Use the Kentucky Paycheck Calculator to estimate net or “take home” pay for salaried employees. Simply input salary details, benefits and deductions, and any other necessary information as prompted below, and let our tool handle the rest.
State
Where are you employed?
Salary
How much do you get paid annual?
Salary frequency
How often are you paid?
Marital status
What is your federal filing status?
Dependent(s)
Children under 17 and students under 24
All other dependents
Employee Location
Where do you live?
Benefits and Deductions
Help
The addition of employee benefits such as 401(k)s and health insurance can affect how your paycheck is calculated. Please add any deductions for benefits offered by your company.
Fringe Benefits
Help
Fringe benefits are additional non-cash benefits offered by employers and are often taxable, which can affect an employee’s paycheck and final take-home pay. Please skip this section if you don’t use any of these benefits.
Choose a calculation method:
Gross Pay
$0
Income taxes
0%
$0
Alabama State Tax
0%
$0
Local Tax
0%
$0
FICA taxes
0%
$0
Social Security
0%
$0
Medicare
0%
$0
Additional Medicare
0%
$0
Pre tax
0%
$0
Post tax
0%
$0
Take Home Pay
0%
$0
What Are Payroll Taxes?
Payroll taxes withheld from employee paychecks fund Social Security and Medicare, to which the employer also makes payroll tax contributions.
The Social Security tax is paid by both the employee and the employer at a rate of 6.2% of the employee’s wages. The Medicare tax is also paid by both employee and employer, but at a rate of 1.45%.
Employers are also required to pay taxes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and the State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA). The employer must also collect federal income tax from employee paychecks, and pay that amount to the IRS. The rate is determined by the employee’s tax bracket.
Each state also has specific state payroll taxes that must be withheld and paid.
Kentucky Payroll Taxes
There are two Kentucky employer payroll taxes to keep track of in addition to Social Security and Medicare.
Employers contribute to a state unemployment tax account (SUTA) and employees pay state income tax.
SUTA
Under SUTA, companies must allocate a portion of their payroll taxes toward the state’s unemployment program, which pays out benefits to the unemployed until they find a new job or the predetermined benefit runs out.
In Kentucky, SUTA is paid on the first $10,800 of annual employee income, as of 2022. Rates are based on the employer’s reserve balance in their state unemployment insurance account. The calculation, from Kentucky’s website, is as follows:
Tax rates are not based solely on the balance in a reserve account, since this would mean that larger or higher-wage employers would have an advantage over smaller or lower-wage employers. Instead, a RESERVE RATIO is computed, which compares the size of the reserve balance to the size of the business and payroll. The reserve ratio is the percentage obtained by dividing the reserve account balance by the total amount of taxable wages reported by the employer during the 12 calendar quarters preceding the computation date.
Find more information on rates at the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance website.
State Income Tax
Kentucky charges a flat state income tax rate of 5%, as detailed at the Kentucky Department of Revenue.
Paying Payroll Taxes
Just as you need an EIN to pay federal payroll taxes, in Kentucky you need to register for state withholdings with the Department of Revenue, and for SUTA taxes, with the Office of ecaUnemployment Insurance.
To pay these taxes you’ll log into these accounts. For state withholding, payments are due either twice monthly or monthly, depending on the amount withheld. For SUTA, taxes are due quarterly.
Your municipality may also require certain tax registrations, so be sure to check with your local government for requirements.
Using a Payroll Tax Service
In Kentucky, payroll and payroll taxes come with countless laws and restrictions, which is why many business owners turn to a payroll service provider to ensure their business remains fully compliant. It’s usually less expensive than creating a new staff position for managing payroll, and relatively easy.
You’ll just send over your digital timesheets and relevant information and the service provider will take care of the calculations, payments and taxes, freeing you up to focus on growing your business.
We highly recommend hiring a payroll service — as a busy entrepreneur, you won’t regret it!
