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

By law, once that happens, benefits automatically drop to whatever payroll tax revenue can cover, unless Congress intervenes. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2026

Chai said her plan would keep the Social Security payroll tax cap and payroll tax rate from increasing, eliminate the employer portion of the self-employment tax and require government employees to participate in Social Security. — Lorie Konish, CNBC, 16 Aug. 2026

That wouldn’t help Paramount, but the company could save money by paying workers less in a state with a lower cost of living, which would also reduce its payroll tax bill, and by paying less for outside services. — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 14 Aug. 2026

The combined employer+employee payroll tax is 16%, on the first $85,000 of annual income – practically no upper limit at all. — Nathan Lewis, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 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