Arizona (AZ) Paycheck Calculator 2026

Arizona withholding is a percentage you choose

Arizona does not use allowances or brackets for withholding. Instead, you choose a flat percentage of gross taxable wages on Arizona Form A-4, and your employer withholds exactly that percentage from every check. For 2026 the choices are 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%, 3.5%. You can also ask for an extra dollar amount per paycheck.

State law requires the election to be made in writing within five days of starting a job. If you never hand in an A-4, the employer must withhold the default rate of 2.0%. You can file a new A-4 whenever your situation changes.

Which A-4 percentage fits a $60,000 salary?

Because Arizona's 2.5% flat tax applies only after the $15,750 standard deduction, your real tax is always a smaller share of gross pay than 2.5%. A single filer on $60,000 with no other income owes about $1,106 for 2026, or 1.84% of wages. Here is what each A-4 choice would withhold over a full year:

• For this worker the 2.0% default is a good fit: it over-withholds by about $94, while dropping to 1.5% would leave a balance of about $206 to pay in April.
• Married couples with one earner and workers with dependents owe less, because the joint standard deduction is twice as large and the dependent credit comes off the tax, so a lower percentage often fits them better.
• If you have side income with no withholding, a higher percentage is an easy way to cover it.

Other Arizona payroll rules worth knowing

A few provisions in Arizona's withholding law change what you see on your pay stub:

• December holiday: an employer may elect not to withhold Arizona tax in December, after notifying the Department of Revenue and telling employees in writing before July 1. If your employer does this, consider raising your A-4 percentage so the year still balances.
• Tax-credit donations: at your written request, an employer may reduce your withholding by the amount of an Arizona charitable, school tuition organization or public school tax credit you expect to claim, and send that money to the organization each quarter.
• Nonresidents on short assignments: wages paid to a nonresident who is in Arizona for less than 60 days in a calendar year, working for an employer with Arizona property, payroll and sales, are exempt from withholding (days in transit or at unrelated training do not count). Athletes and entertainers are excluded from this rule.
• Seasonal agricultural workers and domestic workers in private homes are also excluded from mandatory withholding, though they may elect to have tax withheld.

Arizona paychecks have no local or disability deductions

Arizona has no city or county income tax, no state disability insurance and no employee-paid paid-leave premium. Unemployment insurance is paid entirely by employers. So apart from federal income tax and FICA, your A-4 percentage is the only tax line you will see.

Tips and overtime are a special case. Arizona lets you subtract qualified tips and qualified overtime pay on your return, matching the federal deductions, but withholding is still taken as a percentage of the gross. If a large part of your pay is tips or overtime premium, you may get a refund and can choose a lower A-4 rate.