29
Social Security
$148.80
Medicare
$34.80
Retirement contribution
$0.00
Health deduction
$0.00
Partial net pay under these assumptions
$1,915.96
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 $2,400 and the single-filer blank allowance defaults to $5,500 annually. Assume no daily or consecutive-hour overtime trigger. FAMLI is excluded; a 0.44% employee share on this gross would be $10.56 before the wage cap.
Salary with an explicit zero DR 0004 allowance
Hypothetical example, not a real paycheck
Pay frequency
Semimonthly (24 periods per year)
Gross calculation
$96,000.00 annual salary ÷ 24 pay periods = $4,000.00
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 annual deduction / exemption dollars: $0.00
Per-paycheck breakdown for Salary with an explicit zero DR 0004 allowance
Line
Per paycheck
Gross pay
$4,000.00
Federal income tax withheld
$512.08
CO state income tax withheld
$176.00
Social Security
$248.00
Medicare
$58.00
Retirement contribution
$0.00
Health deduction
$0.00
Partial net pay under these assumptions
$3,005.92
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 $4,000. The explicit zero removes the $5,500 default allowance, producing $176.00 state withholding with no benefit wage deductions. This is an illustration of the election, not a recommendation to claim zero.
Frequently asked questions
Is blank the same as zero for Colorado’s allowance field?
No. Blank uses the supported formula’s filing-status default; explicit zero removes that allowance. Copy the actual DR 0004 annual amount when one was filed.
Can Colorado overtime apply to a week under 40 hours?
Yes, for covered work when a daily or 12-consecutive-hour trigger applies. Review the CDLE rules and exemptions instead of relying only on weekly totals.
Does the 4.4% state withholding include FAMLI?
No. FAMLI is a separate contribution. The total program rate and the employee share differ, and an employer may pay the employee portion.
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 selectedColorado
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.