Clerkship bonus withholding.
Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2025 11:03 pm
60% of my clerkship bonus was subject to tax withholding in NYC. That has to be a mistake right? What were the withholding rates on some of your bonuses.
Best to just email someone in payroll/accounting and ask because they can make some choices on their end.
FICA can add 8.55% for high earners, fed rate can be 22% or more (depending on if you've earned $1M+ in "supplemental" pay for that year - a bonus is supplemental pay - can be instead 37%), state + NYC taxes can be 15.95%. Can also be higher than 22% if they use the aggregate pay method for the feds (i.e., they use your normal tax rate, not the 22% flat rate for supplemental pay).
Bonus taxes hurt (same for overtime pay, though we don't see that as exempt). I never expect more than 50% of a bonus in pocket, and I usually see a 50% hit but I don't live in NYC.
Regardless, it will all true up when you file your various tax forms.