Gross-Up Calculator
Sometimes you know the number that has to arrive — a $5,000 relocation payment, a guaranteed net salary, a make-whole payment — and you need to know what to gross it up to. This calculator solves the circular problem for 2026.
Tax year 2026 · Updated 2026-08-29 · Federal, state and local withholding · Free, no sign-up
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Why grossing up is harder than dividing
The intuitive approach is to divide the net by one minus the tax rate. That works only if the tax rate is flat. With graduated federal brackets, a Social Security wage base that stops partway up, an Additional Medicare Tax that starts at $200,000 and a state schedule of its own, the effective rate depends on the answer you are looking for.
This calculator solves it numerically: it searches for the gross figure whose computed net matches your target exactly, using the same engine as every other tool on the site.
When employers gross up
Relocation and moving expenses are the classic case, since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made most employer-paid moving costs taxable to the employee. Expatriate tax equalisation is another, where the employee is guaranteed the same net pay they would have had at home. Legal settlements and severance packages are often expressed net. And retention or referral bonuses are sometimes promised as a clean figure — 'you will receive $5,000' — which means the employer must gross it up.
The cost is not small. Delivering $5,000 net to a mid-career employee in a state with income tax typically costs the employer between $7,500 and $8,500 once federal withholding, FICA and state tax are covered.
Gross-up on a bonus versus on salary
If the payment is supplemental wages handled under the flat percentage method, the arithmetic is much simpler: divide the net by one minus the sum of the flat rates. At 22% federal, 7.65% FICA and a 5% state rate, that is a divisor of 0.6535, so $5,000 net requires $7,652 gross. Use the bonus tax calculator for that case.
This page solves the harder version, where the payment sits inside an annual salary and the graduated brackets apply.
Frequently asked questions
What is a gross-up?
Paying an employee extra so that after tax they receive a specific net amount. The employer absorbs the tax cost of the payment rather than the employee.
What is the gross-up formula?
For flat-rate supplemental wages, gross = net ÷ (1 − total tax rate). For salary subject to graduated brackets there is no closed formula, which is why this calculator solves it iteratively.
Is a grossed-up payment still taxable?
Yes. The entire grossed-up amount is taxable wages and appears on the employee's W-2. The gross-up simply ensures the tax is covered so the net lands as promised.