Arizona Salary Paycheck and Payroll Calculator

Arizona Salary Paycheck Calculator

While the sun may be a scorcher in the desert, don’t let payroll taxes burn you. With answers to the most common Arizona payroll tax questions, this guide will be your payroll oasis.

Arizona payroll taxes

Here’s what you need to know about withholding payroll taxes in Arizona.

• Arizona payroll taxes start with employees filling out Form A-4. This information helps you determine how much you should withhold.

• If an employee does not complete this form, you will need to withhold tax as though no exemptions were claimed.

• Employees need to update Form A-4 in case of life events (such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, etc.) which may impact their taxes.

• The personal income tax rate in Arizona is 2.5%.

• Arizona has reciprocity with the following states: California, Indiana, Oregon and Virginia.

Additional Arizona forms

In addition to Form A-4 mentioned above, Arizona employers also need to file the following forms:

1. Payment of AZ Income Tax Withholding (A1-WP)*

2. Quarterly Withholding Tax Return (A1-QRT)

3. Withholding Reconciliation Return (A1-R)

4. Wage and Tax Statement (State W2)

5. AZ Report for New Hire

6. Unemployment Tax and Wage Report (UC-018)

Arizona unemployment tax rate

Arizona requires most employers to pay unemployment insurance tax to help compensate workers who are out of work through no fault of their own.

• Employers pay Arizona unemployment tax on the first $8,000 of an employee’s wages.

• New employers pay at a rate of 2%.

• Experienced employers pay at a rate of 0.07–18.78%.

• Unemployment tax in Arizona should be paid quarterly, and payments can be made online.

Paying Arizona taxes

Here’s what you need to know about paying Arizona taxes:

• How often employers pay depends on the amount of tax you withhold in a year. 

• Arizona’s payment frequencies are: annual, quarterly, monthly, semi-weekly, or next day. 

Arizona salary threshold

Because Arizona doesn’t have its own salary threshold, it adheres to the federal salary threshold.

• The federal salary threshold is now $684 per week on a salary basis.

• The Department of Labor permits employers to count some bonuses, commissions, and other incentive payments toward meeting the standard salary level (up to 10%).

• Employees who earn at least $107,432 per year may qualify as 'highly compensated.'

• See this Department of Labor fact sheet for details.

Workers’ Compensation

Requirements to obtain Workers' Compensation vary by state. This table outlines some of these requirements. If you determine that your company is required to purchase Workers' Compensation insurance in your state, learn how to sign up for this insurance with Gusto. Sometimes, companies get a request for a workers' comp audit—head to this article and click the workers’ comp audit reports dropdown for more information.

New hires

Employers in Arizona need to report new employees.

• New hires must be reported to Arizona New Hire Reporting.

• New hires must be reported within 20 days of their first day of work.

Payroll stubs

You must provide a pay stub to every employee that includes:

1. Company’s legal name and address

2. Employee’s name and last four digits of their Social Security number

3. Pay period beginning and end dates

4. Total hours worked

5. Rate of pay

6. Gross wages

7. The amount and reason for any deduction

Final paychecks

Employers must pay final wages to employees within a certain timeframe, depending on the circumstances for leaving.

• If a worker voluntarily resigns, final wages are due by the next regular payday.

• For layoffs and involuntary terminations of employment, final wages are due within seven working days or the next scheduled payday, whichever is sooner.

Time off

Arizona law requires employers to provide the following types of time off to employees.

• Jury duty

• Voting leave: If an employee gives you notice before Election Day, you have to give them three hours off to vote unless the polls are open for three hours before or after their shift. You can specify the hours they take off to vote.

• Sick leave

• Domestic violence applies to all employers under paid sick leave law

Federal payroll taxes

In addition to Arizona-specific taxes, both you and your employees will pay a variety of federal payroll taxes. Check out the breakdown below.

Federal income tax

Unless they are exempt, your employees will pay federal income tax.

• You must withhold federal income tax from employees’ pay, unless they are exempt.

• Each employee’s Form W-4 will differ based on their filing status and dependents, among other details—so the amount of income tax to be withheld will vary.

• Form W-4 does not need to be sent to the IRS, but should be kept for your records.

FICA

Both you and your employees will pay Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or FICA tax.

• FICA is made up of the Medicare tax and the Social Security tax.

• In 2023, the Social Security tax requires employers and employees to each contribute 6.2% of wages up to $2,600.

• The Medicare tax requires employers and employees to each contribute 1.45% of all wages.

• See the IRS webpage for details, like maximum thresholds.

FUTA

Like the state, the federal government also has an unemployment tax, called FUTA, which is paid by employers.

• FUTA is an annual tax an employer pays on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages.

• The FUTA rate for 2023 is 6.0%, but many employers are able to pay less, for instance, up to 5.4% each year due to tax credits.

• Most employers will pay this tax annually with Form 940. But larger employers with more than $500 in tax due will have to pay quarterly.

Additional Medicare tax

The Additional Medicare tax is paid by employees. Here’s what you should know:

• For employees that earn over $200,000 per year, 0.9% of earnings will need to be withheld for the Additional Medicare tax. 

• Whether or not your employee owes this tax may depend on their filing status.

Paying federal taxes

How often you’ll pay federal payroll taxes depends on how much you owe.

• Semi-weekly or monthly payments are required for federal withholding, Additional Medicare, and FICA taxes. And every quarter, a summary payroll tax return is due on Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.

• Quarterly or annual payments are required for federal unemployment tax. Most employers will pay annually, but quarterly payments are necessary if you owe more than $500. Each time you make a payment, you’ll need to file a payroll tax return on Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return.

The takeaway

If you don’t love manual number crunching and payroll taxes sound overwhelming to you, take advantage of Gusto’s full-service payroll options or use an experienced accountant to help you with the process.