Category: Business

Understanding Your Pay Stub: Earnings & Deductions Explained

Both employers and workers need to understand the information on a pay stub.

Employers must generate accurate pay stubs that match gross pay, tax withholdings, and other payroll amounts. Workers should review their pay stubs to ensure they received the correct wages, especially when confirming annual income on paystub documents for loans or financial planning.

But first….

What is a Pay Stub?

A paystub lists all of the key information related to an employee’s pay.

When you review a pay stub, it’s important to note the difference between current (current pay period) and year-to-date (YTD) amounts. Both are important, and the YTD balances help the employer and the worker understand if the amounts are correct.

The pay stub provides several types of information:

• Wages: Gross pay and net pay. Wages may be based on a salary, or calculated using an
  hourly rate of pay.
• Tax withholdings: Federal, state, and possibly local amounts withheld for taxes, including FICA on paycheck deductions.
• Benefit withholdings: Amounts cover the employee’s share of insurance premiums or go toward retirement plan investments.

The rules regarding pay stubs vary by state. Some states require employers to provide pay information to workers, while other states do not. Businesses should confirm the requirements in each state where they employ workers.

Employees should keep their most recent pay stubs as proof of income. If an individual applies for a loan, the pay stub confirms the borrower’s annual income on paystub records. Employers should keep pay stubs on file, if they are generated.

What does a pay stub look like?

A pay stub includes detailed breakdowns of gross wages, tax withholdings, deductions, and net pay. It helps employees track earnings, verify withholdings, and understand their total compensation.

The pay stub information should match the data on each employee’s W-2 form, which individuals use to file their personal tax returns. FormPros can help you with that as well.

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Specific Information on a Pay Stub

This information should be posted to each pay stub:

Gross Wages

Wages earned before any withholdings or deductions are subtracted. Gross wages for a pay period amount are calculated in one of two ways:

• Salaried employees: (annual salary / number of pay periods in a year)
• Hourly employees: (hours worked X pay rate per hour)

*Gross wages may include additional compensation, including sick pay, holiday pay, or bonuses.*

Hours Worked & Pay Rate

The hours worked total is particularly important for non-exempt (hourly) workers. The salary pay stub should include regular hours (up to 40 hours per week) and overtime hours.

The pay stub must detail all hours worked, and the rate of pay earned for each hour. Some workers, including those covered by union contracts, must be paid a specific rate of pay for overtime or double-time hours.

Salaried workers may also see hours listed on their salary pay stub.

Tax Deductions

Workers determine their federal income tax withholdings amounts by completing Form W-4, and each state has a tax withholding form.

FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) tax is collected to fund Social Security and Medicare programs. For 2025, the employee tax rate for Social Security remains at 6.2%, applied to income earned up to $176,100. The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% on all wages, with an additional 0.9% tax for high-income taxpayers. This brings the total employee FICA on paycheck rate to 7.65% in 2025.

Employers also contribute 7.65% for each employee, which they can deduct as a business expense. These employer contributions are typically detailed on employee pay stubs.

*FICA on a paycheck refers to the mandatory payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare. Employees and employers both contribute, ensuring these essential programs remain funded. Workers should review their FICA on paycheck deductions to ensure they align with the correct rates.*

Benefit Deductions

Employees typically share the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance by paying a portion of the premiums. Additionally, many contribute to retirement plans like a 401(k), which allows pre-tax contributions, reducing taxable income. Some employers also offer matching contributions, providing an added financial benefit to employees’ retirement savings.

Unemployment Taxes

Unemployment programs are funded by the FUTA tax (federal) and the SUTA tax (state). These amounts are paid by the employer, but can also be reported on the pay stub.

Net Pay

Net pay is the actual dollars paid to the worker, after all deductions.

Take Charge of the Process

Creating accurate paystubs is essential, and technology can make the process easier and more efficient.

FormPros offers a user-friendly pay stub generator that simplifies the task, saving you time while ensuring accuracy. With FormPros, you can confidently manage your pay stub creation with ease.

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FormPros Has You Covered

Simplify your paperwork with FormPros! From creating paystubs, W-2s, and 1099-NEC forms to generating LLC Operating Agreements and even voided checks, our easy-to-use platform has you covered. Save time, reduce errors, and handle your business documents with confidence. Start now and see how FormPros makes professional form generation fast, affordable, and hassle-free!

Mark Mogilnitsky

Mark Mogilnitsky is a content writer specializing in Financial Form Generation, with a passion for simplifying complex processes for individuals and businesses. I thrive on crafting clear, engaging content that empowers users to navigate compliance and documentation with ease.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Filling Out Form 1099-MISC

How Do You Fill Out a 1099-MISC Form Correctly?

Filling out tax forms can feel overwhelming, but understanding the instructions for 1099 MISC is essential for accurate reporting. First and foremost, whether you’re a business owner or independent contractor, knowing how to fill out a 1099 MISC form correctly helps you avoid errors and potential IRS penalties. That’s why this guide will walk you through how to fill out a 1099 form, breaking down each section to simplify the process.

If you’re unsure how to fill out a 1099 MISC, you’re not alone. The 1099 MISC instructions can be tricky, especially if you’re dealing with multiple recipients or payments. Fortunately, we’ll provide clear and concise instructions for 1099 MISC to help you navigate the process confidently. By following this guide, you’ll understand how to fill out a 1099 MISC form and why it’s crucial for accurate tax reporting. The following is a quick overview of the information you will need to enter in the boxes. However, for more detailed information, you should consult the IRS’s instructions for filling out the 1099-MISC form.

Payer and Recipient’s Information

The IRS provides a large field in the upper right-hand corner of the 1099-MISC form for the payer (that’s you, the business owner) to enter their full name, address, town, state or province, zip code or foreign postal code, and telephone number.

Directly beneath that field are two side-by-side boxes, one for the payer’s federal tax identification number (TIN) and the other for the recipient’s. The TIN may be a social security number or an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Next, the following three fields on the right-hand side are where you enter the recipient’s information: their full name, their street address, their city, state or province, country, and zip or foreign postal code. 

Account Information

Beneath the recipient’s information is a field labeled Account Information. Here, the payer only enters information in this field if they are issuing multiple 1099-MISC forms to a single recipient.

You will need multiple copies of the 1099-MISC. To clarify, the table below showcases the purpose of the different copies:

FATCA Filing Requirement

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) mandates that participating foreign financial institutions report the financial earnings of U.S. account holders. Specifically, payers who check this box are generally U.S. citizens reporting interest or dividends earned from a foreign bank or lender. 

2nd TIN Notice

You need to check this box only if the IRS notified you twice that the recipient’s TIN was incorrect.

Enter the Total Payment Information

Here’s a breakdown of the various boxes and what they represent:

Box 1 : Rents

In this field you report rents from real estate listed on either Schedule E or Schedule C of your tax form.

Box 2: Royalties

Box 2 is where you would report payments of royalties for oil, gas, mineral properties, copyrights, and patents that appear on Schedule E.

Box 3: Other Income

You use Box 3 to report other income from Form 1040. For example, prize money and trade or business income that you reported on Schedule C will also be listed here.

Box 4: Federal Income Tax Withheld 

This field is for recording backup withholdings or withholdings on Indian gaming profits.

Box 5: Fishing Boat Proceeds 

You enter money received from self-employed fishing boat operators here. For instance, this includes amounts shared as proceeds from the sale of catch.

Box 6: Medical and Health Care Payments

Enter medical and health care payments that you reported on Schedule C. Additionally, ensure these payments are correctly categorized to avoid discrepancies.

Box 7: Nonemployee Compensation

The most commonly used box, this is where you report the amount of money you paid to independent contractors in a given tax year. As a reminder, this includes payments made for services, not goods.

Box 8: Substitute Payments in Lieu of Dividends or Interest

Substitute payments in lieu of dividends typically occur when a broker lends out the stock you own to short-sellers. If this applies to you, note that if the stock declines as a result of the gambit, you will earn revenue that must be reported in this box.

Box 9: Payer Made Direct Sales of $5,000 or More of Consumer Products to a Buyer (Recipient) for Resale

This is simply a check box to indicate whether or not the payer made more than $5,000 in direct sales. Importantly, you do not have to indicate the exact dollar amount here.

Box 10: Crop Insurance Proceeds

Next, if you received revenue from crop insurance, the amount goes in this field.

Boxes 11 & 12

While they appear on the form, these boxes are currently void, and you should not report any information here. Instead, move on to the next relevant sections.

Box 13: Excess Golden Parachute Payments

This figure will also appear on your 1040 form.

*Good to Know: Excess golden parachute payments are subject to a 20% excise tax.*

Box 14: Gross Proceeds Paid to an Attorney

If you consulted or retained an attorney for business purposes in a given tax year, that amount needs to be recorded here. Be sure to double-check this information for accuracy.

Boxes 15a & 15b: Section 409A Deferrals and Income

Companies sometimes elect to pay employees and principals via non-qualified deferred compensation. In simple terms, the pay is earned one year, but the payee elects to receive compensation later.

Box 15a reports the amount of deferred pay, and Box 15b reports current year income (income in Box 15b should also appear in Box 7).

*Good to Know: This area of the tax code is particularly complex; you should consult the IRS or a tax professional for further information about Section 409 rules and regulations.*  

Box 16: State Tax Withheld

This is where you report state taxes withheld from your income. For those working in multiple states, you need to enter information for each state where income was earned.

Box 17: State/Payer’s State No. 

Finally, record the official state(s) number here.

Box 18: State Income

Report income you received from each of the states where you worked in this box. Make sure to verify this information against your records to avoid any discrepancies.

FormPros Has You Covered

Simplify your paperwork with FormPros! Whether it’s creating paystubs, W-2s, and 1099-MISC forms to generating LLC Operating Agreements and even voided checks, our easy-to-use platform has you covered. Save time, reduce errors, and handle your business documents with confidence. Start now and see how FormPros makes professional form generation fast, affordable, and hassle-free!

Create Your 1099-MISC Form

Mark Mogilnitsky

Mark Mogilnitsky is a content writer specializing in Financial Form Generation, with a passion for simplifying complex processes for individuals and businesses. I thrive on crafting clear, engaging content that empowers users to navigate compliance and documentation with ease.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Filling Out the W-2 Form

How Do You Fill Out a W-2 Form Correctly?

A W-2 form reports an employee’s annual wages and the taxes withheld from their paycheck. First and foremost, employers must issue a W-2 to each employee by January 31st for the previous year. Knowing how to fill out W-2 forms properly is crucial for smooth tax filing.

Fortunately, the W-2 is simple and straightforward. You enter information that is already available from payroll and personnel records. Additionally, you will also need to have some information about your business, such as an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and, in most cases, a State ID Number. 

Form Differences

The fields on each W-2 form are the same. However, employers fill out the forms differently, depending on factors like which state they operate their business in and whether there are tax-exempt benefits. Filling out a W-2 form correctly is essential for both employers and employees to ensure accurate tax reporting. To help you with this, this guide will walk you through how to fill out a W2 form step by step, helping you avoid common mistakes and stay compliant with IRS regulations.

• Employers often wonder how to fill out a W2 for a single person. In this case, the process is the same, but it’s also important to ensure the employee’s filing status is accurately reflected, which affects the amount of tax withheld. 
• So, what about filling out W2 forms for multiple employees? In this situation, the process is repeated for each employee, ensuring that personal information and wages are accurately entered. 
• Similarly, how do you create a W2 for part-time workers? Simply follow the same steps, but make sure to only report earnings for the period the employee worked.

In summary, knowing how to fill out W2 forms correctly helps avoid penalties and ensures employees receive accurate tax documents. If you’re still unsure, how to fill out a W-2, consider consulting with a tax professional to ensure accuracy. IRS Publication 15, the “Employer’s Tax Guide,” is the seminal guide to filling out the form.

What follows next is a straightforward, simple guide that walks you through each of the lettered and numbered fields on the W-2 form, providing a brief explanation when necessary.

Lettered Fields (a-f) 

The lettered fields, located on the left-hand side of the W-2 form, provide basic identification for both the employer and the employee.

One exception is that the state ID number goes in a numerically labeled box at the bottom of the form, along with the other state and local tax information.

Field a: Employee’s Social Security Number

Nine-digit social security number of the employee for whom this W-2 form is being prepared for.

Field b: Employer Identification Number (EIN)

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is the unique nine-digit number that the IRS assigns to businesses. Essentially, you must have an EIN in order to hire employees.

Field c: Employer’s Name, Address, and ZIP code.

You need to enter the full legal name you used when you registered your corporation or LLC, as well as the complete address of your business, including the ZIP code.

Field d: Control Number

The control number identifies each employee’s unique W-2 in the company’s records. Usually, the numbers are automatically generated by your company’s payroll processing software.

Fields e-f: Employee’s Name, Address and ZIP code.

Make sure you have entered the current address of each employee. It’s a good idea to double-check to ensure this information is accurate.

Numerical Fields (1-20)

The numbered fields run in a double column on the right-hand side of the W-2 form and continue across the bottom of the form. Wages and federal tax information is contained in the right-hand columns.

Meanwhile, the bottom field displays state and local tax information in a series of horizontal numbered fields. It is divided by a dotted line to provide more than one space for entering information.

For example, if you have employees working for your business in more than one locality or state, you will need to fill out withholdings for each locality, utilizing the space on either side of the dotted line.

Field 1: Wages, Tips, Other Compensation

This field reports the total of all your employee’s taxable wages or salary, including bonuses and taxable fringe benefits like group term life insurance. However, it does not include pre-tax benefits, such as contributions to a 401(k) or health insurance plan.

Field 2: Federal Income Tax Withheld

How much federal income tax you withhold from a given employee’s paycheck depends on the number of withholding allowances they designated on their W-4 form.

Field 3: Social Security Wages

Only a portion of each employee’s total wages is subject to tax from the Social Security Administration. Above a certain threshold— $168,600 in 2024—this so-called payroll tax stops. Therefore, no employee should have a wage larger than $168,600 entered in this field. Additionally, you don’t include employee tips in this field. For those, see Field 7.

Field 4: Social Security Withheld

Employers and employees contribute equally to this tax, paying 6.2% each of the employee’s wage up to the allowable threshold amount.

Importantly, the figure in Field 4 should not exceed the [taxable threshold] x [employer’s share], or $10,453.20 (6.2% of $168,600) in 2024.

Field 5: Medicare Wages and Tips

The figure you enter in this field reflects the total taxable income each employee earned with your company. Unlike Social Security, there is no maximum threshold.

Field 6: Medicare Tax Withheld

Employers and employees pay matching tax rates into Medicare — 1.45% each.

*Good to Know: Not only is there no upper threshold on Medicare earnings; highly compensated individuals must pay an additional .9% above the standard rate, or 2.35% for couples making over $250,000 a year. However, only the employee pays this additional tax, while the employer payment remains fixed at 1.45%.*

Field 7: Social Security Tips

You include employee’s reported tips in this field. When added to Field 3, the sum should equal the number in Field 1.

Field 8: Allocated Tips

If your business is a large food or beverage establishment, and the amount of tips an employee reported to you fell below the IRS’s approved percentage rate, you may need to assess additional compensation to your employees in the form of allocated tips.

However, unlike any tips reported in Field 7, this sum is not included in the amount of total income reported in Field 1.

Field 9: Advance EIC Payment

This field is a relic of a tax policy that no longer is relevant and should always remain blank.

Field 10: Dependent Care Benefits

You use this field to report income you reimbursed to an employee for dependent care expenses, including through a flexible spending account.

Field 11: Nonqualified Plans

This field is where you report any amounts you distributed to your employees from a non-government Section 457 pension plan or a non-qualified deferred compensation plan.

Additionally, this amount should be included as taxable income in Field 1 as well.

Field 12: Deferred Compensation

There are numerous forms of deferred compensation recognized by the IRS, each of which has its own tax code. The W-2 form mandates you to report as many of these forms of compensation as are relevant to your employees in Field 12.

For instance, some common types include group-term life insurance benefits in excess of the $50,000 worth you can provide as a tax-free benefit, and the non-taxable portion of temporary disability or sick pay. The IRS recognizes roughly 30 different forms of deferred compensation.

Field 13: Checkboxes for Statutory Employees, Retirement Plan, and Third Party Sick Pay

In this field, you check any of the three boxes that are relevant to the employee in question.

• For example, a “Statutory Employee” is someone who works for your company but doesn’t receive compensation in the form of a regular paycheck — for instance, they work exclusively on commission.
• You check “Retirement Plan” if your employees have access to a 401k or 403b at work, which may limit their ability to get tax incentives normally associated with an IRA.
• ”Third Party Sick Pay” refers to compensation your employee received from an outside party, such as an insurance company.

Field 14: Other

You can use this field to report any compensation that doesn’t fall into the other categories listed on the W-2 form.

Field 15: State ID Number

State ID numbers function in much the same way as EINs, serving to give your business a recognizable identity for tax purposes. The state ID number is only valid in that state.

*Good to Know: Whether you need a state ID for your business depends on several factors, such as how the business handles income and employment tax.* 

Field 16: State Wages, Tips, Etc.

This field is where you report the income you paid to the employee that is taxable at the state level.

Good to Know: If they worked for your company in more than one state, you must separate the incomes out, placing the income taxable to each state on a separate line. If you do business in one of the seven U.S. states that has no income tax, this field will be blank. These are the aforementioned states:

1. Alaska
2. Florida
3. Nevada
4. South Dakota
5. Tennessee
6. Texas
7. Wyoming

*In addition, Washington levies an income tax on investment income and capital gains, but it is only for certain high earners.*

**Elsewhere, New Hampshire currently taxes investment and interest income but is set to phase out those taxes starting in 2023. That will bring the number of states with no income tax to nine by 2027.**

Field 17: State Income Tax

This field shows the total amount of state income tax you withheld from your employee’s checks over the course of the year.

Field 18: Local Wages, Tips, Etc.

You report all income that is subject to taxation by your locality. This figure may be different than the figure in Field 16.

Field 19: Local Income Tax

If one or more of the localities you do business in requires employees to pay local income tax, this is the field where you report the amount.

Field 20: Locality Name

You’ll enter a brief description of the city or town that withheld taxes.

Where Do I Send the Completed Copies of my W-2 Form?

In total, there are six copies of the form that need to be distributed.

The FormPros Difference

Simplify your paperwork with FormPros! From creating paystubs, W-2s, and 1099-MISC forms to generating LLC Operating Agreements and even voided checks, our easy-to-use platform has you covered. Save time, reduce errors, and handle your business documents with confidence. Start now and see how FormPros makes professional form generation fast, affordable, and hassle-free!

Create Your W-2 Form with FormPros

Mark Mogilnitsky

Mark Mogilnitsky is a content writer specializing in Financial Form Generation, with a passion for simplifying complex processes for individuals and businesses. I thrive on crafting clear, engaging content that empowers users to navigate compliance and documentation with ease.