This glossary collects 25 payroll terms that appear on wage statements, grouped by which part of the document they belong to. Each entry says what the line means where you read it, and points at the page that works through the arithmetic behind it — there are no rate tables here, because any figure copied into a word list is the one that goes out of date first. Ten of the entries carry a link to a page of their own; the other fifteen stop at the definition, because a line like wage base is fully explained by one sentence.
Pay and hours
The lines that describe what the period earned.
Gross pay
The total value of the work in one pay period before anything is taken out: base wages or salary, plus overtime, differentials, bonuses and any reimbursement payroll treats as income.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is Gross Pay? Definition and Example.
Net pay
Gross pay minus total deductions — the figure that matches the deposit. Printed as take-home pay, net wages or amount paid depending on the payroll system.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is Net Pay? Definition and Example.
Regular rate
Total remuneration for a workweek divided by the hours worked. It is the base the overtime premium is computed on, and non-discretionary bonuses, commissions and shift differentials are inside it, so it can exceed the base hourly wage.
Overtime
Hours beyond the applicable threshold, paid at 1.5× the regular rate. Federally the threshold is 40 hours in a workweek; some states also count hours in a day.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is the Overtime Rate? 1.5x Explained.
Pay period
The span of work one stub covers. It is not automatically the unit overtime is measured in: a bi-weekly stub summarises two separate workweeks.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is a Pay Period? Schedules Explained.
Year to date (YTD)
Running totals from 1 January of the current year through the period being reported. A column per earnings type, per tax and per deduction.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is YTD on a Pay Stub? Year to Date.
Exempt
A position that meets the duties and salary tests, so the overtime provisions do not reach it. Decided by the actual work and pay structure, not by the job title.
Nonexempt
A position that does not meet those tests, so overtime is owed for hours past the threshold. Being paid a salary does not by itself make a role exempt.
FLSA
The Fair Labor Standards Act — the federal statute behind minimum wage, the 40-hour overtime threshold and the recordkeeping that makes a stub’s hours meaningful.
Reimbursement
Repayment of a business expense you covered. Accountable reimbursements are not wages; the same payment handed over as flat allowance usually is, and shows up inside gross.
Taxes and government lines
The lines that describe what was sent away on your behalf.
FICA
Federal Insurance Contributions Act — the payroll tax funding Social Security and Medicare. On a stub it very often prints as two separate lines rather than one labeled FICA.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is FICA? Payroll Tax Rates Explained.
Social Security tax
The employee share of 6.2% on wages up to the annual wage base, after which the line stops for the rest of the year.
Medicare tax
The employee share of 1.45%, with no wage cap, plus an additional amount on higher earnings. Unlike Social Security it applies to every dollar of the period.
Federal income tax withheld
Money subtracted from each period and sent to the federal government against the year’s liability, computed from the withholding tables and your own elections.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is Withholding on a Pay Stub?.
Voluntary withholding
An extra flat amount you ask payroll to take beyond the tables — commonly to cover investment income or a second job so the return does not finish short.
State income tax withholding
The same mechanism under your state’s rules and rate schedule. A handful of states levy no wage income tax, and a work state different from your home state produces two sets of paperwork.
Local tax
A city, county or school-district tax on wages where one exists. It is frequently the smallest line on the stub and the easiest one to overlook at filing time.
Wage base
The ceiling on wages a particular tax applies to during a year, reset annually. Social Security has one; Medicare does not.
Form W-4
The employee declaration an employer uses to choose federal withholding — filing status, multiple jobs and any extra amount to withhold. It affects the deposit, not the tax you owe.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is Form W-4? The Employee Election.
Form W-2
The annual Wage and Tax Statement an employer furnishes by 31 January: one calendar year of wages, one column per tax, and the employer identification numbers behind them.
Deductions and the take-home lines
The lines that decide how much of the gross reaches you.
Pre-tax deduction
Subtracted from gross and from the wages tax is computed on: traditional retirement contributions, most health premiums, flexible-spending and similar benefit elections. It shrinks both the deposit and the taxable base.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is a Pre-Tax Deduction? Definition.
Post-tax deduction
Subtracted after tax is calculated: Roth contributions, union dues, life insurance, charitable giving. It shrinks the deposit and leaves the taxable base alone.
This line has a page of its own, with the arithmetic worked through: What Is a Post-Tax Deduction? Definition.
Garnishment
A court-ordered withholding — support arrears, a judgment, a student-loan levy. It applies after taxes and is capped by federal rule at a share of disposable earnings, with higher caps for support orders.
Voluntary deduction
Any line you opted into rather than one the law imposed. Its identity comes from your enrollment paperwork, which is why it is the line most often missing from a stub’s explanation.
Total deductions
Everything taken out in the period, printed as one subtotal so the document can be checked at a glance: gross minus this line must equal net, exactly, to the cent.
Where to read on
Every guide in this set, in the order the document itself is built. The arithmetic in each one is the same arithmetic the builder performs on your entries: earnings added, deductions subtracted, every line visible on the way to the total.
- what a pay stub is, and what it can and cannot prove
- how to read a stub the way an auditor reads one
- gross pay versus net pay, with the gap worked out
- how to calculate net pay from gross, end to end
- the three deduction categories and the order they apply in
- how to calculate overtime pay, step by step
- writing an hourly stub that matches a timesheet
- what the three YTD columns mean and how to check them
- a pay stub template, field by field
- every box on the W-2 explained
- which of the three records answers which question
- turning an annual salary into a weekly figure
- the two payroll-tax lines, and where one of them stops
- which deductions shrink the wages tax is measured on
- what each entry on the withholding form actually changes
- keeping a per-payment record when nobody runs payroll
- what to do once a figure on the document is wrong
25 terms here, 18 guides to read them in context — all of them listed on the guides index.
Frequently asked questions
Are these terms the same on every pay stub?
The arithmetic is, the labels are not. FICA may print as two separate lines, take-home may print as net pay, and a state line may be named after the form rather than the tax. What stays stable is the shape of the document: every line is either adding to gross or subtracting from it.
What is the difference between a deduction and a withholding?
Both are subtractions, and only one of them is always a tax. A withholding is money the employer sends to a government body on your behalf; a deduction is the broader category — benefits, garnishments, elective contributions — some of which shrink the wages tax is computed on and some of which do not.
Where do I look up a term that is missing here?
The instructions attached to the form the line belongs to: the Form W-2 instructions for the annual boxes, the withholding publication an employer uses for payroll tables, and the Department of Labor guidance for the words around hours, rates and overtime. Those sources define the terms; this page only translates them.