payroll tax

noun

1

: a tax that is paid by a company and that is based on the amount of money that the company spends paying all of its employees

2

: money that is taken from a person's pay and given directly to the government as income tax

Examples of payroll tax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Closing the pay gap alone expands the payroll tax base enough to cover one-third of the Social Security funding shortfall. — Katica Roy, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026

Norma Alruosan, a payroll tax analyst who lives in the Dallas suburb of Coppell, is currently torn between Vance and Rubio. — ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026

Under current rules, the Social Security payroll tax is capped at $184,500. — Medora Lee, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026

Raising the payroll tax cap is gaining traction as a fix — even in the anti-tax GOP — to fend off deep cuts in retirement benefits. — Steve Thompson, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for payroll tax

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Legal Definition

payroll tax

noun

pay·​roll tax

: a tax that is levied as a percentage of an employee's pay and is usually paid by the employer