Guide
What counts as qualified overtime
The deduction is narrower than the phrase suggests. These are the edges people get wrong.
The definition
Qualified overtime compensation is the premium required by the Fair Labor Standards Act — the amount paid above your regular rate for hours beyond 40 in a workweek. Two conditions do the heavy lifting: it must be the premium portion, and it must be required by the FLSA.
Only the half, never the whole
Time-and-a-half splits into a base (1.0×) and a premium (0.5×). Only the premium qualifies. If your pay stub shows an overtime line of $600, the deductible piece is $200, not $600.
Double time
Where double time is paid, the FLSA still only requires half-time premium. The portion above what federal law requires is contractual, not FLSA-mandated, so it generally does not qualify. The safe assumption is that your deduction tracks the FLSA half-time premium regardless of how generous your employer or contract is.
State-only overtime
Several states require daily overtime — California pays it after eight hours in a day, for example — where federal law would not. Premiums owed only because of a state rule, not the FLSA, fall outside the federal definition. A California worker who tops eight hours daily but stays under 40 weekly may get state overtime pay with no federal deduction attached.
Shift differentials and bonuses
A night-shift differential or a weekend premium is extra pay for when you worked, not for exceeding 40 hours. It is ordinary wages. Bonuses are the same. However, a non-discretionary bonus can raise your regular rate, which in turn raises the overtime premium that does qualify.
Exempt employees
If you are exempt from the FLSA — most salaried professional, administrative and executive roles — you are not owed FLSA overtime, so extra pay for long hours does not qualify. Being paid a salary does not automatically make you exempt, but being exempt does rule you out.
Your employer’s reporting decides it
From tax year 2026, only qualified overtime reported separately on your W-2 is deductible. Whatever the rules say in the abstract, in practice the number on that form is what you can claim. If your pay stub does not break out the premium, raise it with payroll before year end rather than in April.
Work out your own premium
Your estimated qualified overtime deduction
$4,608
Cuts your taxable income by $4,608 when you file.
Federal tax you would save
$553
Roughly $553 more refund, or that much less owed, for tax year 2026.
Your paycheck will not change. Your employer keeps withholding tax the same way. This deduction only shows up when you file your return in early 2027 — it arrives as a bigger refund, not as bigger paychecks.
How we got there
Your year at a glance
Estimate for tax year 2026 using the published IRS figures. It assumes you take the standard deduction, have no dependents or credits, and that all of your overtime is FLSA-qualifying and separately reported by your employer. It is not tax advice.
Figures on this page are for tax year 2026 and were last checked against the primary sources on 2026-07-31. See our sources. This is an estimate, not tax advice.