Montana · rates effective Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026 · verified 2026-08-12
Montana Paycheck Calculator 2026
4.7-5.65% state brackets on taxable wages in Montana — no local income tax, no state payroll deduction.
Montana taxes two bands in 2026 - 4.7% and 5.65% - and it no longer has a standard deduction of its own: the state starts from your federal taxable income. This calculator runs the 2026 rates from House Bill 337, and its bracket thresholds reconcile to the dollar with the state's own withholding tables.
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
Montana's top rate is 5.65% in 2026. Payroll guides still quoting 5.9% are describing 2025, and the same 2025 law drops the rate again to 5.4% in 2027 - three vintages sit in the statute at once, which is why the year matters more here than in most states. The lower band is 4.7%, and it runs to $47,500 of taxable income for a single filer, $95,000 filing jointly, $71,250 as head of household.
Montana has no standard deduction any more
This surprises people who moved from another state. Montana repealed its own standard deduction and now begins from your federal taxable income, so the amount that comes off your pay before the state brackets apply is the federal one - $16,100 single, $32,200 joint, $24,150 head of household in 2026. There is a clean way to check that this is right: take the top of the 4.7% band in Montana's published withholding tables and subtract the federal deduction. Single, $63,600 minus $16,100 is $47,500. Joint, $127,200 minus $32,200 is $95,000. The two documents close to the dollar on all three statuses.
Nothing else comes out for the state
Montana runs no disability insurance, no paid family leave and no employee unemployment share. Deducting either unemployment tax or workers' compensation premium from wages is illegal here, not merely unusual. And no Montana city or county can tax income at all - the power was never delegated. Apart from federal tax and FICA, the only state line on a Montana stub is income tax withholding.
Two rates: 4.7% on taxable income up to $47,500 for a single filer ($95,000 filing jointly, $71,250 head of household), and 5.65% above that. The 5.9% figure still circulating is the 2025 rate.
Does Montana have a standard deduction?
Not its own. Montana repealed it and starts from your federal taxable income, so the federal standard deduction - $16,100 single, $32,200 joint, $24,150 head of household in 2026 - is what applies before the state brackets.
What is taken out of a Montana paycheck besides income tax?
For the state, nothing. Montana has no disability or paid-leave contribution, and taking unemployment or workers' compensation costs out of wages is against the law. The rest of your deductions are federal: income tax, Social Security and Medicare.
Do any Montana cities tax income?
No. Montana local governments have no power to tax income unless the legislature expressly delegates it, and it never has. There is no city or county income tax anywhere in the state.
What form sets my Montana withholding?
Form MW-4. It asks for your federal filing status rather than a number of allowances - Montana dropped allowances entirely. If you never file one, your employer withholds as single.
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:
Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Employer Handbook, page 7; and Montana Code Annotated 39-71-406 — Unemployment insurance contributions are paid by the employer and may not be deducted from wages: "It is against the law to deduct UI taxes from your employees' wages." Workers' compensation premium likewise: "It is unlawful for the employer to deduct or obtain any part of any premium required to be paid by this chapter from the wages or earnings of the employer's workers."
Verified 2026-08-12
Montana Code Annotated 7-1-112, Powers requiring delegation — No Montana city or county taxes income. A self-governing local unit may not exercise, without express legislative delegation, "the power to authorize a tax on income or the sale of goods or services", and no such delegation exists for income tax.
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.
Cite this pageCalceva, “Montana Paycheck Calculator (2026),” verified 2026-08-12, https://calceva.com/montana-paycheck-calculator/