[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":4536},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-index":3},[4,379,890,1457,1809,2066,2482,2905,3162,3516,3943,4203],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"date":367,"description":368,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":371,"meta":372,"navigation":373,"path":374,"seo":375,"stem":376,"updated":377,"__hash__":378},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fcorrecting-a-pay-stub-error.md","Correcting a pay stub error",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":348},"minimark",[10,20,28,33,85,88,92,97,100,104,107,146,149,153,156,165,174,177,181,192,195,199,203,206,218,222,225,253,256,260,268,271,275,278,285,289],[11,12,13,14,19],"p",{},"Finding the error is the easy half. ",[15,16,18],"a",{"href":17},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-read-a-pay-stub","How to read a pay stub"," sets out the three arithmetic checks that catch most of them in under a minute; this article starts from the point where one of those checks has failed.",[11,21,22,23,27],{},"What happens next turns on a distinction that is easy to miss and decides everything: ",[24,25,26],"strong",{},"was the pay wrong, or was only the statement wrong?"," A short pay cheque and a correct cheque described badly are two different failures, with different laws behind them, different people to complain to, and different deadlines. Employers get this wrong in the other direction, fixing the money and assuming the paperwork follows.",[29,30,32],"h2",{"id":31},"four-kinds-of-error-four-different-fixes","Four kinds of error, four different fixes",[34,35,36,49],"table",{},[37,38,39],"thead",{},[40,41,42,46],"tr",{},[43,44,45],"th",{},"What is wrong",[43,47,48],{},"Who fixes it and how",[50,51,52,61,69,77],"tbody",{},[40,53,54,58],{},[55,56,57],"td",{},"You were underpaid or overpaid",[55,59,60],{},"A pay correction, then a corrected or adjusting statement",[40,62,63,66],{},[55,64,65],{},"Pay was right, the statement is missing or wrong",[55,67,68],{},"A corrected statement; in some states this alone carries a penalty",[40,70,71,74],{},[55,72,73],{},"The wrong amount of tax was withheld",[55,75,76],{},"Corrected on the employer's employment tax returns, and possibly a W-2c",[40,78,79,82],{},[55,80,81],{},"Your name, SSN or an amount is wrong on a filed W-2",[55,83,84],{},"Form W-2c, with Form W-3c alongside it",[11,86,87],{},"Work out which row you are in before doing anything else. The rest of this article follows the rows.",[29,89,91],{"id":90},"if-you-are-the-employee","If you are the employee",[93,94,96],"h3",{"id":95},"start-in-writing-and-start-with-payroll","Start in writing, and start with payroll",[11,98,99],{},"Most stub problems are payroll configuration rather than intent — a rate that was updated late, a deduction pointed at the wrong code, a shift differential that did not fire. Say what you think is wrong, name the period, and state the figure you expected. Keeping it in writing costs nothing and matters later, because several of the state rights below run from the date of a request.",[93,101,103],{"id":102},"know-what-you-can-demand","Know what you can demand",[11,105,106],{},"Your state may give you more than a conversation.",[108,109,110,118,125,132,139],"ul",{},[111,112,113,117],"li",{},[15,114,116],{"href":115},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fcalifornia","California"," gives you the right to inspect or copy your payroll records, with a $750 penalty where the employer does not comply within 21 calendar days.",[111,119,120,124],{},[15,121,123],{"href":122},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fillinois","Illinois"," lets you demand copies of past stubs, including for a year after you leave, with 21 days to produce them.",[111,126,127,131],{},[15,128,130],{"href":129},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fohio","Ohio"," requires a written request first, after which the employer has ten days before the Department of Commerce becomes involved.",[111,133,134,138],{},[15,135,137],{"href":136},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fnew-york","New York"," lets you require a written explanation of how your wages were computed.",[111,140,141,145],{},[15,142,144],{"href":143},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fgeorgia","Georgia"," runs no wage claim process at all and points people to small claims court, which is worth knowing before you wait for an agency that is not coming.",[11,147,148],{},"Getting the underlying records is often the whole fight. An employer who produces the time records usually produces the answer with them.",[93,150,152],{"id":151},"the-statement-itself-can-carry-a-penalty","The statement itself can carry a penalty",[11,154,155],{},"This is the part employees most often do not know, and it applies even where the money was right.",[11,157,158,160,161,164],{},[15,159,116],{"href":115}," sets damages for a knowing and intentional failure to provide a compliant statement at ",[24,162,163],{},"the greater of actual damages or $50 for the first pay period and $100 per employee for each subsequent violation, capped at $4,000",", plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Crucially, the statute defines the injury rather than leaving it to argument: you are deemed injured if no statement was provided at all, or if the information is inaccurate or incomplete and you cannot promptly and easily determine your gross or net wages, or which deductions were taken, from the statement alone.",[11,166,167,169,170,173],{},[15,168,137],{"href":136}," sets ",[24,171,172],{},"$250 for each work day the violation continues, capped at $5,000",", together with costs and reasonable attorney's fees, and the Commissioner may pursue the same amounts. But New York attaches an affirmative defence that California does not: it is a defence that the employer made complete and timely payment of all wages due.",[11,175,176],{},"That difference is worth stating plainly, because it changes the advice. In New York, paying you correctly largely cures the statement claim. In California, a correct payment does not cure a statement you cannot read.",[93,178,180],{"id":179},"the-deadlines","The deadlines",[11,182,183,184,187,188,191],{},"Federal wage claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act must be commenced ",[24,185,186],{},"within two years"," after the cause of action accrued, extended to ",[24,189,190],{},"three years"," where the violation was willful. State claims run on their own clocks, and some are longer.",[11,193,194],{},"Deadlines run from the underpayment, not from the day you noticed it. A stub problem discovered while sorting paperwork in March can already be part-expired.",[29,196,198],{"id":197},"if-you-are-the-employer","If you are the employer",[93,200,202],{"id":201},"fix-the-pay-then-fix-the-record-in-that-order-and-do-both","Fix the pay, then fix the record — in that order, and do both",[11,204,205],{},"An underpayment is corrected by paying the difference. Practice is to show it as its own line on the next statement rather than folding it into regular earnings, because a merged figure makes both periods unverifiable: the reader can no longer reconcile either one against hours and rate. A visible retroactive line, naming the period it corrects, keeps the arithmetic checkable.",[11,207,208,209,212,213,217],{},"Recovering an ",[24,210,211],{},"overpayment"," is the direction that gets employers into trouble, because taking it back out of the next cheque is a deduction and is governed as one. What may be deducted, on what authority, and what floor it may not cross are covered in ",[15,214,216],{"href":215},"\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-deductions-explained","pay stub deductions explained",". Do not treat a payroll error as self-executing authority to deduct.",[93,219,221],{"id":220},"the-w-2-branch-depends-on-where-the-form-has-got-to","The W-2 branch depends on where the form has got to",[11,223,224],{},"The IRS instructions divide it cleanly, and the branch point is the Social Security Administration.",[108,226,227,233,247],{},[111,228,229,232],{},[24,230,231],{},"Error found after you issued the W-2 to the employee but before you sent it to the SSA",": check the \"VOID\" box at the top of the incorrect Form W-2 on Copy A, prepare a new Form W-2 with the correct information, send Copy A to the SSA, and write \"CORRECTED\" on the employee's new copies B, C and 2. Do not write \"CORRECTED\" on Copy A.",[111,234,235,238,239,242,243,246],{},[24,236,237],{},"Error found after the form was filed with the SSA",": use the current version of ",[24,240,241],{},"Form W-2c"," to correct it, file Copy A with the SSA, and file ",[24,244,245],{},"Form W-3c"," whenever you file a W-2c, even if you are only correcting a name or an SSN.",[111,248,249,252],{},[24,250,251],{},"A previously filed employment tax return is wrong",": use the corresponding \"X\" form — Form 941-X, 943-X, 944-X or CT-1X — for the return period in which you found the error.",[11,254,255],{},"A name or SSN change following a replacement Social Security card is corrected against the most recently filed W-2 only; prior years do not need correcting where the earlier name and number were the ones in use then.",[93,257,259],{"id":258},"what-does-not-count-as-a-correction","What does not count as a correction",[11,261,262,263,267],{},"Replacing the old stub in the portal and leaving no trace of the original. Retention duties attach to the record as issued, and they are longer than most people assume — ",[15,264,266],{"href":265},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-to-keep-pay-stubs","how long to keep pay stubs"," sets out the four separate clocks. A correction should add a document, not remove one.",[11,269,270],{},"The federal recordkeeping regulation is the reason this matters beyond tidiness: the payroll records and the supplementary records the payroll was computed from are what demonstrate the corrected figure is right. Overwriting the first without keeping the second leaves nothing to demonstrate it with.",[29,272,274],{"id":273},"preventing-the-next-one","Preventing the next one",[11,276,277],{},"Most recurring stub errors are a rate, a code or a state setting that was configured once and never revisited. Two cheap habits catch them: reconcile year-to-date columns against the current period every time payroll runs, and re-run one employee per state after any rate change. Several states changed income tax rates mid-2026, so two stubs in one year using different rates can be correct — which is exactly why the check has to be against the current tables rather than against last month.",[11,279,280,284],{},[15,281,283],{"href":282},"\u002Fgenerator","The generator"," applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables and shows every line, which makes it a quick independent check on a figure you are unsure about, whether you are about to raise it or about to defend it.",[29,286,288],{"id":287},"sources","Sources",[108,290,291,299,306,313,320,327,334,341],{},[111,292,293],{},[15,294,298],{"href":295,"rel":296},"https:\u002F\u002Fleginfo.legislature.ca.gov\u002Ffaces\u002Fcodes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=LAB&sectionNum=226",[297],"nofollow","California Labor Code § 226",[111,300,301],{},[15,302,305],{"href":303,"rel":304},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nysenate.gov\u002Flegislation\u002Flaws\u002FLAB\u002F198",[297],"New York Labor Law § 198",[111,307,308],{},[15,309,312],{"href":310,"rel":311},"https:\u002F\u002Fdol.ny.gov\u002Fsystem\u002Ffiles\u002Fdocuments\u002F2021\u002F03\u002Fwage-theft-prevention-act-frequently-asked-questions.pdf",[297],"NYS Department of Labor — Wage Theft Prevention Act FAQ",[111,314,315],{},[15,316,319],{"href":317,"rel":318},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ilga.gov\u002Flegislation\u002Filcs\u002Ffulltext.asp?DocName=082001150K10",[297],"820 ILCS 115\u002F10",[111,321,322],{},[15,323,326],{"href":324,"rel":325},"https:\u002F\u002Fcodes.ohio.gov\u002Fohio-revised-code\u002Fsection-4113.14",[297],"Ohio Revised Code § 4113.14",[111,328,329],{},[15,330,333],{"href":331,"rel":332},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.govinfo.gov\u002Fcontent\u002Fpkg\u002FUSCODE-2023-title29\u002Fhtml\u002FUSCODE-2023-title29-chap9-sec255.htm",[297],"29 U.S.C. § 255 — Statute of limitations",[111,335,336],{},[15,337,340],{"href":338,"rel":339},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Finstructions\u002Fiw2w3",[297],"IRS — General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3",[111,342,343],{},[15,344,347],{"href":345,"rel":346},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsubtitle-B\u002Fchapter-V\u002Fsubchapter-A\u002Fpart-516",[297],"29 CFR Part 516 — Records to be kept by employers",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":351},"",2,[352,353,360,365,366],{"id":31,"depth":350,"text":32},{"id":90,"depth":350,"text":91,"children":354},[355,357,358,359],{"id":95,"depth":356,"text":96},3,{"id":102,"depth":356,"text":103},{"id":151,"depth":356,"text":152},{"id":179,"depth":356,"text":180},{"id":197,"depth":350,"text":198,"children":361},[362,363,364],{"id":201,"depth":356,"text":202},{"id":220,"depth":356,"text":221},{"id":258,"depth":356,"text":259},{"id":273,"depth":350,"text":274},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"2026-08-25","You found the mistake. What happens next depends on whether the pay was wrong or only the statement was, because those two failures have different remedies and different deadlines.",false,"md","pay stub error correction",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fcorrecting-a-pay-stub-error",{"title":6,"description":368},"blog\u002Fcorrecting-a-pay-stub-error",null,"OtHYeaTlGXsEQBbHDbe3JPA39UbU5DBojpNShKRf71U",{"id":380,"title":381,"body":382,"date":367,"description":883,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":884,"meta":885,"navigation":373,"path":886,"seo":887,"stem":888,"updated":377,"__hash__":889},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fdirect-deposit-and-pay-stubs.md","Direct deposit and pay stubs",{"type":8,"value":383,"toc":869},[384,387,395,399,402,409,412,442,445,449,452,456,471,474,478,485,495,499,502,589,592,596,599,612,619,623,626,631,634,638,641,648,659,672,675,679,685,691,695,710,712],[11,385,386],{},"When wages arrive by direct deposit there is no envelope, and the question that follows is reasonable: is there still supposed to be a stub, and where is it?",[11,388,389,390,394],{},"The short answer is that the payment method and the statement are governed separately — ",[15,391,393],{"href":392},"\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-vs-paycheck","pay stub vs paycheck"," works through why that is — and moving the money electronically does not switch the statement duty off anywhere. What it does change is the delivery: whether the employer may hand you a portal login and call it done, whether you can insist on paper, and what happens to your access on the day you leave. Those answers are set by your state, and they differ more than the payment rules do.",[29,396,398],{"id":397},"first-the-payment-itself-is-usually-consented-to-not-imposed","First, the payment itself is usually consented to, not imposed",[11,400,401],{},"Before the statement question there is the deposit question, and in a good number of states the employee has a say.",[11,403,404,405,408],{},"Federal law contributes one rule, and it is narrow but absolute: ",[24,406,407],{},"no financial institution or other person may require a consumer to establish an account for receipt of electronic fund transfers with a particular institution as a condition of employment."," An employer may offer direct deposit; steering you into their chosen bank as a condition of the job is not among the options.",[11,410,411],{},"States go further, in different directions:",[108,413,414,421,428,435],{},[111,415,416,420],{},[15,417,419],{"href":418},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fmontana","Montana"," permits electronic transfer where the employee consented in writing or electronically and a record of the consent is kept, then closes the loop in terms: an employee may not be required to use direct deposit as a method of payment.",[111,422,423,427],{},[15,424,426],{"href":425},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fwyoming","Wyoming"," allows deposit into an account at a bank, savings and loan, credit union or other authorised institution only where the employee voluntarily authorised it.",[111,429,430,434],{},[15,431,433],{"href":432},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fnevada","Nevada"," requires payment in lawful money or by negotiable cheque unless the employee has agreed in writing to some other disposition, which makes written agreement the foundation of direct deposit there.",[111,436,437,441],{},[15,438,440],{"href":439},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fhawaii","Hawaii"," permits direct deposit only where the employee has voluntarily authorised it in writing or by electronic signature.",[11,443,444],{},"Where a state says nothing, the federal rule above still stands, and it is worth knowing precisely because it is the one people misremember: it prohibits the employer from dictating the bank, not from offering electronic payment.",[29,446,448],{"id":447},"the-statement-is-still-owed-and-now-the-format-matters","The statement is still owed, and now the format matters",[11,450,451],{},"Once the money is electronic, every state that requires a wage statement has to answer a question it could previously ignore: does an electronic statement count, and on what conditions? Grouping the answers is more useful than listing fifty of them.",[93,453,455],{"id":454},"electronic-without-conditions","Electronic without conditions",[11,457,458,459,463,464,466,467,470],{},"Some states simply do not care about the medium. ",[15,460,462],{"href":461},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Ftexas","Texas"," says the statement may be in any form the employer determines and may be printed on a cheque voucher or bank draft, with no restriction on electronic delivery. ",[15,465,130],{"href":129}," names the alternatives explicitly — a written statement, an electronic statement, or ",[24,468,469],{},"access"," to a statement all satisfy the duty.",[11,472,473],{},"That word \"access\" is doing real work. In Ohio, a portal the employee can reach is compliance. In several states below, it is not.",[93,475,477],{"id":476},"electronic-only-with-consent","Electronic only with consent",[11,479,480,484],{},[15,481,483],{"href":482},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fconnecticut","Connecticut"," allows the record to be furnished electronically only with the employee's explicit consent, and then requires the employer to provide a means to access and print it securely, privately and conveniently, with reasonable safeguards for the personal information it contains.",[11,486,487,491,492,494],{},[15,488,490],{"href":489},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Foregon","Oregon"," keeps paper as the default: the itemised statement may be delivered electronically only if the employee expressly agrees and can print or store it at the time of receipt. ",[15,493,440],{"href":439}," takes written authorisation before an electronic record replaces the printed one, and its six-year retention duty follows the electronic record, so switching format shortens nothing.",[93,496,498],{"id":497},"electronic-but-you-must-be-able-to-print-it","Electronic, but you must be able to print it",[11,500,501],{},"This is the largest group, and the condition is consistently about your ability to keep a copy rather than about the format.",[34,503,504,514],{},[37,505,506],{},[40,507,508,511],{},[43,509,510],{},"State",[43,512,513],{},"The condition attached to electronic delivery",[50,515,516,527,538,549,560,571,580],{},[40,517,518,524],{},[55,519,520],{},[15,521,523],{"href":522},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fkentucky","Kentucky",[55,525,526],{},"The employer provides access to a computer and a printer, not merely a portal login",[40,528,529,535],{},[55,530,531],{},[15,532,534],{"href":533},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fminnesota","Minnesota",[55,536,537],{},"Access to an employer-owned computer during working hours to review and print",[40,539,540,546],{},[55,541,542],{},[15,543,545],{"href":544},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fmaine","Maine",[55,547,548],{},"A method giving ready access to the information and printing without cost",[40,550,551,557],{},[55,552,553],{},[15,554,556],{"href":555},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fwisconsin","Wisconsin",[55,558,559],{},"Access to a printer, with no charge for printing the stub each pay period",[40,561,562,568],{},[55,563,564],{},[15,565,567],{"href":566},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fiowa","Iowa",[55,569,570],{},"Free and unrestricted access to a printer where the statement is only viewable online",[40,572,573,577],{},[55,574,575],{},[15,576,137],{"href":136},[55,578,579],{},"Reachable on a computer the employer provides, and printable for the worker's records",[40,581,582,586],{},[55,583,584],{},[15,585,116],{"href":115},[55,587,588],{},"Printing at work at no charge, every § 226(a) item present, paper on request",[11,590,591],{},"If your employer's answer to \"how do I get a copy\" is \"log in from home on your own machine,\" that satisfies Ohio and does not satisfy this column.",[93,593,595],{"id":594},"a-right-to-go-back-to-paper","A right to go back to paper",[11,597,598],{},"Three states put the switch in the employee's hands rather than the employer's.",[11,600,601,603,604,608,609,611],{},[15,602,534],{"href":533}," gives an employee who provides 24 hours' notice the right to paper from then on, permanently. ",[15,605,607],{"href":606},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Frhode-island","Rhode Island"," makes electronic records generally acceptable but requires a printed or handwritten record at no cost to the employee on written authorisation. ",[15,610,567],{"href":566}," inverts the notice: an employee unable to receive the statement electronically tells the employer in writing at least one pay period in advance, and the employer must then use one of the other delivery methods.",[11,613,614,618],{},[15,615,617],{"href":616},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fwashington","Washington"," builds the fallback in without requiring the employee to ask. The statement may be electronic provided each employee has access to receive and copy it on the payday; if an employee cannot do that at work or at home on the established payday, the employer owes that employee a written statement on the payday instead.",[93,620,622],{"id":621},"the-day-you-leave-is-when-electronic-delivery-fails","The day you leave is when electronic delivery fails",[11,624,625],{},"This is the case employers most often overlook, because the portal keeps working right up until the account is deactivated.",[11,627,628,630],{},[15,629,123],{"href":122}," legislates it directly. Stubs are retained three years whether furnished on paper or electronically. A current employee may request copies and the employer has 21 calendar days to produce them; a former employee keeps that right for a year after separation and chooses whether to receive the copies physically or electronically. And an employer whose electronic stubs a departing employee will not be able to reach for a full year must, by the end of the final pay period, offer a record of every stub from the preceding year — and write down the date of the offer and how the employee responded.",[11,632,633],{},"The practical reading for anyone leaving a job: download the lot before your login stops working, wherever you are. The practical reading for employers: the retention duty and the access duty are different duties, and a stub that was retained but cannot be produced fails the second one.",[29,635,637],{"id":636},"payroll-cards-are-a-payment-method-with-their-own-rulebook","Payroll cards are a payment method with their own rulebook",[11,639,640],{},"If wages arrive on a card rather than in a bank account, two layers apply at once.",[11,642,643,644,647],{},"Federally, a payroll card account is a prepaid account under Regulation E, and the disclosures the card issuer gives you must include a statement that ",[24,645,646],{},"you do not have to accept the payroll card"," and directing you to ask the employer about other ways to receive wages — the regulation supplies the wording: \"You do not have to accept this payroll card. Ask your employer about other ways to receive your wages.\"",[11,649,650,651,654,655,658],{},"The same rule replaces monthly statements with a defined access package. A financial institution need not furnish periodic statements if it makes available your account balance through a readily available telephone line, an electronic history covering at least the ",[24,652,653],{},"12 months"," before you access it, and a written history covering at least the ",[24,656,657],{},"24 months"," before your request, provided promptly on an oral or written request. Any fees charged against the account must appear on those histories.",[11,660,661,662,666,667,671],{},"States then add their own conditions, and some are strict. ",[15,663,665],{"href":664},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fkansas","Kansas"," requires at least one means of withdrawal per pay period at no cost for an amount up to the full net wages shown on the earnings statement, prohibits initiation, loading and participation fees except for replacing a lost or damaged card, and requires 30 days' notice plus employee forums or educational material before an employer moves to an electronic-only programme. ",[15,668,670],{"href":669},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fvermont","Vermont"," requires voluntary written consent after a plain-language disclosure of all payment options and known fees, three free withdrawals a pay period including one for the full balance, no link to credit or to a loan against future pay, and 21 days' written notice of changes.",[11,673,674],{},"None of this touches the statement. Wages on a card leave the wage statement duty in your state exactly where it was.",[29,676,678],{"id":677},"what-this-means-in-practice","What this means in practice",[11,680,681,684],{},[24,682,683],{},"If you are an employee"," and the stub is not reaching you: find your state above before raising it. \"I would like paper\" is a request in Texas and an entitlement in Minnesota, and knowing which one you are making changes the conversation.",[11,686,687,690],{},[24,688,689],{},"If you are an employer"," moving payroll onto direct deposit, three things go wrong most often, in this order: no printing provision where the state requires one, no opt-out route where the employee is entitled to paper, and no plan for access after separation. The first two are configuration. The third needs a decision before the final pay period, not after it.",[29,692,694],{"id":693},"checking-what-should-be-on-it","Checking what should be on it",[11,696,697,699,700,704,705,709],{},[15,698,283],{"href":282}," applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables to a pay period and shows every line, which is a straightforward way to check a statement you did receive against what it should contain. ",[15,701,703],{"href":702},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-to-include-on-a-pay-stub","What to include on a pay stub"," covers the items themselves, and the ",[15,706,708],{"href":707},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements","state requirement pages"," carry the rule for each state with its source.",[29,711,288],{"id":287},[108,713,714,721,728,735,740,747,754,761,768,775,782,789,796,803,808,815,822,829,834,841,848,855,862],{},[111,715,716],{},[15,717,720],{"href":718,"rel":719},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-12\u002Fchapter-X\u002Fpart-1005\u002Fsection-1005.10",[297],"12 CFR § 1005.10(e) — Regulation E, compulsory use",[111,722,723],{},[15,724,727],{"href":725,"rel":726},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-12\u002Fchapter-X\u002Fpart-1005\u002Fsection-1005.18",[297],"12 CFR § 1005.18 — Requirements for financial institutions offering prepaid accounts",[111,729,730],{},[15,731,734],{"href":732,"rel":733},"https:\u002F\u002Fstatutes.capitol.texas.gov\u002FDocs\u002FLA\u002Fhtm\u002FLA.62.htm",[297],"Texas Labor Code Chapter 62",[111,736,737],{},[15,738,326],{"href":324,"rel":739},[297],[111,741,742],{},[15,743,746],{"href":744,"rel":745},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.cga.ct.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Fpub\u002Fchap_557.htm",[297],"Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 557",[111,748,749],{},[15,750,753],{"href":751,"rel":752},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.oregon.gov\u002Fboli\u002Fworkers\u002Fpages\u002Fpaychecks.aspx",[297],"Oregon BOLI — Paychecks",[111,755,756],{},[15,757,760],{"href":758,"rel":759},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.capitol.hawaii.gov\u002Fhrscurrent\u002FVol07_Ch0346-0398\u002FHRS0388\u002FHRS_0388-0007.htm",[297],"Hawaii Revised Statutes § 388-7",[111,762,763],{},[15,764,767],{"href":765,"rel":766},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.capitol.hawaii.gov\u002Fhrscurrent\u002FVol07_Ch0346-0398\u002FHRS0388\u002FHRS_0388-0002.htm",[297],"Hawaii Revised Statutes § 388-2",[111,769,770],{},[15,771,774],{"href":772,"rel":773},"https:\u002F\u002Fapps.legislature.ky.gov\u002Flaw\u002Fstatutes\u002Fstatute.aspx?id=46677",[297],"Kentucky Revised Statutes § 337.070",[111,776,777],{},[15,778,781],{"href":779,"rel":780},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.revisor.mn.gov\u002Fstatutes\u002Fcite\u002F181.032",[297],"Minnesota Statutes § 181.032",[111,783,784],{},[15,785,788],{"href":786,"rel":787},"https:\u002F\u002Flegislature.maine.gov\u002Fstatutes\u002F26\u002Ftitle26sec665.html",[297],"Maine Revised Statutes Title 26 § 665",[111,790,791],{},[15,792,795],{"href":793,"rel":794},"https:\u002F\u002Fdwd.wisconsin.gov\u002Fer\u002Flaborstandards\u002Fwages.htm",[297],"Wisconsin DWD — Wage payment and collection",[111,797,798],{},[15,799,802],{"href":800,"rel":801},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.legis.iowa.gov\u002Fdocs\u002Fcode\u002F91A.6.pdf",[297],"Iowa Code § 91A.6",[111,804,805],{},[15,806,312],{"href":310,"rel":807},[297],[111,809,810],{},[15,811,814],{"href":812,"rel":813},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.dir.ca.gov\u002Fdlse\u002Fopinions\u002F2006-07-06.pdf",[297],"California DLSE opinion letter 2006.07.06 — electronic wage statements",[111,816,817],{},[15,818,821],{"href":819,"rel":820},"https:\u002F\u002Fwebserver.rilegislature.gov\u002FStatutes\u002FTITLE28\u002F28-14\u002F28-14-2.1.htm",[297],"Rhode Island General Laws § 28-14-2.1",[111,823,824],{},[15,825,828],{"href":826,"rel":827},"https:\u002F\u002Fapp.leg.wa.gov\u002Fwac\u002Fdefault.aspx?cite=296-126-040",[297],"WAC 296-126-040 — Itemized pay statements",[111,830,831],{},[15,832,319],{"href":317,"rel":833},[297],[111,835,836],{},[15,837,840],{"href":838,"rel":839},"https:\u002F\u002Farchive.legmt.gov\u002Fbills\u002Fmca\u002Ftitle_0390\u002Fchapter_0030\u002Fpart_0020\u002Fsection_0040\u002F0390-0030-0020-0040.html",[297],"Montana Code Annotated § 39-3-204",[111,842,843],{},[15,844,847],{"href":845,"rel":846},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.wyoleg.gov\u002Fstatutes\u002Fcompress\u002Ftitle27.pdf",[297],"Wyoming Statutes Title 27",[111,849,850],{},[15,851,854],{"href":852,"rel":853},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.leg.state.nv.us\u002Fnrs\u002Fnrs-608.html",[297],"Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 608",[111,856,857],{},[15,858,861],{"href":859,"rel":860},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ksrevisor.gov\u002Fstatutes\u002Fchapters\u002Fch44\u002F044_003_0014.html",[297],"Kansas Statutes § 44-314",[111,863,864],{},[15,865,868],{"href":866,"rel":867},"https:\u002F\u002Flegislature.vermont.gov\u002Fstatutes\u002Fsection\u002F21\u002F005\u002F00342",[297],"Vermont Statutes Title 21 § 342",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":870},[871,872,879,880,881,882],{"id":397,"depth":350,"text":398},{"id":447,"depth":350,"text":448,"children":873},[874,875,876,877,878],{"id":454,"depth":356,"text":455},{"id":476,"depth":356,"text":477},{"id":497,"depth":356,"text":498},{"id":594,"depth":356,"text":595},{"id":621,"depth":356,"text":622},{"id":636,"depth":350,"text":637},{"id":677,"depth":350,"text":678},{"id":693,"depth":350,"text":694},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"Paying wages electronically changes the payment, not the duty to explain it. What changes is how the statement has to reach you, and that is where the state rules live.","direct deposit pay stub",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fdirect-deposit-and-pay-stubs",{"title":381,"description":883},"blog\u002Fdirect-deposit-and-pay-stubs","hwlyBhx1QVU3w9Cb07ecYJQwpW08Ty2_Lq_LD9umQu0",{"id":891,"title":892,"body":893,"date":367,"description":1450,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":1451,"meta":1452,"navigation":373,"path":1453,"seo":1454,"stem":1455,"updated":377,"__hash__":1456},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-abbreviations.md","Pay stub abbreviations",{"type":8,"value":894,"toc":1440},[895,898,915,918,922,925,1035,1045,1049,1133,1143,1149,1153,1261,1272,1282,1286,1289,1311,1319,1323,1329,1340,1343,1346,1365,1368,1372,1375,1381,1385,1393,1395],[11,896,897],{},"There is no standard set of pay stub abbreviations. No federal law prescribes them, no agency publishes a list, and two employers in the same city can label the same deduction differently.",[11,899,900,901,903,904,907,908,910,911,914],{},"What the law does say, in the states that say anything, is that coding is allowed but opacity is not. ",[15,902,556],{"href":555}," puts both halves in one rule: the employer must state the number of hours worked, the rate of pay and the amount of and reason for each deduction, and ",[24,905,906],{},"a reasonable coding system may be used",". ",[15,909,116],{"href":115}," draws the boundary from the other end — an employee is deemed to suffer injury, which is what unlocks the statutory penalty, if the employer fails to provide accurate and complete information and the employee ",[24,912,913],{},"cannot promptly and easily determine from the wage statement alone"," which deductions were made from gross to arrive at net.",[11,916,917],{},"So the codes are legitimate, and a stub you cannot decode is not. What follows is what the common ones mean.",[29,919,921],{"id":920},"earnings","Earnings",[11,923,924],{},"These appear above the deductions and add up to gross pay.",[34,926,927,937],{},[37,928,929],{},[40,930,931,934],{},[43,932,933],{},"Code",[43,935,936],{},"What it is",[50,938,939,947,955,963,971,979,987,995,1003,1011,1019,1027],{},[40,940,941,944],{},[55,942,943],{},"REG, RT, BASE",[55,945,946],{},"Regular hours at your base rate",[40,948,949,952],{},[55,950,951],{},"OT, O\u002FT, 1.5",[55,953,954],{},"Overtime, normally the base rate multiplied by 1.5",[40,956,957,960],{},[55,958,959],{},"DT, DBL",[55,961,962],{},"Double time, where a state rule or a contract provides for it",[40,964,965,968],{},[55,966,967],{},"HOL",[55,969,970],{},"Holiday pay",[40,972,973,976],{},[55,974,975],{},"VAC, PTO, FLOAT",[55,977,978],{},"Paid time off drawn from a balance",[40,980,981,984],{},[55,982,983],{},"SICK, PSL",[55,985,986],{},"Paid sick leave, often shown with an accrued balance beside it",[40,988,989,992],{},[55,990,991],{},"BONUS, BNS",[55,993,994],{},"A one-off payment; expect an unusually large federal tax line beside it",[40,996,997,1000],{},[55,998,999],{},"COMM",[55,1001,1002],{},"Commission",[40,1004,1005,1008],{},[55,1006,1007],{},"RETRO",[55,1009,1010],{},"A correction paying the difference owed for an earlier period",[40,1012,1013,1016],{},[55,1014,1015],{},"SHFT, DIFF",[55,1017,1018],{},"A shift differential for nights, weekends or an undesirable rota",[40,1020,1021,1024],{},[55,1022,1023],{},"TIPS, TIP CR",[55,1025,1026],{},"Reported tips, and any tip credit taken against the minimum wage",[40,1028,1029,1032],{},[55,1030,1031],{},"EXP, REIMB",[55,1033,1034],{},"An expense reimbursement, which is not wages and is not taxed as wages",[11,1036,1037,1038,1041,1042,1044],{},"A ",[1039,1040,1007],"code",{}," line is worth a second look whenever it appears without an explanation, because it is how an underpayment gets fixed quietly. ",[15,1043,6],{"href":374}," covers what should accompany one.",[29,1046,1048],{"id":1047},"taxes-withheld","Taxes withheld",[34,1050,1051,1059],{},[37,1052,1053],{},[40,1054,1055,1057],{},[43,1056,933],{},[43,1058,936],{},[50,1060,1061,1069,1077,1085,1093,1101,1109,1117,1125],{},[40,1062,1063,1066],{},[55,1064,1065],{},"FIT, FWT, FED, FED W\u002FH",[55,1067,1068],{},"Federal income tax withholding",[40,1070,1071,1074],{},[55,1072,1073],{},"OASDI, FICA-SS, SS, SOC SEC",[55,1075,1076],{},"Social Security, 6.2% up to the annual wage base",[40,1078,1079,1082],{},[55,1080,1081],{},"FICA-MED, MED, MEDI",[55,1083,1084],{},"Medicare, 1.45% with no cap",[40,1086,1087,1090],{},[55,1088,1089],{},"ADD MED, MED SUR",[55,1091,1092],{},"Additional Medicare, an extra 0.9% above $200,000 of wages in a calendar year",[40,1094,1095,1098],{},[55,1096,1097],{},"SIT, SWT, ST TAX",[55,1099,1100],{},"State income tax",[40,1102,1103,1106],{},[55,1104,1105],{},"LOC, CITY, SD, LST",[55,1107,1108],{},"Local, municipal or school district tax",[40,1110,1111,1114],{},[55,1112,1113],{},"SDI, TDI",[55,1115,1116],{},"State disability insurance, where the state runs one",[40,1118,1119,1122],{},[55,1120,1121],{},"PFML, FLI, FAMLI",[55,1123,1124],{},"State paid family and medical leave",[40,1126,1127,1130],{},[55,1128,1129],{},"SUI, SUTA",[55,1131,1132],{},"State unemployment insurance; in most states this is an employer cost",[11,1134,1135,1138,1139,1142],{},[1039,1136,1137],{},"OASDI"," is the one that most often prompts the search. It stands for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, which is the formal name of the Social Security programme, and it is the same 6.2% line as ",[1039,1140,1141],{},"FICA-SS"," on a different employer's stub. If it vanishes in the autumn, you have crossed the wage base for the year rather than lost a benefit.",[11,1144,1145,1146,1148],{},"The state rows vary enormously, and whether they exist at all is a state question — the ",[15,1147,708],{"href":707}," carry the rule and the source for each one.",[29,1150,1152],{"id":1151},"benefit-deductions","Benefit deductions",[34,1154,1155,1163],{},[37,1156,1157],{},[40,1158,1159,1161],{},[43,1160,933],{},[43,1162,936],{},[50,1164,1165,1173,1181,1189,1197,1205,1213,1221,1229,1237,1245,1253],{},[40,1166,1167,1170],{},[55,1168,1169],{},"MED, DEN, VIS",[55,1171,1172],{},"Health, dental and vision premiums, usually through a cafeteria plan",[40,1174,1175,1178],{},[55,1176,1177],{},"125, SEC125, CAF, PRE-TAX",[55,1179,1180],{},"A deduction taken under a section 125 cafeteria plan",[40,1182,1183,1186],{},[55,1184,1185],{},"FSA, HCFSA, DCFSA",[55,1187,1188],{},"Flexible spending arrangement, for health or for dependent care",[40,1190,1191,1194],{},[55,1192,1193],{},"HSA",[55,1195,1196],{},"Health savings account contribution",[40,1198,1199,1202],{},[55,1200,1201],{},"401K, 403B, 457",[55,1203,1204],{},"A traditional retirement deferral",[40,1206,1207,1210],{},[55,1208,1209],{},"ROTH, R401K",[55,1211,1212],{},"A designated Roth contribution",[40,1214,1215,1218],{},[55,1216,1217],{},"STD, LTD",[55,1219,1220],{},"Short and long-term disability premiums",[40,1222,1223,1226],{},[55,1224,1225],{},"GTL, GTLI, IMP, IMPINC",[55,1227,1228],{},"Group-term life insurance imputed income — see below, it is not a fee",[40,1230,1231,1234],{},[55,1232,1233],{},"ESPP",[55,1235,1236],{},"Employee stock purchase plan contribution",[40,1238,1239,1242],{},[55,1240,1241],{},"LOAN, ADV, ADVANCE",[55,1243,1244],{},"Repayment of a payroll advance or a plan loan",[40,1246,1247,1250],{},[55,1248,1249],{},"UD, DUES",[55,1251,1252],{},"Union dues",[40,1254,1255,1258],{},[55,1256,1257],{},"GARN, LEVY, CHSUP, CS",[55,1259,1260],{},"A garnishment, a tax levy or a child support order",[11,1262,1263,1264,1267,1268,1271],{},"Whether a given line comes out before or after tax — and before which tax — is the part that changes your net, and the mechanics are set out in ",[15,1265,1266],{"href":17},"how to read a pay stub",", which carries the table of what each family reduces. The short version people get wrong: a traditional ",[1039,1269,1270],{},"401K"," deferral lowers the wages your income tax is figured on, but the Internal Revenue Code puts employer contributions under a qualified cash or deferred arrangement, and designated Roth contributions, back into wages for Social Security and Medicare. Your retirement deferral does not reduce FICA.",[11,1273,1274,1275,1278,1279,1281],{},"For the ",[1039,1276,1277],{},"GARN"," family, the limits on how much may be taken, and the order in which competing orders are applied, are in ",[15,1280,216],{"href":215},".",[29,1283,1285],{"id":1284},"the-prefixes-er-ee-and-ytd","The prefixes: ER, EE and YTD",[11,1287,1288],{},"Three prefixes carry more meaning than any single code.",[11,1290,1291,1296,1297,1302,1303,1306,1307,1310],{},[24,1292,1293],{},[1039,1294,1295],{},"EE"," marks the employee share and ",[24,1298,1299],{},[1039,1300,1301],{},"ER"," the employer share. An ",[1039,1304,1305],{},"ER MED"," or ",[1039,1308,1309],{},"ER 401K"," line is money your employer paid on top of your wages. It is shown for information, it is not subtracted from your net, and adding it to your deductions total is the single most common misreading of a stub.",[11,1312,1313,1318],{},[24,1314,1315],{},[1039,1316,1317],{},"YTD"," is year-to-date: the running total since 1 January for that same line. These columns are what make a stub usable as proof of income, and they are also your best self-check, since each one should advance by exactly the current-period figure beside it.",[29,1320,1322],{"id":1321},"gtl-the-code-nobody-can-explain","GTL: the code nobody can explain",[11,1324,1325,1328],{},[1039,1326,1327],{},"GTL"," is the abbreviation that most often survives being decoded. People learn it stands for group-term life insurance, look at their stub, and find they are being taxed on insurance they never paid for.",[11,1330,1331,1332,1335,1336,1339],{},"Here is what is actually happening. An employer can generally exclude the cost of up to ",[24,1333,1334],{},"$50,000"," of group-term life insurance coverage from an employee's wages, for income tax and for Social Security and Medicare alike. Above that limit the exclusion stops, and the employer ",[24,1337,1338],{},"must include in wages the cost of the coverage beyond $50,000",", reduced by anything the employee paid toward it.",[11,1341,1342],{},"The amount is not the premium. It is a figure from an IRS table of the cost per $1,000 of protection for one month, keyed to your age, running from $0.05 a month under 25 to $2.06 a month at 70 and older. The published example makes the shape clear: an employee aged 45 with $200,000 of coverage who pays $100 a year toward it has $170 included in wages — $200,000 less the excluded $50,000, leaving $150,000, at $0.15 per $1,000 per month for twelve months, less the $100 they paid.",[11,1344,1345],{},"Three consequences follow, and they explain the strange way the line behaves:",[108,1347,1348,1355,1358],{},[111,1349,1350,1351,1354],{},"The amount ",[24,1352,1353],{},"is subject to Social Security and Medicare",", so you will see FICA taken on money that never reached you.",[111,1356,1357],{},"Income tax withholding on it is at the employer's option, which is why some stubs withhold and others do not.",[111,1359,1360,1361,1364],{},"It is reported in W-2 boxes 1, 3 and 5, and again in box 12 with code ",[24,1362,1363],{},"C"," — so the box 12 entry and the stub line describe the same thing.",[11,1366,1367],{},"Imputed income generally works this way: a benefit with a taxable value gets added to wages so it can be taxed, then subtracted again so it does not inflate your net. If your stub shows a code twice, once as an earning and once as a deduction of the same amount, that is what you are looking at.",[29,1369,1371],{"id":1370},"when-a-code-is-not-explained-anywhere","When a code is not explained anywhere",[11,1373,1374],{},"Ask payroll for the legend. Most systems have one, and most stubs will print it if configured to.",[11,1376,1377,1378,1380],{},"If the answer does not come, where you work decides what happens next. ",[15,1379,130],{"href":129}," requires the amount and purpose of each addition and deduction, so \"Misc\" beside a number is not an itemisation. Wisconsin allows the coding but still requires a reason for each deduction, and permits a bare \"miscellaneous\" label only for deductions the employee requested for personal reasons. And in California the inability to determine which deductions were made is not a grievance about clarity — it is the statutory injury that carries the penalty.",[29,1382,1384],{"id":1383},"checking-a-line-against-what-it-should-be","Checking a line against what it should be",[11,1386,1387,1389,1390,1392],{},[15,1388,283],{"href":282}," applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables to a pay period and prints every line in full words, which is a quick way to see what a coded line on your own stub should amount to. ",[15,1391,703],{"href":702}," covers which items have to be there in the first place.",[29,1394,288],{"id":287},[108,1396,1397,1402,1407,1412,1419,1426,1433],{},[111,1398,1399],{},[15,1400,795],{"href":793,"rel":1401},[297],[111,1403,1404],{},[15,1405,298],{"href":295,"rel":1406},[297],[111,1408,1409],{},[15,1410,326],{"href":324,"rel":1411},[297],[111,1413,1414],{},[15,1415,1418],{"href":1416,"rel":1417},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fpublications\u002Fp15b",[297],"IRS Publication 15-B — Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits",[111,1420,1421],{},[15,1422,1425],{"href":1423,"rel":1424},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.govinfo.gov\u002Fcontent\u002Fpkg\u002FUSCODE-2023-title26\u002Fhtml\u002FUSCODE-2023-title26-subtitleC-chap21-subchapC-sec3121.htm",[297],"26 U.S.C. § 3121(v) — Treatment of certain deferred compensation and salary reduction arrangements",[111,1427,1428],{},[15,1429,1432],{"href":1430,"rel":1431},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ssa.gov\u002Foact\u002Fcola\u002Fcbb.html",[297],"SSA — Contribution and Benefit Base",[111,1434,1435],{},[15,1436,1439],{"href":1437,"rel":1438},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Ftaxtopics\u002Ftc751",[297],"IRS Topic No. 751 — Social Security and Medicare withholding rates",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":1441},[1442,1443,1444,1445,1446,1447,1448,1449],{"id":920,"depth":350,"text":921},{"id":1047,"depth":350,"text":1048},{"id":1151,"depth":350,"text":1152},{"id":1284,"depth":350,"text":1285},{"id":1321,"depth":350,"text":1322},{"id":1370,"depth":350,"text":1371},{"id":1383,"depth":350,"text":1384},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"A lookup for the codes payroll prints instead of words, what each one is, and the one code most people cannot explain even after they find out what it stands for.","pay stub abbreviations",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-abbreviations",{"title":892,"description":1450},"blog\u002Fpay-stub-abbreviations","78YALBUzAT04mD9eTWuiOxnhgq_VrnPeIl2-K0t6858",{"id":1458,"title":1459,"body":1460,"date":367,"description":1802,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":1803,"meta":1804,"navigation":373,"path":1805,"seo":1806,"stem":1807,"updated":377,"__hash__":1808},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-for-proof-of-income.md","Using a pay stub as proof of income",{"type":8,"value":1461,"toc":1789},[1462,1465,1468,1472,1475,1478,1498,1501,1505,1577,1580,1584,1591,1594,1597,1604,1608,1615,1622,1625,1629,1636,1639,1643,1646,1649,1652,1656,1659,1707,1711,1714,1717,1720,1724,1729,1738,1740],[11,1463,1464],{},"Being asked to \"prove your income\" sounds like one request, and it is at least four. A landlord asking is following a policy they wrote themselves. A mortgage lender asking is following a federal regulation that tells them what counts. An immigration sponsor is filling in a form with a required exhibit list. A benefits agency is running a verification step that has its own fallback if you cannot produce anything.",[11,1466,1467],{},"The stub does different work in each of those, and knowing which one you are in tells you what to send and what will happen next.",[29,1469,1471],{"id":1470},"what-a-stub-proves-and-what-it-does-not","What a stub proves, and what it does not",[11,1473,1474],{},"A pay stub is evidence of one payment from one employer for one period. On its face it shows the rate, the gross, the deductions and the net, and — if it carries year-to-date columns, which most do — a running total for the year.",[11,1476,1477],{},"What it does not carry is any of the following, and every requester knows it:",[108,1479,1480,1486,1492],{},[111,1481,1482,1485],{},[24,1483,1484],{},"That the job continues."," A stub is a record of the past. It says nothing about next month.",[111,1487,1488,1491],{},[24,1489,1490],{},"That the money arrived."," Gross and net are what payroll computed. Whether the transfer settled is a bank question, not a stub question.",[111,1493,1494,1497],{},[24,1495,1496],{},"That it is genuine."," A stub is a document your employer produced, not one issued by a government body. Which is precisely why the serious requesters verify behind it.",[11,1499,1500],{},"That last point governs everything below. The stub is the opening document, not the closing one.",[29,1502,1504],{"id":1503},"what-each-requester-actually-accepts","What each requester actually accepts",[34,1506,1507,1520],{},[37,1508,1509],{},[40,1510,1511,1514,1517],{},[43,1512,1513],{},"Requester",[43,1515,1516],{},"What is required",[43,1518,1519],{},"Where the stub fits",[50,1521,1522,1533,1544,1555,1566],{},[40,1523,1524,1527,1530],{},[55,1525,1526],{},"Landlord",[55,1528,1529],{},"Whatever their policy says; no federal rule governs it",[55,1531,1532],{},"Usually the primary document, often two or three",[40,1534,1535,1538,1541],{},[55,1536,1537],{},"Mortgage lender",[55,1539,1540],{},"Third-party records, by regulation",[55,1542,1543],{},"Named in the regulation, alongside W-2s and returns",[40,1545,1546,1549,1552],{},[55,1547,1548],{},"Auto or card lender",[55,1550,1551],{},"Their own underwriting policy",[55,1553,1554],{},"Common, sometimes replaced by a database check",[40,1556,1557,1560,1563],{},[55,1558,1559],{},"Immigration sponsor",[55,1561,1562],{},"Federal tax return with W-2s",[55,1564,1565],{},"Optional supporting evidence only",[40,1567,1568,1571,1574],{},[55,1569,1570],{},"Benefits agency",[55,1572,1573],{},"Gross income verified before certification",[55,1575,1576],{},"One acceptable form of verification among several",[11,1578,1579],{},"The two rows with real rules behind them are worth going through properly, because they are the two where people most often send the wrong thing.",[93,1581,1583],{"id":1582},"a-mortgage-lender-is-following-a-regulation-not-a-preference","A mortgage lender is following a regulation, not a preference",[11,1585,1586,1587,1590],{},"For a covered mortgage, the ability-to-repay rule does not merely permit verification, it requires it: a creditor must verify the income it relies on ",[24,1588,1589],{},"using third-party records that provide reasonably reliable evidence"," of that income. The regulation then lists what qualifies, and payroll statements are on the list, together with copies of filed tax returns, W-2s, financial institution records, and records from the employer or from a third party that obtained them from the employer.",[11,1592,1593],{},"Two consequences follow, and both surprise people.",[11,1595,1596],{},"First, the lender is entitled to go to your employer. The regulation contemplates records obtained from the employer directly, which is what an employment verification is. Your stub does not end the enquiry, it starts one.",[11,1598,1599,1600,1603],{},"Second, the same regulation says the creditor ",[24,1601,1602],{},"may verify income using a tax-return transcript issued by the IRS",". That is why you are asked to sign a form authorising a transcript request. It is not personal doubt. It is the option the rule gives them, and the transcript comes from a source no applicant can edit.",[93,1605,1607],{"id":1606},"an-immigration-sponsor-needs-the-return-and-the-stubs-are-garnish","An immigration sponsor needs the return, and the stubs are garnish",[11,1609,1610,1611,1614],{},"For Form I-864, the affidavit of support, the filing checklist for ",[24,1612,1613],{},"all"," sponsors requires a copy of the individual federal income tax return including W-2s for the most recent tax year, or a statement and evidence describing why no return was required, plus every Form 1099 and schedule.",[11,1616,1617,1618,1621],{},"Pay stubs appear one sentence later, in the optional tier: you ",[24,1619,1620],{},"may"," submit the most recent three tax years, pay stubs from the most recent six months, and a letter from your employer, if you believe those will help you qualify.",[11,1623,1624],{},"Sending six months of stubs and no return therefore does not partially satisfy the requirement. It satisfies none of it. Stubs help where the return understates what you now earn — a mid-year raise is the classic case — and that is the whole of their job there.",[93,1626,1628],{"id":1627},"a-benefits-agency-verifies-but-has-a-fallback","A benefits agency verifies, but has a fallback",[11,1630,1631,1632,1635],{},"Under the federal SNAP rules the state agency ",[24,1633,1634],{},"shall verify gross nonexempt income"," for all households before certification. What makes this different from lending is the escape hatch in the same paragraph: where all attempts to verify have been unsuccessful because the person or organisation providing the income failed to cooperate, and no other source of verification is available, the eligibility worker determines an amount from the best available information.",[11,1637,1638],{},"No lender has that provision. If you cannot document income for a mortgage, the answer is no. If you cannot document it for SNAP, the process continues on an estimate. Knowing which world you are in tells you how hard to chase a missing document.",[29,1640,1642],{"id":1641},"how-many-stubs-and-why-they-have-to-be-consecutive","How many stubs, and why they have to be consecutive",[11,1644,1645],{},"Nobody publishes a rule requiring three. The convention exists because of what a run of consecutive stubs shows that a single one cannot: whether the income is steady, whether overtime is a pattern or an event, and whether the year-to-date column advances by the amount each stub claims.",[11,1647,1648],{},"That last check is the real reason gaps get questioned. Two stubs from one employer whose year-to-date totals do not reconcile across the periods between them are a discrepancy on their face, and the person reading them cannot tell a missing stub from a missing explanation. Sending the most recent consecutive stubs avoids inventing a puzzle for someone else to solve.",[11,1650,1651],{},"If your pay genuinely varies — commission, tips, seasonal hours — send more rather than fewer, and expect to be assessed on an average rather than on your best month.",[29,1653,1655],{"id":1654},"if-you-do-not-have-stubs","If you do not have stubs",[11,1657,1658],{},"The productive move is always to say why, rather than to produce something that resembles the missing document.",[108,1660,1661,1667,1687,1697],{},[111,1662,1663,1666],{},[24,1664,1665],{},"New job, first payday not yet reached."," An offer letter or contract stating the rate, plus a start date. Many lenders accept this alongside a verification call.",[111,1668,1669,1672,1673,1677,1678,1680,1681,1683,1684,1686],{},[24,1670,1671],{},"Your employer never issues one."," Whether they must depends on the state. ",[15,1674,1676],{"href":1675},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fflorida","Florida"," and ",[15,1679,144],{"href":143}," have no wage statement statute at all, while ",[15,1682,137],{"href":136}," requires a statement with every payment of wages and ",[15,1685,116],{"href":115}," lets you demand copies of your payroll records with a penalty attached to refusal. Check your own state before concluding there is nothing to ask for.",[111,1688,1689,1692,1693,1281],{},[24,1690,1691],{},"You are self-employed."," A different document set entirely, and one underwriters expect: see ",[15,1694,1696],{"href":1695},"\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stubs-for-self-employed","pay stubs for the self-employed",[111,1698,1699,1702,1703,1281],{},[24,1700,1701],{},"You are paid as a contractor."," There is no stub to have, and the reason is structural rather than an oversight: see ",[15,1704,1706],{"href":1705},"\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-requirements-for-contractors","pay stub requirements for contractors",[29,1708,1710],{"id":1709},"the-line-stated-plainly","The line, stated plainly",[11,1712,1713],{},"A fabricated stub sent to a lender is not a formatting shortcut. Knowingly making a false statement to influence the action of a federally insured institution on a loan or credit application carries a fine of up to $1,000,000 or up to 30 years, or both. Bank fraud — executing a scheme to obtain money or credit from a financial institution by false pretences — carries the same maximum.",[11,1715,1716],{},"Those are outer statutory limits rather than typical outcomes, and the point is not the arithmetic of sentencing. It is that the conduct sits in the criminal code rather than in a lender's terms, and that the verification described above exists to surface exactly this.",[11,1718,1719],{},"If your income is real but awkward to document, every requester above has a path for that. None of them has a path back from a false document.",[29,1721,1723],{"id":1722},"where-the-generator-fits","Where the generator fits",[11,1725,1726,1728],{},[15,1727,283],{"href":282}," builds a stub from real inputs, applying the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables to a pay period you enter. That is the right tool if you run payroll and owe stubs to the people you employ, or if you want to see what a correct statement looks like for a given salary and state before you question the one you were given.",[11,1730,1731,1732,1734,1735,1737],{},"It is not a way to obtain a record of a payment somebody else made. If your employer paid you and handed you nothing, the document you need is theirs, and in many states you have a legal right to demand it — the ",[15,1733,708],{"href":707}," say which. ",[15,1736,18],{"href":17}," covers what the finished document should contain.",[29,1739,288],{"id":287},[108,1741,1742,1749,1756,1763,1770,1777,1782],{},[111,1743,1744],{},[15,1745,1748],{"href":1746,"rel":1747},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-12\u002Fchapter-X\u002Fpart-1026\u002Fsection-1026.43",[297],"12 CFR § 1026.43(c)(4) — Verification of income or assets",[111,1750,1751],{},[15,1752,1755],{"href":1753,"rel":1754},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.uscis.gov\u002Fi-864",[297],"USCIS — Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA",[111,1757,1758],{},[15,1759,1762],{"href":1760,"rel":1761},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-7\u002Fsubtitle-B\u002Fchapter-II\u002Fsubchapter-C\u002Fpart-273\u002Fsubpart-B\u002Fsection-273.2",[297],"7 CFR § 273.2(f)(1) — SNAP mandatory verification",[111,1764,1765],{},[15,1766,1769],{"href":1767,"rel":1768},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.govinfo.gov\u002Fcontent\u002Fpkg\u002FUSCODE-2023-title18\u002Fhtml\u002FUSCODE-2023-title18-partI-chap47-sec1014.htm",[297],"18 U.S.C. § 1014 — Loan and credit applications generally",[111,1771,1772],{},[15,1773,1776],{"href":1774,"rel":1775},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.govinfo.gov\u002Fcontent\u002Fpkg\u002FUSCODE-2023-title18\u002Fhtml\u002FUSCODE-2023-title18-partI-chap63-sec1344.htm",[297],"18 U.S.C. § 1344 — Bank fraud",[111,1778,1779],{},[15,1780,298],{"href":295,"rel":1781},[297],[111,1783,1784],{},[15,1785,1788],{"href":1786,"rel":1787},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nysenate.gov\u002Flegislation\u002Flaws\u002FLAB\u002F195",[297],"New York Labor Law § 195",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":1790},[1791,1792,1797,1798,1799,1800,1801],{"id":1470,"depth":350,"text":1471},{"id":1503,"depth":350,"text":1504,"children":1793},[1794,1795,1796],{"id":1582,"depth":356,"text":1583},{"id":1606,"depth":356,"text":1607},{"id":1627,"depth":356,"text":1628},{"id":1641,"depth":350,"text":1642},{"id":1654,"depth":350,"text":1655},{"id":1709,"depth":350,"text":1710},{"id":1722,"depth":350,"text":1723},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"What a stub actually proves, how many of them each kind of requester wants, and which documents get checked behind it before anyone believes the number.","pay stub proof of income",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-for-proof-of-income",{"title":1459,"description":1802},"blog\u002Fpay-stub-for-proof-of-income","XjF7x_jkSUzvxaDhToaTTZoQscsqwz9qFFbYEcEm6ME",{"id":1810,"title":1811,"body":1812,"date":367,"description":2060,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":2061,"meta":2062,"navigation":373,"path":1705,"seo":2063,"stem":2064,"updated":377,"__hash__":2065},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-requirements-for-contractors.md","Pay stub requirements for contractors",{"type":8,"value":1813,"toc":2051},[1814,1817,1820,1824,1827,1837,1843,1852,1855,1859,1865,1871,1881,1884,1887,1891,1894,1904,1907,1919,1922,1926,1929,1932,1938,1944,1957,1960,1963,1967,1970,1978,1981,1984,1988,2000,2005,2007],[11,1815,1816],{},"\"Where is my pay stub?\" from someone paid on a 1099 is a reasonable question with an unsatisfying answer: there is not one, and there is not supposed to be one.",[11,1818,1819],{},"That is not an employer cutting corners. A pay stub is the by-product of a payroll relationship — wages, withholding, employer-side taxes, and in most states a statutory duty to hand the worker a statement about all three. A contractor engagement has none of those parts, so it produces none of that paperwork. Understanding what it produces instead is more useful than trying to obtain the wrong document, and for the paying business it matters twice over, because issuing the wrong document is itself evidence of a problem.",[29,1821,1823],{"id":1822},"why-there-is-no-stub","Why there is no stub",[11,1825,1826],{},"Three things are missing at once.",[11,1828,1829,1832,1833,1836],{},[24,1830,1831],{},"No withholding."," Nobody deducts federal income tax, Social Security or Medicare from a contractor payment. The contractor pays Social Security and Medicare through self-employment tax on net profit and settles income tax through quarterly estimates. ",[15,1834,1835],{"href":1695},"Pay stubs for the self-employed"," works through that machinery.",[11,1838,1839,1842],{},[24,1840,1841],{},"No employer-side taxes."," There is no employer half of FICA, no federal or state unemployment tax on the payment. The line items that make up half of a stub have no counterpart.",[11,1844,1845,1848,1849,1851],{},[24,1846,1847],{},"No wage statement duty."," State wage statement laws are written about employees and wages. Where a state requires an itemised statement — the ",[15,1850,708],{"href":707}," set out which do — the duty runs to employees. A contractor is outside it, in the same way they are outside the state's overtime and minimum wage rules.",[11,1853,1854],{},"What is left is an ordinary commercial transaction: an invoice, a payment, and a tax form once a year.",[29,1856,1858],{"id":1857},"what-the-payer-issues-instead","What the payer issues instead",[11,1860,1861,1864],{},[24,1862,1863],{},"A payment against an invoice."," Many businesses send a remittance advice showing invoice number, date and amount. That is a business courtesy with no statutory content — nothing prescribes its contents, and nothing requires it to exist.",[11,1866,1867,1870],{},[24,1868,1869],{},"Form W-9 at the start",", to collect the contractor's name and taxpayer identification number. This is not bureaucracy for its own sake; the next section is what happens when it is missing.",[11,1872,1873,1876,1877,1880],{},[24,1874,1875],{},"Form 1099-NEC after year end."," The threshold moved recently and the old number is the one everyone remembers, so it is worth being exact. Under P.L. 119-21 the minimum threshold for reporting on these information returns rose to ",[24,1878,1879],{},"$2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025",", and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027. The IRS instructions state the rule for the form directly: file Form 1099-NEC for each person in the course of your business to whom you paid at least $2,000 for services performed by someone who is not your employee.",[11,1882,1883],{},"The familiar $600 figure was the threshold before that change. It still appears in a great deal of published advice, and for payments made in 2026 it is simply out of date.",[11,1885,1886],{},"Two adjacent numbers, since they get mixed up with the main one: attorneys' fees of $2,000 or more paid in the course of your trade or business are reportable in box 1a, and sales totalling $5,000 or more of consumer products for resale go in box 2 of the 1099-NEC or box 7 of the 1099-MISC.",[29,1888,1890],{"id":1889},"the-one-case-where-a-contractor-payment-does-carry-withholding","The one case where a contractor payment does carry withholding",[11,1892,1893],{},"Backup withholding is the exception that surprises everyone, and it is the only circumstance in which a contractor payment behaves like a payroll payment.",[11,1895,1896,1897,1900,1901,1281],{},"If the payee fails to furnish a TIN in the manner required, or the IRS notifies the payor that the TIN furnished is incorrect, the payor ",[24,1898,1899],{},"must deduct and withhold"," tax from the payment. The statute sets the rate by reference to the fourth lowest rate in the individual rate table; the IRS states the current rate as ",[24,1902,1903],{},"24 percent",[11,1905,1906],{},"Two practical consequences:",[108,1908,1909,1912],{},[111,1910,1911],{},"The contractor receives 76 cents on the dollar until the TIN problem is resolved. The withheld amount is not lost — it is credited against their tax like any other withholding — but it is gone from cash flow now.",[111,1913,1914,1915,1918],{},"The payer must file a Form 1099-NEC for anyone from whom federal income tax was withheld under the backup withholding rules ",[24,1916,1917],{},"regardless of the amount of the payment",". The $2,000 threshold does not apply to that filing.",[11,1920,1921],{},"Which is the sharp answer to \"why does my W-9 matter\": it is the difference between being paid in full and being paid 76 percent of it.",[29,1923,1925],{"id":1924},"where-a-stub-becomes-evidence-against-you","Where a stub becomes evidence against you",[11,1927,1928],{},"Here is the reason this matters to the paying business more than to the contractor. A worker paid as a contractor who receives a document showing withheld income tax, withheld FICA and an employer contribution is being described, in writing and by the payer, as an employee. If the classification is ever tested, that document is the payer's own characterisation of the relationship.",[11,1930,1931],{},"And it can be tested under three separate frameworks, which do not have to agree with one another.",[11,1933,1934,1937],{},[24,1935,1936],{},"Federal wage law."," The Department of Labor's regulation determines status by the economic reality of the relationship: whether the worker is economically dependent on the potential employer for work, or is in business for themself. It is a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis over six factors — opportunity for profit or loss depending on managerial skill, investments by the worker and the potential employer, degree of permanence of the relationship, nature and degree of control, the extent to which the work is an integral part of the potential employer's business, and skill and initiative — with no single factor decisive and additional factors allowed. The regulation also disposes of the labelling argument in one sentence: labelling employees as independent contractors does not make the Act's protections inapplicable.",[11,1939,1940,1943],{},[24,1941,1942],{},"Federal tax law."," The IRS applies common-law control, sorting the evidence into three categories: behavioural control over what the worker does and how, financial control over the business aspects of the job, and the type of relationship, including written contracts and employee-type benefits. Where it remains unclear, either party may file Form SS-8 and ask the IRS to determine the status.",[11,1945,1946,1949,1950,1952,1953,1956],{},[24,1947,1948],{},"State law."," Several states apply a stricter ABC test. ",[15,1951,116],{"href":115}," presumes a person providing labour or services for remuneration is an employee unless the hiring entity demonstrates ",[24,1954,1955],{},"all three"," of: freedom from control and direction in fact and under the contract; work performed outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business; and the worker being customarily engaged in an independently established trade or business of the same nature as the work performed.",[11,1958,1959],{},"Prong B is the one that catches otherwise careful arrangements. A design studio engaging a plumber clears it easily; a design studio engaging a designer does not, however genuinely independent that designer is.",[11,1961,1962],{},"The frameworks run independently, so a worker can be outside the FLSA's coverage and still be an employee under a state ABC test. Getting the classification right is a separate exercise from getting the paperwork right — but if the paperwork says \"employee\" while the payment says \"contractor\", the two are already inconsistent before anyone starts.",[29,1964,1966],{"id":1965},"if-you-are-the-contractor-and-somebody-demands-a-pay-stub","If you are the contractor and somebody demands a \"pay stub\"",[11,1968,1969],{},"They usually want proof of income and have only ever seen one form of it. Say how you are paid, and offer the documents that fit: invoices, the 1099-NEC forms you received, bank records showing the deposits, and your tax return with Schedule C. That is the standard package for someone in business for themself, and most requesters accept it.",[11,1971,1972,1974,1975,1977],{},[15,1973,1459],{"href":1805}," sets out what each kind of requester actually requires, including the ones with a federal rule behind them, and ",[15,1976,1696],{"href":1695}," covers the income statement you can legitimately produce for your own records.",[11,1979,1980],{},"What does not help is a document with withholding lines on it. A stub describing tax that nobody withheld from a payment that was never wages describes a transaction that did not happen, and the further it travels the worse that becomes.",[11,1982,1983],{},"If you believe you are being paid as a contractor while working as an employee, that is a classification question rather than a paperwork question, and Form SS-8 and your state labour agency are where it goes.",[29,1985,1987],{"id":1986},"if-you-hire-people-yourself","If you hire people yourself",[11,1989,1990,1991,1995,1996,1999],{},"Once someone is an employee, the whole apparatus arrives at once: withholding, employer taxes, and in most states a wage statement with each payment. ",[15,1992,1994],{"href":1993},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-make-pay-stubs-for-employees","How to make pay stubs for employees"," covers the sequence, and ",[15,1997,1998],{"href":702},"what to include on a pay stub"," covers the contents.",[11,2001,2002,2004],{},[15,2003,283],{"href":282}," is built for wages — it applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables to a W-2 pay period. That makes it the right tool for the people you employ, and the wrong one for the contractors you pay, whose payments carry no withholding to show.",[29,2006,288],{"id":287},[108,2008,2009,2016,2023,2030,2037,2044],{},[111,2010,2011],{},[15,2012,2015],{"href":2013,"rel":2014},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Finstructions\u002Fi1099mec",[297],"IRS — Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC",[111,2017,2018],{},[15,2019,2022],{"href":2020,"rel":2021},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.govinfo.gov\u002Fcontent\u002Fpkg\u002FUSCODE-2023-title26\u002Fhtml\u002FUSCODE-2023-title26-subtitleC-chap24-sec3406.htm",[297],"26 U.S.C. § 3406 — Backup withholding",[111,2024,2025],{},[15,2026,2029],{"href":2027,"rel":2028},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fbusinesses\u002Fsmall-businesses-self-employed\u002Fbackup-withholding",[297],"IRS — Backup withholding",[111,2031,2032],{},[15,2033,2036],{"href":2034,"rel":2035},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fbusinesses\u002Fsmall-businesses-self-employed\u002Findependent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee",[297],"IRS — Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?",[111,2038,2039],{},[15,2040,2043],{"href":2041,"rel":2042},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsubtitle-B\u002Fchapter-V\u002Fsubchapter-A\u002Fpart-795",[297],"29 CFR Part 795 — Employee or independent contractor classification under the FLSA",[111,2045,2046],{},[15,2047,2050],{"href":2048,"rel":2049},"https:\u002F\u002Fleginfo.legislature.ca.gov\u002Ffaces\u002Fcodes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=LAB&sectionNum=2775",[297],"California Labor Code § 2775",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":2052},[2053,2054,2055,2056,2057,2058,2059],{"id":1822,"depth":350,"text":1823},{"id":1857,"depth":350,"text":1858},{"id":1889,"depth":350,"text":1890},{"id":1924,"depth":350,"text":1925},{"id":1965,"depth":350,"text":1966},{"id":1986,"depth":350,"text":1987},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"A 1099 contractor does not get a pay stub, and the reason is structural rather than an oversight. What the payer issues instead, and when a stub becomes evidence against them.","1099 contractor pay stub",{},{"title":1811,"description":2060},"blog\u002Fpay-stub-requirements-for-contractors","18WnM3NKS9HHrRPYheZeRyzqe24itlLIfIwcMA4H89o",{"id":2067,"title":2068,"body":2069,"date":2476,"description":2477,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":266,"meta":2478,"navigation":373,"path":265,"seo":2479,"stem":2480,"updated":377,"__hash__":2481},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-to-keep-pay-stubs.md","How long to keep pay stubs",{"type":8,"value":2070,"toc":2458},[2071,2074,2077,2079,2082,2086,2089,2099,2109,2112,2116,2126,2130,2137,2147,2151,2154,2216,2219,2222,2226,2236,2238,2241,2245,2248,2251,2255,2258,2282,2285,2289,2292,2303,2306,2309,2313,2339,2343,2350,2354,2357,2364,2377,2379],[11,2072,2073],{},"\"How long should I keep pay stubs\" is really two questions wearing one coat. If you run payroll, retention is a legal duty with specific periods attached and penalties for getting it wrong. If you receive the stubs, nothing compels you to keep any of them — the question is how long they remain useful, and there is one deadline where the answer is unexpectedly sharp.",[11,2075,2076],{},"Both answers are below. The employer's is the one with the numbers.",[29,2078,198],{"id":197},[11,2080,2081],{},"Four separate bodies of law impose retention duties on the same documents, with different periods, and the operative rule is simply the longest one that applies to you.",[93,2083,2085],{"id":2084},"federal-wage-law-three-years-and-two-years","Federal wage law: three years and two years",[11,2087,2088],{},"The Fair Labor Standards Act recordkeeping regulation splits records into two tiers.",[11,2090,2091,2094,2095,2098],{},[24,2092,2093],{},"Three years",", from the last date of entry, for ",[24,2096,2097],{},"payroll records"," — the employee data the regulation requires, plus collective bargaining agreements and the certificates and notices named elsewhere in the part, kept three years from their last effective date.",[11,2100,2101,2104,2105,2108],{},[24,2102,2103],{},"Two years"," for the ",[24,2106,2107],{},"supplementary records the payroll was computed from",": time and earning cards showing daily start and stop times, wage rate tables and schedules used to compute straight-time or overtime pay, and the records behind additions to and deductions from wages.",[11,2110,2111],{},"The distinction is worth internalising because it is the opposite of intuitive. The document you produced is kept longer than the raw material you produced it from. In practice most employers keep both for the longer period, since the two-year records are what prove the three-year records correct.",[93,2113,2115],{"id":2114},"age-discrimination-law-three-years-and-one-year","Age discrimination law: three years, and one year",[11,2117,2118,2119,2121,2122,2125],{},"Separately from the FLSA, the ADEA regulation requires every employer to make and keep for ",[24,2120,190],{}," payroll records showing each employee's name, address, date of birth, occupation, rate of pay, and compensation earned each week. Personnel records about hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, layoff or discharge are kept ",[24,2123,2124],{},"one year"," from the personnel action.",[93,2127,2129],{"id":2128},"tax-law-four-years-and-sometimes-longer","Tax law: four years, and sometimes longer",[11,2131,2132,2133,2136],{},"The IRS requires employment tax records to be kept ",[24,2134,2135],{},"at least four years after the date the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later"," — which is a later starting point than the wage regulations use, and often makes this the binding constraint.",[11,2138,2139,2140,2143,2144,1281],{},"Two pandemic-era credits stretch it further: records substantiating qualified sick and family leave wages for leave taken after March 31, 2021 and before October 1, 2021 must be kept ",[24,2141,2142],{},"six years",", and records for qualified wages under the employee retention credit ",[24,2145,2146],{},"seven years",[93,2148,2150],{"id":2149},"state-law-three-to-six-years","State law: three to six years",[11,2152,2153],{},"States set their own, and the longest ones are meaningfully longer than the federal floor:",[34,2155,2156,2168],{},[37,2157,2158],{},[40,2159,2160,2162,2165],{},[43,2161,510],{},[43,2163,2164],{},"Retention",[43,2166,2167],{},"Note",[50,2169,2170,2182,2193,2205],{},[40,2171,2172,2176,2179],{},[55,2173,2174],{},[15,2175,137],{"href":136},[55,2177,2178],{},"6 years",[55,2180,2181],{},"Contemporaneous, true and accurate payroll records",[40,2183,2184,2188,2190],{},[55,2185,2186],{},[15,2187,440],{"href":439},[55,2189,2178],{},[55,2191,2192],{},"The duty follows the electronic record too",[40,2194,2195,2199,2202],{},[55,2196,2197],{},[15,2198,116],{"href":115},[55,2200,2201],{},"3 years",[55,2203,2204],{},"At the place of employment or a central California location",[40,2206,2207,2211,2213],{},[55,2208,2209],{},[15,2210,123],{"href":122},[55,2212,2201],{},[55,2214,2215],{},"Paper or electronic, and even if the employment ended",[11,2217,2218],{},"Two of these carry an access duty on top of the retention duty, and it is the access duty that usually causes trouble. California employees may inspect or copy their payroll records, and an employer who does not comply within 21 calendar days owes a $750 penalty. Illinois employees — including former ones, for a year after leaving — may demand copies twice a year and must receive them within 21 days. Illinois adds a duty at the exit door: if electronic stubs stop being reachable after someone leaves, the employer must offer a record of the past year by the final pay period, and write down whether the offer was accepted.",[11,2220,2221],{},"A stub that was retained but cannot be produced on time fails these rules just as surely as one that was destroyed.",[93,2223,2225],{"id":2224},"the-practical-rule","The practical rule",[11,2227,2228,2229,2232,2233,2235],{},"Take the longest period that touches you. For most employers that is the ",[24,2230,2231],{},"four-year IRS clock",", measured from when the tax was due or paid, and for employers in New York or Hawaii it is ",[24,2234,2142],{},". Keeping everything for the longest applicable period is far cheaper than maintaining separate destruction schedules for time cards and pay records, and it removes the risk of applying the two-year tier to something that was never in it.",[29,2237,91],{"id":90},[11,2239,2240],{},"Nothing requires you to keep a single stub. What follows is about usefulness, and it has one hard deadline in it.",[93,2242,2244],{"id":2243},"until-your-w-2-arrives-keep-everything","Until your W-2 arrives: keep everything",[11,2246,2247],{},"The immediate job of a year's stubs is to check the W-2 against them. Your final stub's year-to-date columns should reconcile: year-to-date gross against Box 1 after adding back pre-tax deductions, year-to-date Social Security wages against Box 3, Medicare wages against Box 5. If they disagree, the stubs are the evidence you raise it with, and the disagreement is far easier to resolve in February than in November.",[11,2249,2250],{},"Once the W-2 is reconciled, the W-2 becomes the durable record and the stubs become supporting material.",[93,2252,2254],{"id":2253},"three-years-six-years-seven-or-forever-the-tax-ladder","Three years, six years, seven, or forever — the tax ladder",[11,2256,2257],{},"The IRS states the retention periods for individual records in terms of the assessment window:",[108,2259,2260,2265,2270,2276],{},[111,2261,2262,2264],{},[24,2263,2201],{}," in the ordinary case.",[111,2266,2267,2269],{},[24,2268,2178],{}," if you did not report income you should have and it is more than 25% of the gross income shown on the return.",[111,2271,2272,2275],{},[24,2273,2274],{},"7 years"," if you claim a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction.",[111,2277,2278,2281],{},[24,2279,2280],{},"Indefinitely"," if you did not file a return, or filed a fraudulent one.",[11,2283,2284],{},"For most people that is three years from filing, and the record that matters at the end of it is the W-2, not the stubs.",[93,2286,2288],{"id":2287},"the-deadline-nobody-expects-your-social-security-earnings-record","The deadline nobody expects: your Social Security earnings record",[11,2290,2291],{},"This is the one place where old pay stubs are genuinely irreplaceable.",[11,2293,2294,2295,2298,2299,2302],{},"Social Security keeps a record of your earnings, and it is what your benefit is eventually computed from. That record can be corrected — but only for a limited window. The regulation defines the time limit as ",[24,2296,2297],{},"3 years, 3 months, and 15 days after the year in which the earnings were received",". Before that limit, SSA records are evidence of your earnings but not conclusive evidence. After it, they become ",[24,2300,2301],{},"conclusive",", subject to a narrow list of exceptions.",[11,2304,2305],{},"In plain terms: if an employer under-reported your wages for 2026, you have until roughly April 15, 2030 to prove otherwise, and after that the agency's figure generally stands. What proves otherwise is your W-2 and your pay stubs.",[11,2307,2308],{},"So the practical answer for an employee is: check your earnings record against your own documents while you still can, and keep the underlying paper until you have. Keeping every stub for four years costs a folder; a decade of unnoticed under-reporting costs benefit dollars for life.",[93,2310,2312],{"id":2311},"when-someone-asks-for-older-ones","When someone asks for older ones",[108,2314,2315,2321,2327,2333],{},[111,2316,2317,2320],{},[24,2318,2319],{},"Mortgage applications"," want recent stubs, not old ones. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide asks for a most recent paystub dated no earlier than 30 days before the application, showing all year-to-date earnings, plus W-2s covering the most recent one or two years — and it will accept a year-end paystub in place of the W-2. Note which document is doing the work there: the stub qualifies because of its year-to-date columns.",[111,2322,2323,2326],{},[24,2324,2325],{},"Disability, workers' compensation and unemployment claims"," may reach back further, and wage history is central to the benefit calculation.",[111,2328,2329,2332],{},[24,2330,2331],{},"Wage claims"," run on your state's statute of limitations, which is frequently longer than the employer's retention duty — one reason your own copies matter.",[111,2334,2335,2338],{},[24,2336,2337],{},"Immigration filings"," often ask for employment and income history over multiple years.",[93,2340,2342],{"id":2341},"a-workable-personal-rule","A workable personal rule",[11,2344,2345,2346,2349],{},"Keep the current year's stubs until the W-2 reconciles. Keep the last full year's set as well. Keep every ",[24,2347,2348],{},"W-2"," indefinitely — they are one page a year and they are what the Social Security record gets checked against. Keep stubs for any year in which something was disputed, corrected, or unusual, for as long as the dispute could plausibly resurface.",[29,2351,2353],{"id":2352},"storing-them","Storing them",[11,2355,2356],{},"If your stubs are electronic, download them rather than relying on the portal. Access disappears when employment ends — the reason Illinois wrote an exit-door duty into its statute is that people were losing their records at exactly the moment they needed them.",[11,2358,2359,2360,2363],{},"A stub is a document with your name and at least the last four digits of your Social Security number on it. If any of yours shows the ",[24,2361,2362],{},"full"," SSN, that is worth raising with payroll: several states restrict it, and it is a poor thing to have sitting in an unencrypted folder or an email archive regardless.",[11,2365,2366,2367,2369,2370,2372,2373,2376],{},"Related reading: ",[15,2368,1266],{"href":17}," covers reconciling year-to-date columns against a W-2, ",[15,2371,1998],{"href":702}," covers the underlying federal recordkeeping list, and your ",[15,2374,2375],{"href":707},"state's requirements page"," gives the local retention and access rules.",[29,2378,288],{"id":287},[108,2380,2381,2388,2395,2402,2409,2416,2423,2430,2435,2441,2446,2451],{},[111,2382,2383],{},[15,2384,2387],{"href":2385,"rel":2386},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsection-516.5",[297],"29 CFR § 516.5 — Records to be preserved 3 years",[111,2389,2390],{},[15,2391,2394],{"href":2392,"rel":2393},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsection-516.6",[297],"29 CFR § 516.6 — Records to be preserved 2 years",[111,2396,2397],{},[15,2398,2401],{"href":2399,"rel":2400},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsection-1627.3",[297],"29 CFR § 1627.3 — Records to be kept by employers (ADEA)",[111,2403,2404],{},[15,2405,2408],{"href":2406,"rel":2407},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fpublications\u002Fp15",[297],"IRS Publication 15 — Employer's Tax Guide",[111,2410,2411],{},[15,2412,2415],{"href":2413,"rel":2414},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fbusinesses\u002Fsmall-businesses-self-employed\u002Fhow-long-should-i-keep-records",[297],"IRS — How long should I keep records?",[111,2417,2418],{},[15,2419,2422],{"href":2420,"rel":2421},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-20\u002Fsection-404.802",[297],"20 CFR § 404.802 — Definitions",[111,2424,2425],{},[15,2426,2429],{"href":2427,"rel":2428},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-20\u002Fsection-404.803",[297],"20 CFR § 404.803 — Conclusiveness of the record of your earnings",[111,2431,2432],{},[15,2433,1788],{"href":1786,"rel":2434},[297],[111,2436,2437],{},[15,2438,2440],{"href":758,"rel":2439},[297],"Hawaii Revised Statutes § 388-7 — Notification, posting, and records",[111,2442,2443],{},[15,2444,298],{"href":295,"rel":2445},[297],[111,2447,2448],{},[15,2449,319],{"href":317,"rel":2450},[297],[111,2452,2453],{},[15,2454,2457],{"href":2455,"rel":2456},"https:\u002F\u002Fselling-guide.fanniemae.com\u002Fsel\u002Fb3-3.1-02\u002Fstandards-employment-documentation",[297],"Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.1-02 — Standards for Employment Documentation",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":2459},[2460,2467,2474,2475],{"id":197,"depth":350,"text":198,"children":2461},[2462,2463,2464,2465,2466],{"id":2084,"depth":356,"text":2085},{"id":2114,"depth":356,"text":2115},{"id":2128,"depth":356,"text":2129},{"id":2149,"depth":356,"text":2150},{"id":2224,"depth":356,"text":2225},{"id":90,"depth":350,"text":91,"children":2468},[2469,2470,2471,2472,2473],{"id":2243,"depth":356,"text":2244},{"id":2253,"depth":356,"text":2254},{"id":2287,"depth":356,"text":2288},{"id":2311,"depth":356,"text":2312},{"id":2341,"depth":356,"text":2342},{"id":2352,"depth":350,"text":2353},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"2026-08-24","Two different questions with two different answers: how long your employer must retain payroll records, and how long the stubs are worth anything to you.",{},{"title":2068,"description":2477},"blog\u002Fhow-long-to-keep-pay-stubs","sdnR6xPfUmNdOGq9aWi7vCgxz21NFGBysXkbrHxAJ2o",{"id":2483,"title":2484,"body":2485,"date":2476,"description":2900,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":216,"meta":2901,"navigation":373,"path":215,"seo":2902,"stem":2903,"updated":377,"__hash__":2904},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-deductions-explained.md","Pay stub deductions explained",{"type":8,"value":2486,"toc":2886},[2487,2490,2496,2500,2503,2511,2515,2518,2522,2529,2537,2544,2547,2613,2616,2620,2627,2631,2634,2655,2658,2661,2665,2668,2676,2680,2687,2690,2693,2697,2700,2734,2737,2741,2744,2754,2760,2766,2772,2776,2779,2803,2809,2814,2816],[11,2488,2489],{},"Every line between your gross and your net belongs to one of three families, and the family decides the rules. Some deductions your employer must take and neither of you has a choice. Some a court or an agency imposed, with a cap on how deep it can go. The rest require your permission — and in several states there are things you cannot give permission for even if you want to.",[11,2491,2492,2493,2495],{},"This is about what may legally come out and how much. If you want the line-by-line reading of a finished stub, ",[15,2494,1266],{"href":17}," does that instead.",[29,2497,2499],{"id":2498},"family-one-the-ones-nobody-chooses","Family one: the ones nobody chooses",[11,2501,2502],{},"Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax where your state has one, and local tax where your city or school district levies one. Your W-4 shapes the federal figure; nothing you sign removes it.",[11,2504,2505,2506,2510],{},"Two features of this family matter for the rest of the article. These deductions have no cap — they are not restricted by the rules below, and there is no minimum-wage floor protecting you from them. And they come out of a base that the ",[2507,2508,2509],"em",{},"other"," families have already modified, which is why order of operations turns out to matter.",[29,2512,2514],{"id":2513},"family-two-the-ones-a-court-or-agency-imposed","Family two: the ones a court or agency imposed",[11,2516,2517],{},"Wage garnishment for a consumer debt, child support, alimony, tax levies, student loan administrative wage garnishment. You did not agree to these and cannot decline them, but unlike taxes, most of them are capped.",[93,2519,2521],{"id":2520},"the-consumer-debt-cap","The consumer debt cap",[11,2523,2524,2525,2528],{},"The Consumer Credit Protection Act limits what an ordinary garnishment can reach in any workweek to ",[24,2526,2527],{},"the lesser of"," two figures:",[108,2530,2531,2534],{},[111,2532,2533],{},"25% of your disposable earnings for the week, or",[111,2535,2536],{},"the amount by which your disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage.",[11,2538,2539,2540,2543],{},"The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009, so that second figure is 30 × $7.25 = ",[24,2541,2542],{},"$217.50 a week",". Disposable earnings here means what is left after legally required deductions — the family-one taxes — not after your health premium or your 401(k).",[11,2545,2546],{},"Worked three ways, for a weekly pay period:",[34,2548,2549,2565],{},[37,2550,2551],{},[40,2552,2553,2556,2559,2562],{},[43,2554,2555],{},"Disposable earnings",[43,2557,2558],{},"25% of it",[43,2560,2561],{},"Amount over $217.50",[43,2563,2564],{},"Maximum garnishable",[50,2566,2567,2583,2598],{},[40,2568,2569,2572,2575,2578],{},[55,2570,2571],{},"$200.00",[55,2573,2574],{},"$50.00",[55,2576,2577],{},"$0",[55,2579,2580],{},[24,2581,2582],{},"Nothing",[40,2584,2585,2588,2591,2594],{},[55,2586,2587],{},"$250.00",[55,2589,2590],{},"$62.50",[55,2592,2593],{},"$32.50",[55,2595,2596],{},[24,2597,2593],{},[40,2599,2600,2603,2606,2609],{},[55,2601,2602],{},"$400.00",[55,2604,2605],{},"$100.00",[55,2607,2608],{},"$182.50",[55,2610,2611],{},[24,2612,2605],{},[11,2614,2615],{},"The floor is the point. If your disposable earnings for the week are at or under 30 times the minimum wage, an ordinary garnishment may take nothing at all.",[93,2617,2619],{"id":2618},"where-the-cap-does-not-apply","Where the cap does not apply",[11,2621,2622,2623,2626],{},"The Act's restrictions do not reach a debt due for any state or federal ",[24,2624,2625],{},"tax",", or a Chapter XIII bankruptcy order. A tax levy is limited by its own rules, not by the 25% figure, which is why a levy can feel so much heavier than a credit card judgment.",[93,2628,2630],{"id":2629},"support-orders-get-their-own-higher-limits","Support orders get their own, higher limits",[11,2632,2633],{},"For alimony or child support the ceiling is:",[108,2635,2636,2642,2648],{},[111,2637,2638,2641],{},[24,2639,2640],{},"50%"," of disposable earnings if you are supporting another spouse or dependent child, or",[111,2643,2644,2647],{},[24,2645,2646],{},"60%"," if you are not,",[111,2649,2650,2651,2654],{},"plus ",[24,2652,2653],{},"5 points"," in either case — so 55% or 65% — to the extent the earnings are subject to an order covering a period more than twelve weeks before the current workweek.",[11,2656,2657],{},"That last clause is the arrears rule, and it is where people are surprised: falling behind does not merely add a second order, it raises the ceiling on the existing one.",[11,2659,2660],{},"When two garnishments arrive at once, federal law does not sort out who goes first. Priority comes from state law, and support orders generally outrank consumer debts.",[29,2662,2664],{"id":2663},"family-three-the-ones-you-agreed-to","Family three: the ones you agreed to",[11,2666,2667],{},"Health, dental and vision premiums, 401(k) or 403(b) contributions, HSA and FSA, life insurance, union dues, parking, charitable giving, repayment of a genuine advance.",[11,2669,2670,2671,2675],{},"The general shape across states is that a deduction in this family needs your authorization, usually in writing, and usually specific rather than blanket. ",[15,2672,2674],{"href":2673},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fidaho","Idaho"," states the rule in a way that leaves no gaps: no employer may withhold or divert any portion of wages unless required or empowered by state or federal law, or holding a written authorization from the employee for a lawful purpose. There is no residual category for deductions the employer considers reasonable.",[29,2677,2679],{"id":2678},"the-floor-underneath-all-of-it","The floor underneath all of it",[11,2681,2682,2683,2686],{},"Federal wage regulation requires that wages be paid ",[24,2684,2685],{},"\"free and clear\""," — finally and unconditionally. A deduction that functions as a kickback to the employer or for the employer's benefit breaks that requirement in any workweek where it cuts into the minimum wage or the overtime owed.",[11,2688,2689],{},"The regulation's own example is tools of the trade: if the employer requires you to supply tools used in or specifically required for its work, and the cost of them cuts into your minimum or overtime wages that week, that is a violation. The same logic reaches uniforms the employer requires and equipment it makes you buy.",[11,2691,2692],{},"This is a floor, not a prohibition. Your employer may often charge for these things — it may not charge in a way that pushes that week's pay below the minimum.",[29,2694,2696],{"id":2695},"things-you-cannot-authorise-in-some-states","Things you cannot authorise in some states",[11,2698,2699],{},"A handful of states go past \"needs consent\" to \"not allowed, consent or no consent,\" and the list is remarkably consistent about which items:",[108,2701,2702,2709,2716,2725],{},[111,2703,2704,2708],{},[24,2705,2706],{},[15,2707,440],{"href":439}," names six that cannot be authorised at all: fines, cash shortages in a till two or more people use, breakage penalties, losses from dishonoured cheques the employee had discretion to accept, losses from faulty workmanship or damaged, lost or stolen property unless the employee wilfully disregarded the employer's interest, and the cost of a required medical examination.",[111,2710,2711,2715],{},[24,2712,2713],{},[15,2714,545],{"href":544}," allows recovery of a genuine loan, debt or advance, then defines debt as a benefit to the employee and rules out the usual candidates by name: cash shortages, inventory shortages, dishonoured cheques and cards, damage to the employer's property, and merchandise a customer bought.",[111,2717,2718,2724],{},[24,2719,2720],{},[15,2721,2723],{"href":2722},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Falaska","Alaska"," bars deductions for cash register shortages and lost, missing or stolen property unless the employee admits in writing to taking the specific amount or item; breakage and damage need willful conduct plus a written acknowledgement.",[111,2726,2727,2733],{},[24,2728,2729],{},[15,2730,2732],{"href":2731},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Farkansas","Arkansas"," approaches the same list through the wage floor: deductions for spoilage, breakage, shortages, and fines for lateness or misconduct may not take an employee below the minimum wage.",[11,2735,2736],{},"The pattern to take away: a shortfall in the till, a broken plate, a customer who walked out. Those are business losses, and most states that address the question at all decline to let an employer move them onto the employee's stub.",[29,2738,2740],{"id":2739},"why-the-order-matters","Why the order matters",[11,2742,2743],{},"Deductions do not all come out of the same base, and the sequence changes what you owe.",[11,2745,2746,2749,2750,2753],{},[24,2747,2748],{},"Pre-tax deductions"," are subtracted before tax is computed — but not before every tax. A traditional 401(k) deferral reduces the wages your income tax is figured on and does ",[24,2751,2752],{},"not"," reduce your Social Security and Medicare base. Section 125 health premiums reduce both. That asymmetry is why the Medicare wages on your W-2 are usually higher than your federal taxable wages.",[11,2755,2756,2759],{},[24,2757,2758],{},"Taxes"," come next, on whatever base survived.",[11,2761,2762,2765],{},[24,2763,2764],{},"Post-tax deductions"," come out of the remainder: garnishments, union dues, Roth contributions.",[11,2767,2768,2769,2771],{},"One practical consequence is that the disposable earnings a garnishment is measured against sit in the middle of that stack. They are computed after taxes and ",[2507,2770,2752],{}," after your voluntary deductions — so increasing your 401(k) contribution does not shrink what a garnishment can reach.",[29,2773,2775],{"id":2774},"checking-your-own","Checking your own",[11,2777,2778],{},"Three things worth confirming on any stub with an unfamiliar line:",[2780,2781,2782,2791,2797],"ol",{},[111,2783,2784,2787,2788,2790],{},[24,2785,2786],{},"Every deduction says what it is for."," ",[15,2789,130],{"href":129},"'s statute asks for the amount and purpose of each addition and deduction. \"Misc — $84.00\" is not an itemization, and it is where most wage complaints start.",[111,2792,2793,2796],{},[24,2794,2795],{},"You authorised the family-three ones."," If there is a deduction you do not recognise and never signed for, that is the question to ask payroll first.",[111,2798,2799,2802],{},[24,2800,2801],{},"The garnishment respects the cap."," Take your gross, subtract taxes only, and run the two-figure test above. Payroll systems get this wrong most often when a pay period is not a week — the floor has to be converted to the actual period, not applied as though it were weekly.",[11,2804,2805,2806,2808],{},"If a deduction is wrong, ask payroll before anything else; most of these are configuration, not intent. Where that fails, your ",[15,2807,2375],{"href":707}," sets out the local remedy — the right to demand records, the deadline the employer has to meet, and the penalty for missing it all vary by state.",[11,2810,2811,2813],{},[15,2812,283],{"href":282}," applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables and itemises each deduction separately, which makes it a reasonable way to check what a figure should have been before you raise it.",[29,2815,288],{"id":287},[108,2817,2818,2825,2832,2839,2846,2853,2860,2867,2874,2881],{},[111,2819,2820],{},[15,2821,2824],{"href":2822,"rel":2823},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsection-531.35",[297],"29 CFR § 531.35 — \"Free and clear\" payment; \"kickbacks\"",[111,2826,2827],{},[15,2828,2831],{"href":2829,"rel":2830},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsection-870.10",[297],"29 CFR § 870.10 — Maximum part of aggregate disposable earnings subject to garnishment",[111,2833,2834],{},[15,2835,2838],{"href":2836,"rel":2837},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-29\u002Fsection-870.11",[297],"29 CFR § 870.11 — Exceptions to the restrictions and priorities among garnishments",[111,2840,2841],{},[15,2842,2845],{"href":2843,"rel":2844},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.govinfo.gov\u002Fcontent\u002Fpkg\u002FUSCODE-2024-title29\u002Fhtml\u002FUSCODE-2024-title29-chap8-sec206.htm",[297],"29 U.S.C. § 206 — Federal minimum wage",[111,2847,2848],{},[15,2849,2852],{"href":2850,"rel":2851},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.capitol.hawaii.gov\u002Fhrscurrent\u002FVol07_Ch0346-0398\u002FHRS0388\u002FHRS_0388-0006.htm",[297],"Hawaii Revised Statutes § 388-6 — Withholding of wages",[111,2854,2855],{},[15,2856,2859],{"href":2857,"rel":2858},"https:\u002F\u002Flegislature.maine.gov\u002Fstatutes\u002F26\u002Ftitle26sec629.html",[297],"26 M.R.S. § 629 — Unfair agreements",[111,2861,2862],{},[15,2863,2866],{"href":2864,"rel":2865},"https:\u002F\u002Flegislature.idaho.gov\u002Fstatutesrules\u002Fidstat\u002FTitle45\u002FT45CH6\u002FSECT45-609\u002F",[297],"Idaho Code § 45-609 — Withholding of wages",[111,2868,2869],{},[15,2870,2873],{"href":2871,"rel":2872},"https:\u002F\u002Flabor.alaska.gov\u002Flss\u002Fforms\u002Fpam100.pdf",[297],"Alaska Wage and Hour Laws and Regulations (Pamphlet 100)",[111,2875,2876],{},[15,2877,2880],{"href":2878,"rel":2879},"https:\u002F\u002Flabor.arkansas.gov\u002Flabor\u002Flabor-standards\u002Fminimum-wage-and-overtime\u002F",[297],"Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing — Minimum wage and overtime",[111,2882,2883],{},[15,2884,326],{"href":324,"rel":2885},[297],{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":2887},[2888,2889,2894,2895,2896,2897,2898,2899],{"id":2498,"depth":350,"text":2499},{"id":2513,"depth":350,"text":2514,"children":2890},[2891,2892,2893],{"id":2520,"depth":356,"text":2521},{"id":2618,"depth":356,"text":2619},{"id":2629,"depth":356,"text":2630},{"id":2663,"depth":350,"text":2664},{"id":2678,"depth":350,"text":2679},{"id":2695,"depth":350,"text":2696},{"id":2739,"depth":350,"text":2740},{"id":2774,"depth":350,"text":2775},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"Which deductions your employer must take, which ones it may take only with your permission, and the federal caps that decide how much can come out at all.",{},{"title":2484,"description":2900},"blog\u002Fpay-stub-deductions-explained","VP9iSY7W8YsvXniJcXbFF15RjiDrT-3gGdgasalavbY",{"id":2906,"title":2907,"body":2908,"date":2476,"description":3157,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":393,"meta":3158,"navigation":373,"path":392,"seo":3159,"stem":3160,"updated":367,"__hash__":3161},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stub-vs-paycheck.md","Pay stub vs paycheck",{"type":8,"value":2909,"toc":3147},[2910,2913,2916,2920,2926,2932,2937,2944,2954,2958,2967,2973,2977,2980,2983,2990,2994,3040,3043,3046,3050,3059,3065,3071,3075,3078,3085,3089,3092,3104,3106],[11,2911,2912],{},"A paycheck is the payment. A pay stub is the statement that explains it. They travel together often enough that the words get used interchangeably, and then someone asks for \"a copy of your last paycheck\" and means the stub, or a bank asks for proof of income and gets a screenshot of a bank deposit that proves nothing about how the figure was arrived at.",[11,2914,2915],{},"The distinction is worth ten minutes because it is not only linguistic. Paying you and telling you how you were paid are two separate legal duties in the United States, they come from different laws, and a state can impose one without the other.",[29,2917,2919],{"id":2918},"two-duties-not-one","Two duties, not one",[11,2921,2922,2925],{},[24,2923,2924],{},"Getting paid"," is governed by payday laws: how often wages must be paid, by when after the period ends, in what form, and what happens on the last day of a job. Nearly every state has these.",[11,2927,2928,2931],{},[24,2929,2930],{},"Being told how you were paid"," is governed by wage statement laws, and these are much less uniform. Some states enumerate a dozen items. Some require nothing at all.",[11,2933,2934,2936],{},[15,2935,462],{"href":461}," is the cleanest illustration that the two are genuinely separate. The Texas Payday Law is detailed about when wages are due and how a claim is filed. The earnings statement requirement in Labor Code § 62.003 exists, but § 62.151 removes anyone covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act from that chapter — which is most of the workforce. A Texas employer can therefore owe you the money on a strict schedule and owe you no statement about it.",[11,2938,2939,1677,2941,2943],{},[15,2940,1676],{"href":1675},[15,2942,144],{"href":143}," go further and have no pay stub statute at all. Employers there issue stubs anyway, because payroll software prints one and because federal recordkeeping already requires assembling the underlying data — but that is convention, not compulsion.",[11,2945,2946,2947,2949,2950,2953],{},"At the other end, ",[15,2948,137],{"href":136}," requires a statement with ",[24,2951,2952],{},"every"," payment of wages, listing the dates covered, employer name, address and phone number, rate and basis of pay, gross wages, deductions, allowances and net wages. The payment and the statement are separate obligations there, and an employer who pays correctly but states badly has still broken the law.",[29,2955,2957],{"id":2956},"the-paycheck-is-usually-not-a-check","The paycheck is usually not a check",[11,2959,2960,2961,2963,2964,2966],{},"Most people are paid by direct deposit, and the physical instrument has quietly disappeared from the transaction. Nothing about that changes the statement duty. ",[15,2962,130],{"href":129},"'s statute names the alternatives explicitly — a written statement, an electronic statement, or access to a statement all satisfy it. ",[15,2965,123],{"href":122}," defines a pay stub in a way that covers paper and electronic alike, and attaches the same three-year retention to both.",[11,2968,2969,2970,2972],{},"The questions people ask next belong to the payment side rather than to this distinction — whether an employer may choose your bank for you, what a payroll card changes, and how the statement is supposed to reach you once nothing is printed. ",[15,2971,381],{"href":886}," takes those in turn.",[29,2974,2976],{"id":2975},"the-pay-period-and-the-pay-date-are-different-dates-and-only-one-of-them-is-about-tax","The pay period and the pay date are different dates, and only one of them is about tax",[11,2978,2979],{},"A stub carries both. The pay period is the range you worked. The pay date is when the money moved.",[11,2981,2982],{},"Which year the wages belong to is decided by the pay date, not by the work. The Treasury regulation on when wages are paid and received puts it in terms of receipt: wages count when they are actually or constructively paid, meaning credited or set apart for you without substantial restriction so you can draw on them. Work done in the last week of December and paid on January 2 is January's wages for tax purposes, appears on next year's W-2, and is withheld against next year's tables.",[11,2984,2985,2986,2989],{},"This is why ",[15,2987,2988],{"href":282},"the generator"," takes the tax year from the pay date rather than offering a separate field for it. Two independent answers to one question drift apart, and the pay date is already the answer.",[29,2991,2993],{"id":2992},"which-document-proves-what","Which document proves what",[34,2995,2996,3006],{},[37,2997,2998],{},[40,2999,3000,3003],{},[43,3001,3002],{},"You need to show",[43,3004,3005],{},"Use",[50,3007,3008,3016,3024,3032],{},[40,3009,3010,3013],{},[55,3011,3012],{},"That money arrived",[55,3014,3015],{},"Bank statement or cleared check",[40,3017,3018,3021],{},[55,3019,3020],{},"What you earn, and how",[55,3022,3023],{},"Pay stub",[40,3025,3026,3029],{},[55,3027,3028],{},"Earnings for the year",[55,3030,3031],{},"W-2, or the last stub's year-to-date",[40,3033,3034,3037],{},[55,3035,3036],{},"That an employer underpaid you",[55,3038,3039],{},"Pay stub plus your own hours record",[11,3041,3042],{},"A deposit line in your banking app shows a net figure and nothing else. It cannot show your gross, your rate, your hours, or what was withheld — which is precisely the information a lender, a landlord or a benefits office is asking for when they ask for \"proof of income.\" That is the whole reason the stub carries year-to-date columns.",[11,3044,3045],{},"The reverse also holds. A stub is evidence of what the employer says it paid you. It is not evidence that the money moved. In a wage dispute the two documents do different work, and the useful pairing is the stub plus the bank record, because the interesting cases are the ones where they disagree.",[29,3047,3049],{"id":3048},"when-you-get-one-without-the-other","When you get one without the other",[11,3051,3052,3055,3056,3058],{},[24,3053,3054],{},"Paid, but no stub."," Whether you can compel one depends on where you work. In New York you may require a written explanation of how your wages were computed. In ",[15,3057,116],{"href":115}," you can inspect or copy your payroll records, and an employer who does not comply within 21 calendar days owes a $750 penalty. In Illinois you can demand copies twice a year and get them within 21 days, including for up to a year after you leave. In Florida or Georgia there is no statutory hook at all, and the practical route is to ask payroll and, failing that, reconstruct from your bank records and your own time record.",[11,3060,3061,3064],{},[24,3062,3063],{},"Stub, but no money."," This is a payday law question, not a statement question, and it is the more serious one. The stub becomes your primary evidence: it is the employer's own written assertion of what it owed you and when. File with your state labor agency, keep the stub, and keep the bank record that shows the deposit not arriving.",[11,3066,3067,3070],{},[24,3068,3069],{},"Stub and money that disagree."," Usually the difference is a garnishment, an advance repayment, or a second payment method that took part of the net elsewhere — check whether some of it went to a payroll card. If nothing explains it, that gap is exactly what a wage claim is for.",[29,3072,3074],{"id":3073},"what-about-paycheck-stub","What about \"paycheck stub\"?",[11,3076,3077],{},"It is the same document as a pay stub. So are \"wage statement,\" \"earnings statement,\" \"itemized statement\" and \"pay advice\" — the last two are what statutes tend to use. New York and California say \"statement,\" Texas says \"earnings statement,\" Ohio says \"statement,\" Illinois now says \"pay stub\" outright. The variety is why a search for your state's rules is more productive by statute than by phrase.",[11,3079,3080,3081,3084],{},"The only term worth keeping separate is ",[24,3082,3083],{},"payslip",", which is British and describes a document with different legal content behind it.",[29,3086,3088],{"id":3087},"in-short","In short",[11,3090,3091],{},"Two documents, two duties. The paycheck moves the money and is governed by your state's payday law. The stub explains the money and is governed by a wage statement law your state may or may not have. Direct deposit removed the paper from the first and changed nothing about the second.",[11,3093,3094,3095,3097,3098,3100,3101,3103],{},"If you need to see what a complete statement looks like for a given salary, state and filing status, ",[15,3096,2988],{"href":282}," applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables and shows every line. ",[15,3099,703],{"href":702}," covers the items themselves, and ",[15,3102,1266],{"href":17}," walks down a finished one.",[29,3105,288],{"id":287},[108,3107,3108,3113,3120,3125,3130,3135,3140],{},[111,3109,3110],{},[15,3111,734],{"href":732,"rel":3112},[297],[111,3114,3115],{},[15,3116,3119],{"href":3117,"rel":3118},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.twc.texas.gov\u002Fprograms\u002Fwage-and-hour\u002Ftexas-payday-law",[297],"Texas Workforce Commission — Texas Payday Law",[111,3121,3122],{},[15,3123,1788],{"href":1786,"rel":3124},[297],[111,3126,3127],{},[15,3128,326],{"href":324,"rel":3129},[297],[111,3131,3132],{},[15,3133,319],{"href":317,"rel":3134},[297],[111,3136,3137],{},[15,3138,298],{"href":295,"rel":3139},[297],[111,3141,3142],{},[15,3143,3146],{"href":3144,"rel":3145},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ecfr.gov\u002Fcurrent\u002Ftitle-26\u002Fsection-31.3121(a)-2",[297],"26 CFR § 31.3121(a)-2 — Wages; when paid and received",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":3148},[3149,3150,3151,3152,3153,3154,3155,3156],{"id":2918,"depth":350,"text":2919},{"id":2956,"depth":350,"text":2957},{"id":2975,"depth":350,"text":2976},{"id":2992,"depth":350,"text":2993},{"id":3048,"depth":350,"text":3049},{"id":3073,"depth":350,"text":3074},{"id":3087,"depth":350,"text":3088},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"One is the money and the other is the explanation of it. The distinction decides which document proves what, and which one your employer owes you separately.",{},{"title":2907,"description":3157},"blog\u002Fpay-stub-vs-paycheck","-M2igaBN5Va_Z36HaQV0XhVL9kA8pTczdntQRugzDAY",{"id":3163,"title":1994,"body":3164,"date":3509,"description":3510,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":3511,"meta":3512,"navigation":373,"path":1993,"seo":3513,"stem":3514,"updated":377,"__hash__":3515},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-make-pay-stubs-for-employees.md",{"type":8,"value":3165,"toc":3496},[3166,3169,3173,3179,3185,3200,3204,3207,3296,3299,3303,3306,3309,3312,3316,3319,3322,3326,3329,3357,3364,3368,3371,3378,3382,3388,3392,3395,3401,3407,3411,3449,3453,3458,3460],[11,3167,3168],{},"If you have one or two employees and no payroll provider, making a pay stub is a small task wrapped around one hard part: the withholding. This walks through the whole thing in the order you actually have to do it.",[29,3170,3172],{"id":3171},"before-you-start-three-things-you-need-on-file","Before you start: three things you need on file",[11,3174,3175,3178],{},[24,3176,3177],{},"A completed Form W-4 for each employee."," Not a guess at their filing status — the actual form. The 2020 redesign removed allowances and replaced them with dollar amounts, so a W-4 signed in 2019 and a W-4 signed last month feed the calculation differently, and Publication 15-T has separate worksheets for each. If someone never filed one, the IRS default is single with no adjustments.",[11,3180,3181,3184],{},[24,3182,3183],{},"A state withholding certificate, where the state has one."," Most states with an income tax have their own form and their own version of allowances or exemptions. A few states cannot be calculated from the state certificate alone: Maryland and Indiana need the county the employee lives in, Alabama and Oregon need the actual federal withholding amount, and New Jersey and Connecticut turn on which lettered table applies.",[11,3186,3187,3190,3191,3193,3194,3196,3197,3199],{},[24,3188,3189],{},"Your pay schedule, written down and posted."," This is not administrative tidiness — several states require it. ",[15,3192,123],{"href":122}," requires a notice at every place of business showing the regular paydays and the place and time of payment. ",[15,3195,462],{"href":461}," requires payday notices posted where they are easily seen, and if you never designate paydays the law makes them the 1st and the 15th. ",[15,3198,116],{"href":115}," requires a posted notice showing the day, time and location of payment.",[29,3201,3203],{"id":3202},"step-1-pick-a-pay-frequency-your-state-allows","Step 1: pick a pay frequency your state allows",[11,3205,3206],{},"You have less freedom here than you might think, and it varies by state and sometimes by job:",[34,3208,3209,3218],{},[37,3210,3211],{},[40,3212,3213,3215],{},[43,3214,510],{},[43,3216,3217],{},"Rule",[50,3219,3220,3229,3238,3247,3258,3267,3276,3287],{},[40,3221,3222,3226],{},[55,3223,3224],{},[15,3225,137],{"href":136},[55,3227,3228],{},"Manual workers weekly, within 7 days of the week ending. Clerical and other workers at least semi-monthly. Commission salespeople at least monthly.",[40,3230,3231,3235],{},[55,3232,3233],{},[15,3234,116],{"href":115},[55,3236,3237],{},"Twice a month. The 1st–15th paid by the 26th, the 16th–end paid by the 10th of the next month.",[40,3239,3240,3244],{},[55,3241,3242],{},[15,3243,130],{"href":129},[55,3245,3246],{},"First half of the month by the 1st of the next, second half by the 15th.",[40,3248,3249,3255],{},[55,3250,3251],{},[15,3252,3254],{"href":3253},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fmichigan","Michigan",[55,3256,3257],{},"Twice a month by default; a weekly or biweekly payday complies if it lands within 14 days of the work period ending.",[40,3259,3260,3264],{},[55,3261,3262],{},[15,3263,462],{"href":461},[55,3265,3266],{},"Twice a month for non-exempt, at least monthly for FLSA-exempt.",[40,3268,3269,3273],{},[55,3270,3271],{},[15,3272,123],{"href":122},[55,3274,3275],{},"At least semi-monthly; executive, administrative and professional employees and commissions may be monthly.",[40,3277,3278,3284],{},[55,3279,3280],{},[15,3281,3283],{"href":3282},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fnorth-carolina","North Carolina",[55,3285,3286],{},"Daily, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly — your choice.",[40,3288,3289,3293],{},[55,3290,3291],{},[15,3292,1676],{"href":1675},[55,3294,3295],{},"No state rule at all.",[11,3297,3298],{},"Biweekly is the common default because it makes overtime arithmetic clean — every pay period is exactly two workweeks — but check your state before committing.",[29,3300,3302],{"id":3301},"step-2-work-out-gross-pay","Step 2: work out gross pay",[11,3304,3305],{},"Hours worked at the regular rate, plus overtime at time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek, plus anything else — bonuses, commissions, reimbursements.",[11,3307,3308],{},"Two traps here. First, \"workweek\" is a defined term: a fixed, recurring 168-hour period you adopt in advance. Overtime is computed per workweek, not per pay period, so a biweekly stub with 82 hours does not automatically mean 2 hours of overtime — it depends on how those hours fell across the two weeks. Ohio's pay stub statute defines workweek exactly this way and requires hourly employees' over-forty hours to be shown.",[11,3310,3311],{},"Second, the minimum wage that applies may not be your state's. In 2026 that means $16.90 in California but $20.00 for employees of covered fast food chains; $17.00 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester against $16.00 upstate; $15.00 across Illinois but $17.05 in Chicago for employers with four or more employees. Where a local rate is higher, the local one governs.",[29,3313,3315],{"id":3314},"step-3-calculate-federal-withholding","Step 3: calculate federal withholding",[11,3317,3318],{},"Federal income tax withholding is not \"a percentage of pay.\" Publication 15-T's percentage method annualizes the pay period, subtracts a fixed amount depending on filing status — $8,600 for single and head of household in 2026, $12,900 for married filing jointly — applies a bracket table to what remains, then divides back down to the pay period.",[11,3320,3321],{},"The W-4 boxes feed in at specific points: the dependents amount reduces the annual tax, other income increases the annualized wage, deductions reduce it, and extra withholding is added flat at the end. If the employee checked Step 2(c) because they hold multiple jobs, you use a different table entirely — not a reduced adjustment.",[29,3323,3325],{"id":3324},"step-4-calculate-fica","Step 4: calculate FICA",[11,3327,3328],{},"This part is genuinely simple arithmetic, and it is where hand-built payrolls most often go wrong.",[108,3330,3331,3341,3347],{},[111,3332,3333,3336,3337,3340],{},[24,3334,3335],{},"Social Security: 6.2%"," of wages, up to a 2026 wage base of ",[24,3338,3339],{},"$184,500",". Once year-to-date Social Security wages pass that, withholding stops for the rest of the year.",[111,3342,3343,3346],{},[24,3344,3345],{},"Medicare: 1.45%"," of all wages, with no cap.",[111,3348,3349,3352,3353,3356],{},[24,3350,3351],{},"Additional Medicare: 0.9%"," on wages above ",[24,3354,3355],{},"$200,000"," in the calendar year. This threshold is $200,000 for withholding purposes regardless of filing status. The $250,000 figure people quote is the threshold for the tax owed on a return, not for what you withhold.",[11,3358,3359,3360,3363],{},"The mistake worth naming: ",[24,3361,3362],{},"a 401(k) deferral does not reduce the FICA base."," It reduces federal income tax wages, but Social Security and Medicare are still computed on the full amount. Section 125 cafeteria plan deductions — most health premiums — do reduce both. Getting this backwards produces a stub that looks perfectly ordinary and under-withholds all year.",[29,3365,3367],{"id":3366},"step-5-calculate-state-withholding","Step 5: calculate state withholding",[11,3369,3370],{},"Most states follow the same shape: annualize the wage, subtract a state standard deduction, subtract exemptions for whatever the state's version of allowances is, apply the state schedule, then subtract credits for those same allowances. The variations are real, though — Maine and Wisconsin phase the deduction out as income rises, South Carolina makes it a percentage of earnings with a cap, Kansas prices the first exemptions higher than the rest, and Rhode Island stops giving exemptions any value above a threshold.",[11,3372,3373,3374,3377],{},"Three states changed rates part-way through 2026: Georgia on May 11, Utah on June 1, and Ohio on August 1. If you are producing a stub for an earlier pay period, use the table that was in force on the ",[24,3375,3376],{},"pay date",", not the one in force today.",[29,3379,3381],{"id":3380},"step-6-lay-out-the-stub","Step 6: lay out the stub",[11,3383,3384,3385,3387],{},"Everything from ",[15,3386,1998],{"href":702}," applies. Minimum: employer name and address, employee name with no more than the last four SSN digits, pay period dates and pay date, hours and rates split by regular and overtime, gross, each deduction itemized with its purpose, net, and year-to-date columns.",[29,3389,3391],{"id":3390},"step-7-deliver-it-and-keep-it","Step 7: deliver it, and keep it",[11,3393,3394],{},"Electronic is fine almost everywhere, with conditions — see the state pages. But keep two things in mind:",[11,3396,3397,3400],{},[24,3398,3399],{},"Retention is longer than people assume."," Federal law: payroll records three years, computation records two. California: statements and deduction records three years. Illinois: every pay stub three years, whether it was paper or electronic, even after the employee leaves. Michigan: three years, open to inspection by the director of labor.",[11,3402,3403,3406],{},[24,3404,3405],{},"Access has to outlive employment in some states."," Illinois requires that if your electronic stubs will not stay reachable for a full year after separation, you offer a departing employee a record of the past year by their final pay period — and document whether they accepted. That is easy to comply with and easy to forget entirely.",[29,3408,3410],{"id":3409},"what-goes-wrong-on-small-payrolls","What goes wrong on small payrolls",[108,3412,3413,3419,3425,3431,3437,3443],{},[111,3414,3415,3418],{},[24,3416,3417],{},"FICA base confusion",", as above. The most expensive quiet error.",[111,3420,3421,3424],{},[24,3422,3423],{},"Overtime computed per pay period"," rather than per workweek.",[111,3426,3427,3430],{},[24,3428,3429],{},"A local minimum wage overlooked"," because the state rate was checked and the city rate was not.",[111,3432,3433,3436],{},[24,3434,3435],{},"No posted payday notice",", which is a standalone violation in several states even when every paycheck was correct.",[111,3438,3439,3442],{},[24,3440,3441],{},"Deductions taken without written authorization."," Texas is explicit: outside court orders and legally required withholding, deductions need the employee's written authorization for a lawful purpose, and an authorization that is too general does not count.",[111,3444,3445,3448],{},[24,3446,3447],{},"Stubs that stop at gross and net."," An employee who cannot reconstruct the arithmetic will ask, and in New York they can require a written explanation of how the wages were computed.",[29,3450,3452],{"id":3451},"doing-it-without-a-payroll-provider","Doing it without a payroll provider",[11,3454,3455,3457],{},[15,3456,283],{"href":282}," applies the 2026 Publication 15-T tables, the SSA wage base, and the state withholding table in force on the pay date you enter, then lays the result out as a stub you can print or save. Pick your state and it selects the right table automatically. For the handful of states whose formula needs data outside the model, it says so on the document rather than printing a zero that looks like an answer.",[29,3459,288],{"id":287},[108,3461,3462,3469,3474,3479,3484,3489],{},[111,3463,3464],{},[15,3465,3468],{"href":3466,"rel":3467},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.dol.gov\u002Fagencies\u002Fwhd\u002Ffact-sheets\u002F21-flsa-recordkeeping",[297],"U.S. Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the FLSA",[111,3470,3471],{},[15,3472,1432],{"href":1430,"rel":3473},[297],[111,3475,3476],{},[15,3477,1439],{"href":1437,"rel":3478},[297],[111,3480,3481],{},[15,3482,3119],{"href":3117,"rel":3483},[297],[111,3485,3486],{},[15,3487,319],{"href":317,"rel":3488},[297],[111,3490,3491],{},[15,3492,3495],{"href":3493,"rel":3494},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.dir.ca.gov\u002Fdlse\u002Ffaq_paydays.htm",[297],"DLSE — Paydays, pay periods, and final wages",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":3497},[3498,3499,3500,3501,3502,3503,3504,3505,3506,3507,3508],{"id":3171,"depth":350,"text":3172},{"id":3202,"depth":350,"text":3203},{"id":3301,"depth":350,"text":3302},{"id":3314,"depth":350,"text":3315},{"id":3324,"depth":350,"text":3325},{"id":3366,"depth":350,"text":3367},{"id":3380,"depth":350,"text":3381},{"id":3390,"depth":350,"text":3391},{"id":3409,"depth":350,"text":3410},{"id":3451,"depth":350,"text":3452},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"2026-08-21","A practical walkthrough for a small employer issuing pay stubs: what you need before you start, how the 2026 withholding actually works, and where small payrolls go wrong.","how to make pay stubs for employees",{},{"title":1994,"description":3510},"blog\u002Fhow-to-make-pay-stubs-for-employees","q2Psm1C7yCgnjffpwQhRLfc0Qbk42O5jXqajdtbdZ0U",{"id":3517,"title":18,"body":3518,"date":3509,"description":3938,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":1266,"meta":3939,"navigation":373,"path":17,"seo":3940,"stem":3941,"updated":367,"__hash__":3942},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-read-a-pay-stub.md",{"type":8,"value":3519,"toc":3920},[3520,3523,3526,3530,3536,3542,3548,3550,3553,3590,3593,3599,3605,3609,3613,3616,3619,3622,3636,3640,3646,3650,3656,3659,3667,3679,3682,3686,3689,3693,3702,3759,3762,3767,3774,3780,3784,3787,3791,3797,3800,3804,3807,3827,3830,3834,3837,3864,3870,3874,3884,3886],[11,3521,3522],{},"Most people look at two numbers on a pay stub: gross and net. Everything between them is where the money actually went, and it is more legible than it looks once you know what each block is doing.",[11,3524,3525],{},"This walks down a typical stub in order.",[29,3527,3529],{"id":3528},"the-header","The header",[11,3531,3532,3535],{},[24,3533,3534],{},"Employer legal name and address."," The legal entity, not the trading name — they are often different, and the legal one is what matters if you ever file a wage claim.",[11,3537,3538,3541],{},[24,3539,3540],{},"Your name, and at most the last four digits of your Social Security number."," If your full SSN is printed on the stub, that is worth raising. In California it is a violation on its own: Labor Code § 226(a)(7) permits only the last four digits or a non-SSN employee ID.",[11,3543,3544,3547],{},[24,3545,3546],{},"The pay period and the pay date — two different things."," The pay period is the range you worked. The pay date is when the money moved. A stub dated August 21 for the period August 1–15 is normal; several states require both to be shown precisely because confusing them causes disputes.",[29,3549,921],{"id":920},[11,3551,3552],{},"This block should never be a single number. Expect at least:",[34,3554,3555,3564],{},[37,3556,3557],{},[40,3558,3559,3562],{},[43,3560,3561],{},"Line",[43,3563,936],{},[50,3565,3566,3574,3582],{},[40,3567,3568,3571],{},[55,3569,3570],{},"Regular",[55,3572,3573],{},"Hours × your regular rate",[40,3575,3576,3579],{},[55,3577,3578],{},"Overtime",[55,3580,3581],{},"Hours over 40 in a workweek × 1.5 × your regular rate",[40,3583,3584,3587],{},[55,3585,3586],{},"Other",[55,3588,3589],{},"Bonus, commission, PTO payout, shift differential",[11,3591,3592],{},"Two things to check.",[11,3594,3595,3598],{},[24,3596,3597],{},"Overtime is per workweek, not per pay period."," A workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period your employer adopted in advance. If you work 30 hours one week and 52 the next, that is 12 hours of overtime — even though the two-week total of 82 is only 2 hours over a \"biweekly 80.\" Averaging across the pay period is not allowed.",[11,3600,3601,3604],{},[24,3602,3603],{},"Your regular rate may not be your hourly rate."," Non-discretionary bonuses and shift premiums get folded into the regular rate for overtime purposes. If you earned a production bonus in a week you worked overtime, the overtime rate should reflect it.",[29,3606,3608],{"id":3607},"deductions-taxes","Deductions: taxes",[93,3610,3612],{"id":3611},"federal-income-tax","Federal income tax",[11,3614,3615],{},"This is the line people most often expect to be a fixed percentage, and it never is.",[11,3617,3618],{},"The employer annualizes your pay period, subtracts a fixed amount based on your filing status — in 2026, $8,600 for single and head of household, $12,900 for married filing jointly — runs the result through a bracket table, then divides back down to the pay period. The dollar boxes on your Form W-4 feed in at specific points: dependents reduce the annual tax, other income raises the annualized wage, deductions lower it, and any extra withholding you asked for is added flat at the end.",[11,3620,3621],{},"Two consequences worth internalizing:",[108,3623,3624,3630],{},[111,3625,3626,3629],{},[24,3627,3628],{},"A bonus paycheck will show a startling federal tax line."," Annualizing a period that included a bonus makes it look like you earn that much every period. It corrects itself at year end.",[111,3631,3632,3635],{},[24,3633,3634],{},"Withholding is an estimate, not the tax."," It is your employer's best guess at what you will owe. Your return settles the difference.",[93,3637,3639],{"id":3638},"social-security-often-labelled-oasdi-or-fica-ss","Social Security (often labelled OASDI or FICA-SS)",[11,3641,3642,3645],{},[24,3643,3644],{},"6.2% of wages, up to a wage base of $184,500 in 2026."," Once your year-to-date Social Security wages cross that, this line stops for the rest of the year and your take-home rises. If you see it disappear in November, nothing is broken.",[93,3647,3649],{"id":3648},"medicare","Medicare",[11,3651,3652,3655],{},[24,3653,3654],{},"1.45% of all wages, no cap."," Above $200,000 in a calendar year, an extra 0.9% is withheld. That $200,000 threshold applies regardless of filing status — the $250,000 figure you may have read is the threshold for what you owe on your return, not for what your employer withholds. Married couples who each earn under $200,000 but over $250,000 combined routinely owe additional Medicare at filing that nobody withheld.",[93,3657,1100],{"id":3658},"state-income-tax",[11,3660,3661,3662,1677,3664,3666],{},"Nine states withhold nothing on wages — ",[15,3663,1676],{"href":1675},[15,3665,462],{"href":461}," among them. A zero on that line for a Florida employee is correct and expected.",[11,3668,3669,3670,3674,3675,3678],{},"Where there is a state tax, the shape is usually: annualize, subtract a state standard deduction, subtract exemptions, apply the state schedule, subtract credits. ",[15,3671,3673],{"href":3672},"\u002Fpay-stub-requirements\u002Fpennsylvania","Pennsylvania"," is the outlier that really is flat — 3.07% of compensation with no deduction or exemption to reduce it. Most \"flat rate\" states are not: they apply one rate ",[2507,3676,3677],{},"after"," a deduction, so the effective percentage of gross is always lower than the headline rate.",[11,3680,3681],{},"Some states also changed rates mid-year. Georgia's rate dropped on May 11, 2026, Utah's on June 1, Ohio's tables changed on August 1. Two stubs from the same employer in the same year can legitimately use different rates.",[93,3683,3685],{"id":3684},"local-tax","Local tax",[11,3687,3688],{},"City or school district tax, where it exists — Ohio and Pennsylvania municipalities are the common cases. This is separate from the state rate and is not part of it.",[29,3690,3692],{"id":3691},"deductions-everything-else","Deductions: everything else",[11,3694,3695,3697,3698,3701],{},[24,3696,2748],{}," come out before certain taxes are calculated, and ",[2507,3699,3700],{},"which"," taxes depends on the deduction:",[34,3703,3704,3717],{},[37,3705,3706],{},[40,3707,3708,3711,3714],{},[43,3709,3710],{},"Deduction",[43,3712,3713],{},"Reduces federal income tax base",[43,3715,3716],{},"Reduces Social Security and Medicare base",[50,3718,3719,3732,3741,3750],{},[40,3720,3721,3724,3727],{},[55,3722,3723],{},"401(k) \u002F 403(b) traditional deferral",[55,3725,3726],{},"Yes",[55,3728,3729],{},[24,3730,3731],{},"No",[40,3733,3734,3737,3739],{},[55,3735,3736],{},"Section 125 health, dental, vision premiums",[55,3738,3726],{},[55,3740,3726],{},[40,3742,3743,3746,3748],{},[55,3744,3745],{},"HSA through a cafeteria plan",[55,3747,3726],{},[55,3749,3726],{},[40,3751,3752,3755,3757],{},[55,3753,3754],{},"Roth 401(k)",[55,3756,3731],{},[55,3758,3731],{},[11,3760,3761],{},"The 401(k) row surprises people every year. Your retirement deferral lowers the wages your income tax is figured on, but Social Security and Medicare are still computed on the full amount — which is why your Medicare wages on a W-2 are usually higher than your federal taxable wages.",[11,3763,3764,3766],{},[24,3765,2764],{}," come out of what is left: garnishments, union dues, Roth contributions, some insurance.",[11,3768,3769,3770,3773],{},"Whatever the deduction, it should say what it is ",[2507,3771,3772],{},"for",". Ohio's statute requires the amount and purpose of every addition and deduction; \"Misc\" with a number beside it is not an itemization, and it is the usual starting point of a wage complaint.",[11,3775,3776,3777,3779],{},"Most stubs abbreviate these lines rather than spell them out, and the codes are not standardized between employers. ",[15,3778,892],{"href":1453}," is a lookup for the common ones, including the imputed-income codes that appear as both an earning and a deduction of the same amount.",[29,3781,3783],{"id":3782},"net-pay","Net pay",[11,3785,3786],{},"Gross, minus everything above. This should equal the amount that hit your account. If it does not, the difference is usually a garnishment or an advance repayment that appears on the stub but was netted differently, or a second payment method — check whether part went to a payroll card.",[29,3788,3790],{"id":3789},"year-to-date-columns","Year-to-date columns",[11,3792,3793,3794,3796],{},"These are why a pay stub works as proof of income. Each column accumulates from January 1: gross, each tax, each deduction, net. ",[15,3795,123],{"href":122}," writes year-to-date totals for wages and deductions into its statutory definition of a pay stub.",[11,3798,3799],{},"Use them as your check. Your last stub of the year should reconcile against your W-2 — year-to-date gross against Box 1 after adding back pre-tax deductions, year-to-date Social Security wages against Box 3, Medicare against Box 5.",[29,3801,3803],{"id":3802},"checking-the-stub-yourself","Checking the stub yourself",[11,3805,3806],{},"Three arithmetic checks catch most errors in under a minute:",[2780,3808,3809,3815,3821],{},[111,3810,3811,3814],{},[24,3812,3813],{},"Gross."," Regular hours × rate, plus overtime hours × rate × 1.5, plus other earnings. Does it match?",[111,3816,3817,3820],{},[24,3818,3819],{},"Social Security."," Gross for the period, minus Section 125 deductions, × 6.2%. Does it match — unless you are past $184,500 year to date?",[111,3822,3823,3826],{},[24,3824,3825],{},"Net."," Gross minus the sum of every deduction line. Does it match?",[11,3828,3829],{},"If check 2 fails and you have a 401(k) deferral, look at whether the deferral was subtracted before the 6.2% was applied. It should not have been.",[29,3831,3833],{"id":3832},"when-something-is-wrong","When something is wrong",[11,3835,3836],{},"Ask your employer first — most stub problems are payroll configuration, not intent. If that does not resolve it, what happens next depends on where you work:",[108,3838,3839,3844,3849,3854,3859],{},[111,3840,3841,3843],{},[15,3842,137],{"href":136}," lets you require a written explanation of how your wages were computed, and its Department of Labor can assess $250 per day per worker for improper statements.",[111,3845,3846,3848],{},[15,3847,116],{"href":115}," gives you the right to inspect or copy your payroll records within 21 days of asking, with a $750 penalty if the employer refuses.",[111,3850,3851,3853],{},[15,3852,123],{"href":122}," lets you demand copies of past stubs — including up to a year after you leave — with 21 days to produce them.",[111,3855,3856,3858],{},[15,3857,130],{"href":129}," requires a written request first; the employer then has ten days before the Department of Commerce gets involved.",[111,3860,3861,3863],{},[15,3862,144],{"href":143}," does not run a wage claim process at all — its labor department points people to small claims court.",[11,3865,3866,3867,3869],{},"Which of those routes applies depends first on whether the pay was wrong or only the statement was, because the two carry different remedies and different deadlines. ",[15,3868,6],{"href":374}," takes it from here, on both sides of the payroll desk.",[29,3871,3873],{"id":3872},"building-one-to-compare-against","Building one to compare against",[11,3875,3876,3877,3880,3881,3883],{},"If you want to see what your stub ",[2507,3878,3879],{},"should"," look like for a given salary, state and filing status, ",[15,3882,2988],{"href":282}," applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables and shows every line. It is a useful way to sanity-check a number you are unsure about before you raise it with payroll.",[29,3885,288],{"id":287},[108,3887,3888,3893,3898,3905,3910,3915],{},[111,3889,3890],{},[15,3891,1432],{"href":1430,"rel":3892},[297],[111,3894,3895],{},[15,3896,1439],{"href":1437,"rel":3897},[297],[111,3899,3900],{},[15,3901,3904],{"href":3902,"rel":3903},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fpublications\u002Fp15t",[297],"IRS Publication 15-T — Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods",[111,3906,3907],{},[15,3908,298],{"href":295,"rel":3909},[297],[111,3911,3912],{},[15,3913,326],{"href":324,"rel":3914},[297],[111,3916,3917],{},[15,3918,312],{"href":310,"rel":3919},[297],{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":3921},[3922,3923,3924,3931,3932,3933,3934,3935,3936,3937],{"id":3528,"depth":350,"text":3529},{"id":920,"depth":350,"text":921},{"id":3607,"depth":350,"text":3608,"children":3925},[3926,3927,3928,3929,3930],{"id":3611,"depth":356,"text":3612},{"id":3638,"depth":356,"text":3639},{"id":3648,"depth":356,"text":3649},{"id":3658,"depth":356,"text":1100},{"id":3684,"depth":356,"text":3685},{"id":3691,"depth":350,"text":3692},{"id":3782,"depth":350,"text":3783},{"id":3789,"depth":350,"text":3790},{"id":3802,"depth":350,"text":3803},{"id":3832,"depth":350,"text":3833},{"id":3872,"depth":350,"text":3873},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"A line-by-line walkthrough of a US pay stub — what each deduction is, why the tax withheld is not a flat percentage, and how to check the numbers yourself.",{},{"title":18,"description":3938},"blog\u002Fhow-to-read-a-pay-stub","sWUEkNafDoKXzHx1fYC7RApik6ysPa8lYPbUzKD49EY",{"id":3944,"title":1835,"body":3945,"date":3509,"description":4197,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":4198,"meta":4199,"navigation":373,"path":1695,"seo":4200,"stem":4201,"updated":367,"__hash__":4202},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fpay-stubs-for-self-employed.md",{"type":8,"value":3946,"toc":4186},[3947,3950,3953,3957,3964,3971,3974,3978,3985,3997,4000,4004,4007,4011,4014,4046,4049,4056,4065,4068,4072,4075,4113,4116,4120,4123,4126,4130,4139,4143,4148,4151,4153],[11,3948,3949],{},"\"Can I make myself a pay stub?\" has two very different answers depending on how your business is set up, and the difference is not cosmetic — it changes whether the document is a real payroll record or a summary you produced for your own reference.",[11,3951,3952],{},"Start with the structure.",[29,3954,3956],{"id":3955},"if-you-are-a-sole-proprietor-or-a-single-member-llc","If you are a sole proprietor or a single-member LLC",[11,3958,3959,3960,3963],{},"You are not an employee of your business. Money you take out is an ",[24,3961,3962],{},"owner's draw",", not wages. There is no payroll, no W-4, no federal income tax withholding, and no FICA withheld from the draw.",[11,3965,3966,3967,3970],{},"That does not mean you pay no Social Security or Medicare — you pay both through ",[24,3968,3969],{},"self-employment tax"," on your net business profit, at 15.3% (the employee and employer halves combined), reported on Schedule SE with your return. It is the same programme, collected differently.",[11,3972,3973],{},"So a \"pay stub\" here is not a payroll document. It is a statement of what you paid yourself and what you have set aside. That can be genuinely useful — for your own tracking, for a bookkeeper, for showing a pattern of income — but it should say what it is. A document that presents an owner's draw as employee wages with withheld payroll taxes describes something that did not happen, and if it is handed to a lender it becomes a much more serious problem than a formatting mistake.",[29,3975,3977],{"id":3976},"if-you-run-an-s-corporation","If you run an S corporation",[11,3979,3980,3981,3984],{},"This is the case where the answer flips. If your business is an S corporation and you work in it, the IRS requires you to pay yourself ",[24,3982,3983],{},"reasonable compensation"," as a W-2 employee. You are on payroll. Your own paycheck has federal income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare withheld, and your corporation pays the employer half.",[11,3986,3987,3988,3990,3991,3993,3994,3996],{},"At that point a pay stub is not optional bookkeeping — it is the payroll record for an employee who happens to own the company, and everything in ",[15,3989,1998],{"href":702}," applies to you. So do your state's rules: if you are an S corp owner-employee in ",[15,3992,116],{"href":115},", Labor Code § 226's nine items apply to your own stub. In ",[15,3995,123],{"href":122},", the three-year retention rule applies to it. There is no owner exemption.",[11,3998,3999],{},"Distributions on top of your salary are separate and are not wages. They do not go on the stub.",[29,4001,4003],{"id":4002},"if-you-are-a-single-member-llc-taxed-as-an-s-corp","If you are a single-member LLC taxed as an S corp",[11,4005,4006],{},"Same as above — the tax election is what matters, not the entity label. An LLC that elected S corporation treatment puts its working owner on payroll.",[29,4008,4010],{"id":4009},"what-actually-works-as-proof-of-income","What actually works as proof of income",[11,4012,4013],{},"This is usually the real question behind \"can I make a pay stub,\" and the honest answer is that for a sole proprietor, a self-issued stub is close to the weakest thing you could offer. Underwriters know what payroll records look like and they know a sole proprietorship does not produce them. What they generally want instead:",[108,4015,4016,4022,4028,4034,4040],{},[111,4017,4018,4021],{},[24,4019,4020],{},"Two years of tax returns",", including Schedule C and Schedule SE. This is the backbone for self-employed applicants.",[111,4023,4024,4027],{},[24,4025,4026],{},"1099-NEC forms"," from clients who paid you at least $2,000 in the year.",[111,4029,4030,4033],{},[24,4031,4032],{},"Bank statements"," showing deposits, usually 12 or 24 months.",[111,4035,4036,4039],{},[24,4037,4038],{},"A profit and loss statement",", sometimes prepared or reviewed by an accountant.",[111,4041,4042,4045],{},[24,4043,4044],{},"A CPA letter"," confirming your business and its income.",[11,4047,4048],{},"The $2,000 figure is recent, and the $600 one that most published advice still quotes is out of date: P.L. 119-21 raised the minimum threshold for reporting on these information returns to $2,000 for tax years beginning after 2025, and it may be adjusted for inflation from calendar year 2027. Expect fewer 1099s than you used to receive for the same work, and note that a client who falls under the threshold still owes you nothing on paper — the income is reportable by you either way.",[11,4050,4051,4052,4055],{},"If you are an S corp owner-employee, add your own ",[24,4053,4054],{},"W-2 and pay stubs"," to that list — those are real payroll records and they carry the weight they normally do.",[11,4057,4058,4059,4061,4062,4064],{},"Which of these a particular requester will actually accept is a separate question, and it has firmer answers than most people expect: a mortgage lender is following a federal verification rule, an immigration sponsor is working from a required exhibit list, and a benefits agency has a documented fallback. ",[15,4060,1459],{"href":1805}," goes through them. If you are on the other side of the arrangement and paying people on a 1099, ",[15,4063,1706],{"href":1705}," covers what you owe them and what you do not.",[11,4066,4067],{},"The practical implication: if you are a sole proprietor being asked for pay stubs, the productive move is to tell the requester how you are structured and offer returns, 1099s and bank statements. Most will accept it, because it is the standard package for self-employed applicants. Manufacturing a document to fit a form field you cannot legitimately fill is where people get themselves into real trouble — misrepresenting income to a lender is fraud regardless of how the document was produced.",[29,4069,4071],{"id":4070},"what-a-self-employed-income-statement-should-look-like","What a self-employed income statement should look like",[11,4073,4074],{},"If you want a document for your own records, a bookkeeper, or an informal request, keep it accurate about what it describes:",[108,4076,4077,4083,4089,4095,4101,4107],{},[111,4078,4079,4082],{},[24,4080,4081],{},"Business name and your name",", with the relationship stated — owner's draw, not wages.",[111,4084,4085,4088],{},[24,4086,4087],{},"The period covered",", with real dates.",[111,4090,4091,4094],{},[24,4092,4093],{},"Gross revenue for the period",", if you are summarising the business.",[111,4096,4097,4100],{},[24,4098,4099],{},"The amount actually drawn"," in that period.",[111,4102,4103,4106],{},[24,4104,4105],{},"Estimated tax set aside",", if you track it — quarterly estimated payments are the self-employed equivalent of withholding, and showing them is more informative than pretending there was withholding.",[111,4108,4109,4112],{},[24,4110,4111],{},"Year-to-date totals",", which are what make any income document useful.",[11,4114,4115],{},"The thing to avoid is a line labelled \"Federal income tax withheld\" on a draw where nothing was withheld. That single line is what turns a reference document into a misleading one.",[29,4117,4119],{"id":4118},"quarterly-estimated-tax-briefly","Quarterly estimated tax, briefly",[11,4121,4122],{},"Sole proprietors generally owe estimated tax four times a year rather than through withholding. The rough shape: self-employment tax of 15.3% on net profit (with the Social Security portion capped — the 2026 wage base is $184,500, the same cap that applies to employees), plus federal income tax on the profit, plus state income tax where your state has one. Half of the self-employment tax is deductible against income.",[11,4124,4125],{},"That capped Social Security portion is the same cap you would see on a W-2 employee's stub stopping in the autumn — the programme has one wage base, whether the money comes in through payroll or through Schedule SE.",[29,4127,4129],{"id":4128},"if-you-employ-someone-else","If you employ someone else",[11,4131,4132,4133,4135,4136,4138],{},"Different question entirely, and the answer is yes without qualification: once you have an employee, you have payroll obligations, and most states require a wage statement. ",[15,4134,1994],{"href":1993}," covers the whole sequence, and the ",[15,4137,708],{"href":707}," cover what your state specifically wants on the document.",[29,4140,4142],{"id":4141},"using-the-generator","Using the generator",[11,4144,4145,4147],{},[15,4146,283],{"href":282}," is built for wages: it applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables to a W-2 pay period. That is the right tool if you are an S corporation owner-employee paying yourself a salary, or if you are producing stubs for people you employ.",[11,4149,4150],{},"If you are a sole proprietor tracking draws, it will format a document, but nothing about your draw is subject to payroll withholding, and any tax lines it produces would describe a payroll relationship that does not exist. Use your Schedule C, your Schedule SE and your bank statements instead — they are what the situation actually calls for, and they are what anyone asking will actually want.",[29,4152,288],{"id":287},[108,4154,4155,4162,4169,4176,4181],{},[111,4156,4157],{},[15,4158,4161],{"href":4159,"rel":4160},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fbusinesses\u002Fsmall-businesses-self-employed\u002Fs-corporation-compensation-and-medical-insurance-issues",[297],"IRS — S corporation compensation and medical insurance issues",[111,4163,4164],{},[15,4165,4168],{"href":4166,"rel":4167},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fbusinesses\u002Fsmall-businesses-self-employed\u002Fself-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes",[297],"IRS — Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)",[111,4170,4171],{},[15,4172,4175],{"href":4173,"rel":4174},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irs.gov\u002Fbusinesses\u002Fsmall-businesses-self-employed\u002Festimated-taxes",[297],"IRS — Estimated taxes",[111,4177,4178],{},[15,4179,1432],{"href":1430,"rel":4180},[297],[111,4182,4183],{},[15,4184,2015],{"href":2013,"rel":4185},[297],{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":4187},[4188,4189,4190,4191,4192,4193,4194,4195,4196],{"id":3955,"depth":350,"text":3956},{"id":3976,"depth":350,"text":3977},{"id":4002,"depth":350,"text":4003},{"id":4009,"depth":350,"text":4010},{"id":4070,"depth":350,"text":4071},{"id":4118,"depth":350,"text":4119},{"id":4128,"depth":350,"text":4129},{"id":4141,"depth":350,"text":4142},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"Whether a self-employed person can issue their own pay stub, what changes if you run an S corporation, and what actually works as proof of income.","pay stubs for self-employed",{},{"title":1835,"description":4197},"blog\u002Fpay-stubs-for-self-employed","NhskvdnskBg135Pww1YlSQhOC8NlgYmBj_u0IBD9rvk",{"id":4204,"title":703,"body":4205,"date":3509,"description":4531,"draft":369,"extension":370,"keyword":1998,"meta":4532,"navigation":373,"path":702,"seo":4533,"stem":4534,"updated":377,"__hash__":4535},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-to-include-on-a-pay-stub.md",{"type":8,"value":4206,"toc":4522},[4207,4218,4221,4225,4228,4269,4272,4275,4279,4282,4288,4294,4300,4305,4311,4316,4322,4326,4329,4341,4346,4354,4366,4379,4390,4394,4400,4406,4410,4413,4435,4438,4442,4445,4473,4479,4481],[11,4208,4209,4210,4213,4214,4217],{},"There is no federal list of what belongs on a pay stub. The Fair Labor Standards Act tells employers what to ",[24,4211,4212],{},"keep",", not what to ",[24,4215,4216],{},"hand over",", and the Department of Labor is explicit that \"the Act requires no particular form for the records.\" Everything about the document itself — its layout, its wording, whether it exists at all — comes from state law, and state law varies more than almost anyone expects.",[11,4219,4220],{},"This guide covers three layers: the records federal law makes you keep, the lines a usable stub carries regardless of state, and the items individual states add on top.",[29,4222,4224],{"id":4223},"layer-one-what-federal-law-makes-you-keep","Layer one: what federal law makes you keep",[11,4226,4227],{},"For every non-exempt worker, an employer must maintain:",[108,4229,4230,4233,4236,4239,4242,4245,4248,4251,4254,4257,4260,4263,4266],{},[111,4231,4232],{},"full name and Social Security number",[111,4234,4235],{},"address, including ZIP code",[111,4237,4238],{},"birth date, if younger than 19",[111,4240,4241],{},"sex and occupation",[111,4243,4244],{},"the time and day of the week the workweek begins",[111,4246,4247],{},"hours worked each day and total hours worked each workweek",[111,4249,4250],{},"the basis on which wages are paid — \"$9 per hour\", \"$440 a week\", \"piecework\"",[111,4252,4253],{},"the regular hourly pay rate",[111,4255,4256],{},"total daily or weekly straight-time earnings",[111,4258,4259],{},"total overtime earnings for the workweek",[111,4261,4262],{},"all additions to and deductions from wages",[111,4264,4265],{},"total wages paid each pay period",[111,4267,4268],{},"the date of payment and the pay period it covers",[11,4270,4271],{},"Payroll records are kept at least three years. The records the wage computations are based on — time cards, piece work tickets, wage rate tables, work schedules, records of additions and deductions — are kept two years.",[11,4273,4274],{},"Read that list next to any real pay stub and the overlap is obvious. Federal recordkeeping does not require a stub, but it requires assembling almost everything a stub would show. That is why employers in states with no stub law usually issue one anyway: the data already exists.",[29,4276,4278],{"id":4277},"layer-two-the-lines-a-usable-stub-carries-anywhere","Layer two: the lines a usable stub carries anywhere",[11,4280,4281],{},"Whatever your state says, a stub that anyone can act on shows these:",[11,4283,4284,4287],{},[24,4285,4286],{},"Identification."," Employer legal name and address, employee name, and — this matters — no more than the last four digits of a Social Security number. California makes that a statutory rule; everywhere else it is simply the sane default. A full SSN on a document that travels through email and filing cabinets is a liability with no upside.",[11,4289,4290,4293],{},[24,4291,4292],{},"The pay period, stated as dates."," \"Period ending 08\u002F15\" is ambiguous. \"August 1–15, 2026, paid August 21, 2026\" is not. Ohio, New York and California all require the inclusive dates rather than a label.",[11,4295,4296,4299],{},[24,4297,4298],{},"Hours and rates, separated."," Regular hours at the regular rate, overtime hours at the overtime rate, each on its own line. A single \"gross pay\" figure with no arithmetic behind it is the single most common reason a stub gets questioned.",[11,4301,4302],{},[24,4303,4304],{},"Gross pay for the period.",[11,4306,4307,4310],{},[24,4308,4309],{},"Every deduction, itemized, with what it was for."," Federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, state income tax, and anything else — health premiums, 401(k), garnishments. Ohio's statute asks specifically for \"the amount and purpose of each addition to or deduction from\" wages, which is a good standard to hold yourself to even outside Ohio.",[11,4312,4313],{},[24,4314,4315],{},"Net pay.",[11,4317,4318,4321],{},[24,4319,4320],{},"Year-to-date columns."," Not universally required, but they are the reason a stub is accepted as proof of income at all. Illinois now writes year-to-date wages and deductions into its statutory definition of a pay stub.",[29,4323,4325],{"id":4324},"layer-three-what-your-state-adds","Layer three: what your state adds",[11,4327,4328],{},"The states diverge sharply, and in both directions.",[11,4330,4331,2787,4334,4336,4337,4340],{},[24,4332,4333],{},"States that specify a long list.",[15,4335,137],{"href":136}," requires the most: dates covered, employee name, employer name, employer address ",[2507,4338,4339],{},"and phone number",", the rate or rates of pay and the basis of them, gross wages, deductions, allowances claimed against the minimum wage, and net wages — plus regular and overtime rates and hours for anyone not exempt from overtime. It also requires the employer to explain in writing how the wages were computed if the employee asks.",[11,4342,4343,4345],{},[15,4344,116],{"href":115}," names nine items in Labor Code § 226 and prices mistakes per pay period: $50 for the first, $100 for each after, capped at $4,000, plus fees.",[11,4347,4348,2787,4351,4353],{},[24,4349,4350],{},"States that specify a short list.",[15,4352,3254],{"href":3253}," asks for hours worked, gross wages, the pay period and itemized deductions — and never mentions net pay. Nearly every Michigan stub shows it anyway, because payroll software prints it, but the statute does not compel it.",[11,4355,4356,2787,4359,4361,4362,4365],{},[24,4357,4358],{},"States that require only part of a stub.",[15,4360,3283],{"href":3282}," requires an itemized statement of ",[2507,4363,4364],{},"deductions",", and only for pay periods in which deductions were actually made. No gross, no net, no hours.",[11,4367,4368,2787,4371,1677,4373,4375,4376,4378],{},[24,4369,4370],{},"States that require nothing.",[15,4372,1676],{"href":1675},[15,4374,144],{"href":143}," have no pay stub statute at all. ",[15,4377,462],{"href":461}," is the subtlest case: § 62.003 does require an earnings statement, but § 62.151 removes anyone covered by the FLSA from that chapter, which is most of the workforce.",[11,4380,4381,2787,4384,4386,4387,4389],{},[24,4382,4383],{},"States that changed recently.",[15,4385,130],{"href":129}," had no pay stub law until April 9, 2025. ",[15,4388,123],{"href":122}," rewrote its rules effective January 1, 2025, adding a three-year retention duty and a right for former employees to demand copies for a year after they leave. If your compliance notes are more than two years old, they are wrong about at least one state.",[29,4391,4393],{"id":4392},"two-items-that-cause-most-of-the-trouble","Two items that cause most of the trouble",[11,4395,4396,4399],{},[24,4397,4398],{},"Overtime shown as a lump."," If a non-exempt employee cannot see how many hours were paid at which rate, the stub fails in New York and California outright and invites a wage claim everywhere else. Split the lines.",[11,4401,4402,4405],{},[24,4403,4404],{},"Deductions without a purpose."," \"Misc — $84.00\" is not an itemization. Several states require the purpose beside the amount, and every state's wage claim process starts with an employee who could not tell what came out of their pay.",[29,4407,4409],{"id":4408},"electronic-versus-paper","Electronic versus paper",[11,4411,4412],{},"Almost every state now accepts electronic delivery, but the conditions differ enough to matter:",[108,4414,4415,4420,4425,4430],{},[111,4416,4417,4419],{},[24,4418,130],{}," writes it into the statute — a written statement, an electronic statement, or access to a statement all comply.",[111,4421,4422,4424],{},[24,4423,116],{}," allows it on conditions from the Labor Commissioner: the employee can switch back to paper at any time, can print at work at no charge, and former employees get paper copies free on request.",[111,4426,4427,4429],{},[24,4428,137],{}," requires that workers be able to reach statements on a computer the employer provides and print a copy.",[111,4431,4432,4434],{},[24,4433,123],{}," goes furthest: if electronic stubs stop being reachable after someone leaves, the employer must offer them a record of the past year by the final pay period — and write down whether the offer was accepted.",[11,4436,4437],{},"The common thread is that \"electronic\" cannot mean \"unreachable.\" A portal an ex-employee is locked out of is not delivery.",[29,4439,4441],{"id":4440},"a-working-checklist","A working checklist",[11,4443,4444],{},"Build every stub with these, then add whatever your state requires on top:",[2780,4446,4447,4450,4453,4456,4459,4462,4465,4468,4470],{},[111,4448,4449],{},"Employer legal name and address",[111,4451,4452],{},"Employee name and no more than the last four SSN digits",[111,4454,4455],{},"Pay period start and end dates, plus the pay date",[111,4457,4458],{},"Regular hours × regular rate",[111,4460,4461],{},"Overtime hours × overtime rate, on separate lines",[111,4463,4464],{},"Gross pay",[111,4466,4467],{},"Each deduction, itemized, labelled with its purpose",[111,4469,3783],{},[111,4471,4472],{},"Year-to-date gross, deductions and net",[11,4474,4475,4478],{},[15,4476,4477],{"href":282},"Open the generator"," and it lays out exactly this, applies the 2026 federal, FICA and state withholding tables to the figures you enter, and lets you check the result before you commit to a payroll run.",[29,4480,288],{"id":287},[108,4482,4483,4488,4493,4498,4503,4508,4515],{},[111,4484,4485],{},[15,4486,3468],{"href":3466,"rel":4487},[297],[111,4489,4490],{},[15,4491,298],{"href":295,"rel":4492},[297],[111,4494,4495],{},[15,4496,1788],{"href":1786,"rel":4497},[297],[111,4499,4500],{},[15,4501,326],{"href":324,"rel":4502},[297],[111,4504,4505],{},[15,4506,319],{"href":317,"rel":4507},[297],[111,4509,4510],{},[15,4511,4514],{"href":4512,"rel":4513},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.legislature.mi.gov\u002FLaws\u002FMCL?objectName=mcl-408-479",[297],"MCL 408.479",[111,4516,4517],{},[15,4518,4521],{"href":4519,"rel":4520},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ncleg.gov\u002FEnactedLegislation\u002FStatutes\u002FHTML\u002FBySection\u002FChapter_95\u002FGS_95-25.13.html",[297],"N.C.G.S. § 95-25.13",{"title":349,"searchDepth":350,"depth":350,"links":4523},[4524,4525,4526,4527,4528,4529,4530],{"id":4223,"depth":350,"text":4224},{"id":4277,"depth":350,"text":4278},{"id":4324,"depth":350,"text":4325},{"id":4392,"depth":350,"text":4393},{"id":4408,"depth":350,"text":4409},{"id":4440,"depth":350,"text":4441},{"id":287,"depth":350,"text":288},"The lines every pay stub needs, the ones your state adds on top, and the two items that get employers into trouble more often than anything else.",{},{"title":703,"description":4531},"blog\u002Fwhat-to-include-on-a-pay-stub","rbC3kVloOHPQDXoRzR2yt2kcu4nH-iQM5NSXKY4Ph_8",1789202118229]