Arizona · rates effective Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026 · verified 2026-08-12
Arizona Paycheck Calculator 2026
2.5% flat state tax rate in Arizona — no local income tax, no state payroll deduction.
Arizona has the lowest flat income tax of any flat-tax state: 2.5%. What you elect on Form A-4 (0.5% to 3.5% of gross) controls your paycheck withholding, but your actual tax is 2.5% of taxable income after the federal-matching standard deduction. This calculator shows the real number.
Official 2026 tables, never copiedSources stamped & dated99 golden tests before publish
CEBy the Calceva data desk · Verified against official sources · Updated 2026-08-12 · 3 min read
Arizona charges a flat 2.5% on taxable income, the lowest flat rate among the states covered on this site. But your pay stub probably does not show 2.5%, and that confuses almost everyone. Arizona withholding runs on Form A-4, where you elect a flat percentage of your gross wages - and the default election is 2.0%.
Those are two different bases. Your real tax is 2.5% of taxable income, which means income after Arizona's standard deduction ($16,100 single, matching the federal amount). Your withholding is your elected percentage of gross, before any deduction. Depending on which A-4 box you ticked, you can land ahead of your real bill or behind it, and the difference settles at your tax return.
This calculator shows the real annual liability. Compare it with your elected rate times your salary, and you will know today whether April brings a refund or a bill.
Two numbers make that concrete. On a $60,000 salary the tax
actually owed is $1,097.50. Leave your A-4 alone and the default 2.0% withholds
about $1,200 over the year, so you finish roughly $102 ahead. Tick the 2.5% box
and you withhold about $1,500, finishing about $400 ahead. Neither is a mistake
by the state - the lever is the box you ticked, and it is in your hands.
One figure on this page is not final yet
Arizona has not published its 2026 standard deduction. The $16,100 above is
the federal amount that Arizona's own indexation rule points to, and it is the
best number available - but the state's own estimated-tax form still tells
taxpayers to estimate 2026 using the 2025 figure of $15,750, which would put
the tax at $1,106.25 instead of $1,097.50. About nine dollars a year. We would
rather show you the difference than let a clean number imply a certainty the
state has not yet given. Everything else on this page is firm, and we will
re-check when the 2026 Form 140 appears.
Why does my Arizona stub withhold 2.0% when the tax rate is 2.5%?
Form A-4 has you elect a flat percentage of gross wages, and 2.0% is the default election. The actual tax is 2.5% of taxable income - a smaller base, after the standard deduction. The two numbers serve different purposes and rarely match exactly.
How do I know if my A-4 election covers my real Arizona tax?
Multiply your elected percentage by your annual gross pay, then compare it with the state tax this calculator shows. If your withholding runs lower than the liability, expect to pay the difference at filing; higher, and you have built yourself a refund.
Do Phoenix, Tucson, or Mesa tax paychecks?
No. No Arizona city or county levies a wage tax - the 2.5% state line is the whole story.
We never copy another calculator. Each rate is read from the official document, dated, and re-checked when agencies publish changes. This page's paper trail:
Arizona Revised Statutes 43-401, read in full on azleg.gov — A.R.S. 43-401 requires the employer to withhold the percentage of gross taxable wages elected by the employee on Form A-4, and directs the department to prescribe a default percentage for employees who file no A-4. Our implementation applies the elected percentage and reproduces the department's worked example: 2,000 of biweekly wages at an elected 2.5% gives 50.00 withheld.
Verified 2026-08-12
Arizona Form A-4 (2026), ADOR 10121 (25), page 1, box 1; and Employer's Instructions for the Arizona Form A-4 (2026), page 1 — An employee with no Form A-4 on file is withheld at 2.0% of gross taxable wages: "If you do not give this form to your employer the department requires your employer to withhold 2.0% of your gross taxable wages." The employer instructions match: "the employer must withhold Arizona income tax at the default rate, 2.0% of the employee's wages". The electable percentages are 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0% and 3.5%, plus an optional extra flat amount per paycheck and a separate zero election under certification.
Verified 2026-08-12
Arizona Revised Statutes 43-1041(A)(1) and (H); federal amounts from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 3.11(1) (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf) — Standard deduction for 2026: 16,100 single or married filing separately, 32,200 married filing jointly, 24,150 head of household. Arizona does not copy the federal figure - A.R.S. 43-1041(A) sets its own amounts and subsection (H) borrows only the federal INDEXATION METHOD: the department "shall adjust the dollar amounts ... for inflation in the same manner in which the federal basic standard deduction is adjusted for inflation pursuant to section 63 of the internal revenue code". The amounts above are the federal 2026 figures that provision points to.
Federal lines
Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare on this page follow IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, Publication 15 and Publication 15-T, verified 2026-08-07. Our federal engine reproduces 2,175 of 2,175 Publication 15-T cells on every build. The six federal sources, itemised.
Matches the agency
Reproduces the agency’s own published figures. Our implementation of the Arizona withholding formula reproduces the worked example of Arizona A.R.S. 43-401 (withholding tax; rates; election by employee) + ADOR worked example exactly as the agency prints it, re-checked on every build. Check them in the official PDF.
Cite this pageCalceva, “Arizona Paycheck Calculator (2026),” verified 2026-08-12, https://calceva.com/arizona-paycheck-calculator/