Delaware’s state withholding tax table is a seven-bracket graduated schedule that runs from 0% on the first $2,000 of annualized taxable wages up to 6.6% on income above $60,000. Employers apply the table after subtracting a standard deduction from annualized gross wages, then reduce the resulting tax by a $110 credit for each personal exemption the employee claims on the Delaware W-4. The brackets have been in place since 2014.1Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Employer’s Guide (Withholding Regulations and Employer’s Duties)
The Delaware Withholding Brackets
Every bracket follows the same shape: a base tax at the bracket floor, plus a marginal rate on wages above that floor.
- $0 to $2,000: no tax
- $2,000 to $5,000: 2.20% of the amount over $2,000
- $5,000 to $10,000: $66.00 plus 3.90% of the amount over $5,000
- $10,000 to $20,000: $261.00 plus 4.80% of the amount over $10,000
- $20,000 to $25,000: $741.00 plus 5.20% of the amount over $20,000
- $25,000 to $60,000: $1,001.00 plus 5.55% of the amount over $25,000
- $60,000 and above: $2,943.50 plus 6.60% of the amount over $60,000
For annualized taxable income up to $60,000, the Division of Revenue also publishes lookup tables built on the midpoint of $50 wage ranges, so most employers can match a row to the wage and read the withholding figure directly instead of running the formula by hand.2Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Tax Rate Changes
What You Need Before You Use the Table
A Delaware W-4
Every Delaware employee should file a Delaware-specific W-4, sometimes called the DE-W4. Delaware still uses a personal exemption system, and the federal W-4 no longer captures allowances, so the state form is the only reliable source of an employee’s marital status and exemption count. If an employee has not submitted a Delaware W-4, an employer may fall back on the number of federal withholding exemptions the employee claimed, but that fallback works less cleanly given the current federal form.3State of Delaware Division of Revenue. Delaware W-4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate4Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code 30 – Section 1151 Employer to Withhold Tax From Wages or Other Remuneration
Standard Deduction and Exemption Credit
Two figures interact with the bracket table. The standard deduction is $3,250 for a single filer and $6,500 for married filing jointly, and it reduces annualized wages before you enter the table. The personal exemption credit is $110 per exemption, and it reduces the tax amount after you compute it from the bracket.1Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Employer’s Guide (Withholding Regulations and Employer’s Duties) Reversing the order is a common error that skews every paycheck.
Pay Frequency
The tables work on annualized numbers. You need to know whether the employee is paid weekly (52), biweekly (26), semimonthly (24), or monthly (12), because you annualize gross wages going in and divide the annual tax back down at the end.
How to Calculate Withholding Step by Step
- Multiply the employee’s gross pay for the period by the number of pay periods in the year to get annualized gross wages.
- Subtract the standard deduction ($3,250 single or $6,500 married filing jointly). This is annualized taxable income.
- Find the bracket that contains that figure.
- Compute the annualized tax: base amount for the bracket, plus the marginal rate applied to the wages above the bracket floor.
- Subtract $110 for each personal exemption on the Delaware W-4.
- Divide the result by the number of pay periods in the year. That is what you withhold from the paycheck.
A worked example makes it concrete. A single employee earns $50,000 a year and claims two exemptions. Annualized taxable income is $50,000 minus the $3,250 standard deduction, or $46,750. That lands in the $25,000 to $60,000 bracket. The annualized tax is $1,001.00 plus 5.55% of $21,750, which comes to $1,001.00 plus $1,207.13, or $2,208.13. Subtract $220 for the two exemptions and the annualized withholding is $1,988.13. Paid biweekly, that divides to about $76.47 per check.1Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Employer’s Guide (Withholding Regulations and Employer’s Duties)
Bonuses, Commissions, and Other Supplemental Pay
Delaware does not offer a flat supplemental rate. The method depends on how the payment is delivered.
If the bonus or commission is combined with regular wages on a single check, treat the whole check as one payment and run the standard calculation on the combined total.
If the supplemental amount is paid on a separate check, the calculation runs twice. First, annualize the regular wages and compute the tax. Second, add the supplemental payment to the annualized regular wages and compute the tax on that higher figure. The difference between the two tax amounts is the withholding on the supplemental payment.1Division of Revenue – State of Delaware. Employer’s Guide (Withholding Regulations and Employer’s Duties) Because the method annualizes the bonus, the withholding on a separate bonus check often looks steeper than employees expect.
Employees Who Live Out of State or Work Remotely
The table applies to residents and nonresidents alike when the wages are Delaware-source. Delaware has no reciprocal tax agreements with any state, so an employee commuting from Pennsylvania, Maryland, or New Jersey does not get a withholding waiver.5Delaware Division of Revenue. Withholding Tax FAQs
Delaware also applies a convenience of the employer rule. If a job is based in Delaware and the employee works from home in another state for personal convenience rather than employer requirement, those remote days remain Delaware-source income and stay in the withholding calculation.6State of Delaware Division of Revenue. Treatment of Wages From Remote Work Whether the employee’s home state grants a credit for tax paid to Delaware is a separate question, and one worth checking before the first paycheck to avoid an unwelcome surprise on the employee’s side.