Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why can't I change the state/year/number of deductions?
2. Why won't the state change from Arizona?
3. Why can't I enter "0" deductions?  I don't claim any.
4. Why does my paycheck not match the calculations?
5. Where do you get the percentages for withholding?
6. How does your calculator handle wage bases(SDI, Social Security, etc.)?
7. Is this accurate?
8. Why can't I print anything?
9. What if I need calculations for a multi-state withholding or live in one state and work in another?
10. How do I know what to enter into the fields?
11. What does "Please enter only digit characters" mean?
12. How often are the calculations updated?

1. Why can't I change the state/year/number of deductions? The Paycheck Calculators use a cookie file to "remember" these settings. When this file becomes corrupt, users are unable to change the state, number of deductions or the tax year. The calculator will probably be "stuck" on your last settings. If you delete the cookie file, the form will reset to Arizona and allow you to again customize the calculator to your settings. In Internet Explorer, this is done in the Tools>Internet Options section. Click the Delete Files button. Once your computer stops grinding, click the Settings button then View Files. In this screen somewhere will be a cookie file with paycheckcity.com as the name. Delete it. Quit and re-launch your browser.
2. Why won't the state change from Arizona? The Paycheck Calculators use a cookie file to "remember" your state, year and other entries. If you have cookies disabled, you will not be able to calculate paychecks or change the state or year. The form will refresh likely back to the default state, Arizona.
3. Why can't I enter "0" deductions? I don't claim any. The Deduction section is for optional items subtracted from the paycheck such as 401(k) plan, medical insurance withholding and parking fees. If you leave this section blank, it will be ignored. Allowances are used in tax calculations and need to be entered into the fields specified in the General Information and State Information sections.
4. Why does my paycheck not match the calculations? There are many reasons your actual paycheck may not match the calculator result. Most of the time, errors are related to incorrect number of state or federal allowances entered, or incorrectly entered deductions.  We recommend you go to your payroll department and obtain the values they are using in the calculation of your paycheck.
5. Where do you get the percentages for withholding? Often the formulas are readily available on the website of the revenue department of the state or the IRS. We obtain the formulas directly from the IRS and the state revenue departments. Our calculators support withholding in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and all U.S. territories.
6. How does your calculator handle wage bases(SDI, Social Security, etc.)? Because our calculators do not store any information, it is up to the user to provide necessary details to stop deductions with wage bases at the correct point. On the top of every calculator form, there is a field marked "Gross Pay YTD". This field lets us know how much gross pay you have earned through the last paycheck. The calculator will add the current gross pay to the year-to-date value to determine if withholding for your wage-based deduction should stop.
7. Is this accurate? Accuracy is our number one priority. Before being released to the general public all calculations are tested by hand with official tax tables. Until accuracy is verified to the penny, we are not satisfied. Because payroll systems use different methods to calculate withholding, an answer within 1-5 cents is considered acceptable.
8. Why can't I print anything? There are three possibilities. First, to use the printing features of the online calculators, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or higher installed. If you have this installed already and are still unable to print, try removing it and installing a fresh copy from the Adobe website. Secondly, make sure you are viewing and printing the forms online. You cannot save the forms to your computer for viewing later. Because the forms are created on the fly, the data is not actually stored in the form. Lastly, make sure you have the correct browser and path set up in your Acrobat Web Preferences section.
9. What if I need calculations for a multi-state withholding or live in one state and work in another? At this time, the online paycheck calculators do not support withholdings for multiple states on one paycheck.
10. How do I know what to enter into the fields? After clicking the name of a field, a box will open with instructions on what goes into that field. Each field name has its own help.
11. What does "Please enter only digit characters" mean? Safeguards are built into the calculator to make sure numbers are the only entries into number fields. The most common reason for this is the use of the letter "O" instead of the number "0" and the use of commas in larger numbers.
12. How often are the calculations updated?New calculations are added to the calculators as soon as the effective date arrives. We are notified directly by the states in many cases as soon as a change becomes available.