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PaycheckDesk

Kentucky · tax year 2026

Does Kentucky tax tips and overtime?

Neither deduction reduces your state tax.

Kentucky charges a flat 3.5% on federal AGI less a $3,360 standard deduction. Under HB 757 it decoupled from both federal deductions, so neither reduces your Kentucky tax. Many Kentucky cities and counties also levy a local occupational tax, which is not included here.

What it means on a real paycheck

Take a single filer earning $50,000 a year, $8,000 of it in tips. Against the same person with no tips to declare, the federal deduction is worth $960.

In Kentucky it is worth nothing extra. The state bill is identical either way, so $960 is the whole of it.

How Kentucky works out the tax

Kentucky charges a flat 3.5%, after a standard deduction of $3,360. It begins from your federal adjusted gross income and applies its own reliefs from there.

Your own numbers

Your gross pay before any taxes or deductions.

Married filing separately cannot claim these deductions at all, so it is not offered here.

Traditional, pre-tax. Lowers income tax but not Social Security or Medicare.

Pre-tax cafeteria-plan premiums. These lower income tax and FICA.

Take-home pay per paycheck (26 per year)

$1,921

$49,945 a year after taxes and deductions.

Kentucky charges a flat 3.5% on federal AGI less a $3,360 standard deduction. Under HB 757 it decoupled from both federal deductions, so neither reduces your Kentucky tax. Many Kentucky cities and counties also levy a local occupational tax, which is not included here. See what that costs you →

Where the money goes each year

Gross salary$62,000
Federal income taxTop rate applied: 12%−$5,260
Social Security−$3,844
Medicare−$899
State income tax (KY)Flat 3.50% on $58,640 of state taxable income−$2,052
Take-home pay$49,945

Per paycheck

Gross$2,385
Taxes withheld−$464
Net$1,921

Estimate for tax year 2026 assuming the standard deduction, no dependents or credits, and even pay across the year. Your employer withholds using your Form W-4, so an individual paycheck can differ. Effective total tax rate: 19.44%. Not tax advice.

Where these figures come from

Kentucky’s rates and reliefs here were taken from Kentucky’s own publication and last checked on 2026-07-31. A state appears in this calculator only once its figures have been read off that state’s own paperwork and covered by tests — never estimated, and never copied from another site.

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.

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