How take-home pay works in the US
A plain-English walkthrough of gross pay, federal income tax, FICA, state tax, and pre-tax benefits — and what MyAfterTax estimates.
Tax guides
How the numbers work
Detailed explainers behind our calculators — take-home pay, FICA, self-employment tax, and the assumptions we use so you can trust (and challenge) every estimate.
How we estimate W-2 paychecks
Inside the W-2 calculator: federal brackets, FICA wage bases, state tax, and how traditional 401(k), HSA, and Section 125 benefits change taxable wages.
Self-employment tax and 1099 income
How Schedule SE works (the 92.35% factor), Social Security and Medicare for contractors, deductible half of SE tax, and simplified QBI in our 1099 calculator.
Net vs gross pay: converting either way
What “net” and “gross” mean on a paycheck, when to reverse from take-home to salary, and how our Net ↔ Gross tool uses the same engine as the W-2 calculator.