How much tax is taken out of my paycheck in West Virginia?

Unless you have asked for the lower rate, the amount comes from the state's two earner tables, read against your wage after every exemption you claim on the IT-104 has been taken off it. You may claim one for yourself, one for a spouse not claimed on another certificate and one for each dependent. A city service fee, in the cities that charge one, is a deduction of the city's own, which this page leaves aside.

What are the income tax rates in West Virginia?

The same ones in both of the state's sets of tables, climbing in steps from the lowest rate to the highest. What differs is where each step begins: the set for two earners or two jobs, which employers use unless asked otherwise, starts every step after the first at a lower wage, so more of the pay is reached by the higher rates.

How do I get the lower withholding rate in West Virginia?

Check line 5 on the IT-104 and give the form to your employer, who then withholds from the one earner tables. The form allows it only if you are single, a head of household or married to a spouse who does not work, and you receive wages from one job only. Tick the line 5 answer above to see what it does to your figure.

Which West Virginia table applies if my spouse also works?

The two earner set, and asking for the lower rate does not move you off it, because line 5 of the IT-104 is not open to a married employee whose spouse works. A second job has the same effect. Both cases are the ones the default set was drawn for, so here either answer leaves the line 5 box with nothing to change.

Do I owe West Virginia tax if I live in a neighboring state?

Not on your wages, if you live in Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Virginia and wages are your only income from West Virginia. You file the IT-104NR certificate of nonresidence and your employer stops withholding West Virginia tax. This calculator does not ask where you live, so its figure is what is withheld from a resident.

Are 401(k) contributions taxed by West Virginia?

Not when they are taken out of pay. West Virginia says that pay subject to federal withholding is subject to its own, and its income starts from federal adjusted gross income, none of whose West Virginia modifications adds back a 401(k) deferral or a cafeteria plan premium. Both come off the wage before the exemptions and the tables.

West Virginia paycheck calculator

West Virginia prints its percentage tables twice over, and the set an employer starts from is the one headed for two earners or two jobs. The other set, headed for a single earner, is optional: it is read only for an employee who asks for the lower rate on line 5 of the IT-104, and only someone single, a head of household or married to a spouse who does not work, paid by one job, may ask for it. Within either set every filing status reads the same rows, and each exemption claimed comes off the wage before they are read.

Take-home pay

$1,621.85

per bi-weekly (26 per year) period

Gross pay: $2,000.00
Federal Income Tax: −$156.15
Social Security: −$124.00
Medicare: −$29.00
WV State Income Tax: −$69.00
Net pay: $1,621.85

Carries these figures into a full West Virginia pay stub you can preview and download.

How West Virginia withholding is worked out

With nothing ticked, the figure here comes from the two earner tables, which the state tells employers to use for everyone who has not asked otherwise. Ticking Asked for the lower rate on IT-104 line 5 moves it onto the one earner tables, but only while Works more than one job is unticked and the spouse is not said to have earned income: the form takes the request from nobody else, and this calculator reads a box ticked by someone it does not name as not ticked, since line 5 is silent on that case. The two sets charge the same rates and differ only in where each rate begins, so the requested set never withholds more on the same wage. Compensation subject to federal withholding is subject to West Virginia's, and the state's income starts from federal adjusted gross income with no modification that adds back a cafeteria plan premium or a 401(k) deferral. Only the state tax is worked out here: some cities, Charleston among them, charge a flat weekly service fee on people working there, and that fee is not included.

These are withholding figures: what an employer takes out of one paycheck, which is not the same calculation as the one on an annual return.

West Virginia prints two sets of tables, each one schedule for every filing status. West Virginia withholds by its two earner tables unless the employee checks line 5 of Form IT-104. Only someone single, head of household or married to a spouse who does not work, with wages from one job, may check it. Wages are annualised first, so the figures below are annual.

Two earners, or two or more jobs: every filing status
Annual wages	Tax on the lower figure	Rate on the rest
$0.00 to $7,500.00	$0.00	2.11%
$7,500.00 to $18,750.00	$158.25	2.81%
$18,750.00 to $30,000.00	$474.38	3.16%
$30,000.00 to $45,000.00	$829.88	4.22%
$45,000.00 and up	$1,462.88	4.58%

One earner, one job: every filing status
Annual wages	Tax on the lower figure	Rate on the rest
$0.00 to $10,000.00	$0.00	2.11%
$10,000.00 to $25,000.00	$211.00	2.81%
$25,000.00 to $40,000.00	$632.50	3.16%
$40,000.00 to $60,000.00	$1,106.50	4.22%
$60,000.00 and up	$1,950.50	4.58%

Exemption per allowance: $2,000.00
Taken off the income before the schedule.

West Virginia withholds whole dollars: the amount for each pay period is taken to the nearest dollar.

State tax only. Some West Virginia cities charge a flat weekly service fee on people who work in the city, withheld from the pay.

IT-100.2A prints two complete sets of tables and both are loaded. The unmarked set is headed "TWO EARNER/TWO OR MORE JOBS. Married filing jointly, both working/individual earning wages from two jobs" and its rungs sit lower; the set headed "OPTIONAL ONE EARNER/ONE JOB. Single, head of household or married with nonemployed spouse" is read only on request. IT-100.1A says "The two-earner tables should be used for all employees unless the employee has requested on the IT-104 that tax should be withheld at a lower rate. In that case, the one-earner tables should be utilized", and line 5 of the IT-104 takes the request only from someone "Single, Head of Household, or Married and your spouse does not work, and you are receiving wages from only one job". So an employee who has not asked is withheld by the two earner set. This entry withholds by it as well from one who asked while holding a second job or with a spouse who works, whatever the filing status: that is a reading of line 5, which names who may check the box and says nothing of a box checked by anyone else. The exemption is $2,000 a year in both. West Virginia reaches the federal base through three documents. TSD-381 (Rev. September 2025) states one direction, "Compensation subject to Federal withholding is subject to West Virginia withholding"; Code 11-21-71(a) makes the employer withhold the tax due "resulting from the inclusion in the employee's West Virginia adjusted gross income of wages received during such calendar year"; and 11-21-12(a) defines that income as "his or her federal adjusted gross income as defined in the laws of the United States for the taxable year with the modifications specified in this section". None of those modifications names a cafeteria plan, a 401(k) or deferred compensation. Senate Bill 392 cut the rates "retroactive to January 1, 2026", as the Tax Division's page on the 2026 rate cut puts it, and IT-100.2A is dated March 2026; when employers had to move to the new tables the department's own text does not say. This entry applies them from 1 January, as the law does, so a stub for a period paid before the switch shows the tax as cut and not what an employer withheld then. That is the owner's decision of 2026-10-28.

West Virginia sources

Frequently asked questions

What West Virginia law asks of a pay stub

Whether a stub is required, how it may be delivered, and the minimum wage and pay frequency rules.

West Virginia pay stub requirements