FUTA wage base headroom, 2026
This works out one number from the FUTA Tax Rate & Wage Base figures published for 2026. Every amount it uses is below, with the document it was read from. What you enter is your own: this site has no way to check it, and the answer it produces is not a published figure.
This calculates
The wages remaining before one employee reaches the published FUTA wage base.
You provide
- The published limit
- Wages paid to this employee
It does not include
- FUTA liability, state unemployment tax credits, wage classification, deposits, or filing.
Not the one you need? The same year also has FUTA tax owed on one employee this year.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide (IRS)Verified 2026-09-03
How it is worked out
The published amount less the amount you enter, rounded to the nearest cent. Where what you enter is the larger of the two, the answer is nothing rather than a negative amount.
It uses Wage base, $7,000, the only one this year publishes.
Figures in this colour are computed from the amounts above. They are not published figures and no document states them.
Work it out
The live calculator needs JavaScript. The table below covers common amounts and is computed the same way.
Worked out for common amounts
| Wages paid to this employee | Result |
|---|---|
| 0 | $7,000 |
| 2,000 | $5,000 |
| 5,000 | $2,000 |
| 7,000 | $0 |
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide (IRS)
- Wage base
Figuring FUTA tax. For 2026, the FUTA tax rate is 6.0%. The tax applies to the first $7,000 you pay to each em- ployee as wages during the year. The $7,000 is the federal wage base.
Every 2026 FUTA Tax Rate & Wage Base figure · FUTA Tax Rate & Wage Base in every year · Every calculator on this site