How much tax is taken out of my paycheck in Mississippi?
Unravel your Mississippi paycheck. Understand how federal and state taxes, plus other factors, shape your take-home pay.
When you receive your paycheck, the amount deposited into your bank account is less than your gross earnings. This difference is due to various deductions, primarily withheld for taxes. These withholdings represent your contribution to federal and state government services and programs.
Federal Withholding Taxes
A part of your paycheck goes toward federal taxes, including federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. Federal income tax operates on a progressive system, meaning higher earners pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sets tax brackets, with different portions of your income taxed at increasing rates, ranging from 10% to 37%. This progressive structure ensures that not all of your income is taxed at your highest marginal rate.
Social Security and Medicare taxes, known as FICA taxes, fund specific government programs. For 2025, the Social Security tax rate for employees is 6.2% of your gross wages. There is an annual wage base limit for Social Security, which is $176,100 for 2025; earnings above this threshold are not subject to Social Security tax.
Medicare tax, on the other hand, is applied at a rate of 1.45% of all your earnings, with no wage base limit. This means every dollar you earn is subject to Medicare tax. An additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% applies to wages exceeding $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.
Mississippi State Income Tax
Mississippi imposes its own state income tax on residents’ earnings. For the 2025 tax year, Mississippi’s income tax structure features a graduated rate. The first $10,000 of your taxable income is not taxed. Any taxable income exceeding this initial $10,000 is subject to a 4.4% tax rate.
Mississippi also provides standard deductions and personal exemptions that can reduce your overall taxable income. For instance, single filers and those married filing separately can claim a standard deduction of $2,300. Married individuals filing jointly are eligible for a $4,600 standard deduction, while heads of family can claim $3,400.
In addition to standard deductions, personal exemptions further reduce taxable income. A single individual can claim a $6,000 personal exemption, and married couples filing jointly can claim $12,000.
Factors Affecting Your Tax Withholding
Several factors influence the amount of federal and state tax withheld from your paycheck. The most significant is the information you provide on your IRS Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate. This form informs your employer how much federal income tax to withhold based on your filing status, dependents, and any additional income or deductions you anticipate. Accurate completion of your W-4 helps ensure that the correct amount of tax is withheld throughout the year.
Pre-tax deductions also play a significant role in reducing your taxable income. Contributions to certain employer-sponsored plans, such as 401(k) retirement accounts or health insurance premiums, are typically deducted from your gross pay before taxes are calculated. This lowers your adjusted gross income, which in turn reduces the amount of income subject to federal and state income taxes.
The frequency of your pay periods further affects withholding amounts. Whether you are paid weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly impacts how your annual tax liability is spread across your paychecks. Employers use IRS-provided withholding tables, adjusted for pay frequency, to calculate the appropriate amount of tax to deduct from each payment. This ensures that the cumulative withholding over the year aligns with your estimated tax obligations.
Understanding Your Pay Stub
Your pay stub serves as a detailed record of your earnings and all deductions for each pay period. It is important to review this document regularly to ensure accuracy and understand where your money is going. You will find separate line items for federal income tax, often abbreviated as “FIT” or “FWT.”
Social Security deductions might be labeled “OASDI,” “SS,” or “Soc Sec,” while Medicare taxes are shown as “Med” or “Medicare.” Mississippi state income tax will appear as a distinct deduction, labeled “MS State Tax” or “MS SIT.” Most pay stubs also display both the current pay period’s deductions and year-to-date (YTD) totals for each category.