Tax & Finance Guides

These guides cover the part of the US tax and pay system that applies to everyone, in the order most people meet it: how a payslip is built and why net pay is so much lower than salary, how to fill in a W-4 so that April holds no surprises, what the federal brackets actually do, and how the state layer changes the answer from nothing in nine states to more than thirteen per cent in California. Alongside those sit the pieces on self-employment tax, deductions against credits, property and sales tax, retirement contribution limits, and a filing checklist. Every rate quoted comes from the IRS, the Social Security Administration or a named state revenue department, each page carries the date it was last genuinely checked, and none of it substitutes for a professional who has seen your own paperwork.

Clear, practical guides to understanding US taxes, paychecks, and personal finance. No jargon, no fluff.

Basics

How Paychecks Work in the US

A complete breakdown of every deduction on your pay stub, from federal tax to FICA to 401(k).

Federal Tax

Federal Tax Brackets 2026

The seven federal income tax brackets for all filing statuses, with examples and effective rate calculations.

State Tax

State Tax Comparison

Compare income tax rates across all 50 states. See which states have no tax, flat tax, and the highest rates.

Retirement

401(k) vs Roth IRA

Traditional 401(k) vs Roth IRA: tax treatment, contribution limits, employer match, and which is right for you.

Federal Tax

W-4 Form Explained

How to fill out the post-2020 W-4 form correctly. Steps 1-4, dependents, multiple jobs, and common mistakes.

Self-Employment

Self-Employment Tax Explained

1099 workers and freelancers: how SE tax works, the 15.3% rate, quarterly payments, and deductions.

State Tax

Moving to a No-Income-Tax State

Is moving to Texas, Florida, or another no-tax state worth it? Total tax burden analysis beyond income tax.

Retirement

Maximum 401(k) Contribution 2026

Contribution limits for 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans. Employee, employer, and catch-up limits.

Property Tax

Understanding Property Tax

How property tax is calculated, assessment ratios, homestead exemptions, and appealing your assessment.

Sales Tax

Sales Tax Explained

State and local sales tax rates, exemptions for groceries and clothing, and sales tax holidays.

Federal Tax

Tax Deductions vs Credits

The fundamental difference between deductions and credits, and why a $1,000 credit is worth more than a $1,000 deduction.

Tax Season

Tax Season Checklist 2026

Everything you need to file your taxes: documents, deadlines, common deductions, and step-by-step preparation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who writes these guides?
Radif Partners, which publishes TrueTakeHomePay. The figures come from the IRS revenue procedures, the Social Security Administration and the revenue departments of the states concerned, and each guide names the source of any rate it quotes. Where a rule is genuinely contested or pending, the guide says so rather than choosing a side, and each page carries the date of its last real check rather than the date it was served.
Are these guides tax advice?
No. They describe how the rules generally work and what the published rates are, which is the part that applies to everyone. What they cannot do is weigh your own circumstances: a diagnosed situation, a partnership, an unusual residency, a trust or a business structure all change the answer. Where a guide and a professional who has seen your paperwork disagree, the professional is the one to follow.
Which guide should I read first?
Whichever matches the question in front of you. If you have just started a job, the guide to how paychecks work and the W-4 walkthrough between them cover the first payslip. If you are filing, the tax season checklist and the piece on deductions against credits do most of the work. If you are weighing a move, the state comparison and the no-income-tax guide are the pair to read together.
How often are the guides updated?
When the underlying figures change, which for brackets, contribution limits and the Social Security wage base means annually in the autumn for the following year, and at any point when a rule is amended. Nothing here is rewritten simply to refresh a date: a guide that has not needed changing keeps the date it was last genuinely checked, which is the date shown on the page.
Do these guides cover state taxes as well as federal?
Both. Federal rules are the same everywhere and take up most of the space, but the state layer is where take-home pay actually differs, from nothing in nine states to more than thirteen per cent in California, plus city taxes in New York, Philadelphia and much of Ohio. The state comparison guide covers the whole picture, and the individual calculators give the figure for one state at a time.
Can I use these figures for my own tax return?
As a check, yes; as a substitute for the forms, no. The rates and thresholds quoted here are the published ones, so a guide is a good way to see whether a number on a return looks plausible. The return itself depends on documents only you hold, W-2s, 1099s, records of estimated payments, and on choices such as filing status that the guides can explain but not make for you.

Figures on this page come from the following official publications: